enderPAC’s 4th National Lobby Day will be held in Washington, D.C. from Sunday, May 23, 1999 to Tuesday, May 25, 1999. For further information and details on lodging and transportation, please visit GenderPAC’s website at:
http://www.gpac.org
Carrie Davis, GenderPAC’s Director of Operations, said that "1998 saw tremendous advances on the state and local levels and quiet but important change in the national arena. GenderPAC has continued its series of meetings with government agencies about issues of gender variance and federal law, placed stories in the mainstream media, and continued its ongoing dialogue with national lesbian and gay organizations.
"But despite our successes, our national movement is most significantly characterized by our failures. Our community is beset by discrimination, violence, and murder. This litany of terror is long, horrific, and most poignantly expressed by the murders of transgender-identified people in Texas, Massachusetts, California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey. Sadly, recent reports indicate that someone in our community is killed on the average of once a month.
"At Lobby Day this year we will be presenting the results of the recent GenderPAC/NGLTF/NCLR survey of employmentdiscrimination. We need your help to show Congressional representatives the survey results, and explain the impact of gender bias in the workplace."
According to GenderPAC’s Washington, D.C. Advocate Dana Priesing, "In this over-busy world, the mere presence of so many dozens of diversely gendered people creates a powerful symbol. When we walk the halls of Congress, believe me, we are noticed. And when we speak simply, reasonably, honestly about our lives, and the manner in which we are stigmatized, marginalized, and brutalized for our differences, our speech compounds the effect of our presence. In time we will wear away the stereotypes many legislators still hold about gender-different people.
"And when the stereotypes are gone, what we seek the right to live free of the threat of violence, the right to work free of discrimination, the right to be treated like other Americans will no longer seem such a distant dream.
We are engaged in a long struggle. Come, be part of it."
GenderPAC’s contacts for National Lobby Day are Riki Wilchins and Carrie Davis (212)645-1753;
To subscribe to the GenderPAC mailing list, please contact: subscribe@Gpac.org
