Netroots Nation LGBT Netroots Connect Pre-Convention “whats going on in your world”

by Gustavo Torrez

Good afternoon from rainy Minneapolis, I hope you all are having a great day wherever you may be. I am sitting with Dr. Scout, and Hale Thompson at the Netroots Nation LGBT Netroots Connect pre convention.

This morning opened with a session on what’s happening, what on-the-ground issues are going on in your world? How are they being covered – or not? What support is needed?

Led by Michael Crawford, with Freedom to Marry  the session charged participants to reflect on true issues that are underrepresented in our communities. Many issues were raised in this discussion, one issue that was raised was the fact that money is being dropped on the streets from the federal level and it’s not inclusive of our communities as a whole. We need to apply pressure to the federal government to help make this happen. We can help create change, and it could take little effort to make a huge difference. What to do you ask? Launch action alerts in our own communities, write letters to Sec. Kathleen Sebelius urging for LGBT inclusion.

Another issue that was brought forth was the fact that we are loosing history among our communities. Younger LGBT’s don’t necessary understand the struggles and the history of our founding LGBTs who really helped to shape and mold the movement. We need to continue to remember where we came from, and the struggles our founders when trough as they fought for acceptance and equality. We need to bring back a sense of community among ourselves and remember where we have been and where we are going always.

This is a great exercise for your community groups to identify issues that are happening in your world. Identify how they are being covered – or not, along with the support needed to overcome these issues. We should always take a moment and reflect on the issues we are facing and build a community response to overcome these challenges.