On Thursday, May 24 over 100 people and their allies will meet in Lansing for Lobby Day where they will have a chance to meet with elected officials and talk with them about gay and transgender issues.
The day is organized by Unity Michigan, a coalition which inclues ACLU of Michigan, Affirmations Community Center, Equality Michigan, KICK, The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion and the Ruth Ellis Center.
Roland Leggett, field director for Equality Michigan is one of the organizers. "We want people to get in the practice of having conversations with their representatives consistently," Legget said. The event will begin with training at the AFL-CIO Office in Lansing at 419 Washington Square South, where attendees will be taught how to stay on message, how to set up phone banks, and other methods for communicating with legislators and the media.
Equality Michigan has done similar events on a smaller scale, once bringing a group of LGBT seniors to the capitol, and more often arriving with student groups. "This is the first time we have organized a group like this, with other LGBT leaders. Our Policy Director and PAC President will be there as well as several of the elected officials who are part of LEAD, which is our Local Electeds Against Discrimination movement."
Once training is complete, the group will march to the capital building and have a rally. After listening to the speakers, attendees will be free to stop by their representatives' offices, mingle with other activists, and practice speaking about equal rights.
Members of the public are encouraged to come out and get involved. For more information go to http://equalitymi.org/take-action/events/equality-action-day.
For more information, visit http://www.equalitymi.org.
