Senator Bennet of Colorado Confirms Support on Inclusive ENDA 2009 - The Inside Story

Senator Bennet of Colorado Confirms Support on Inclusive ENDA 2009 - The Inside Story

One account you’ll never hear of in the Big Blogs which tells what really happened in the field...

Like many of you LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) Activists out there striving for True Equality in America, I was extremely grateful to be treated to a headline back on September 25 in "The Bilerico Project" which read: Thank You, Senator Michael Bennet: Senate Movement on ENDA (by: Dr. Jillian T. Weiss).

But after the feel-good emotional wave had dissipated itself upon the shores of Practical Reality, I felt sort of miffed. I asked myself "Does anybody really know what actually helped make a thing like this happen - especially after going through what I and a few other concerned Coloradans had to go through on the grassroots level?"

The obvious answer to that one is a resounding "NO!" - especially if you’re not part of the "In Crowd" of wealthy or otherwise privileged people who (for whatever reason) have a great big media presence and therefore have become virtual household words in the greater LGBT Community. The fact that this hierarchy exists in any community often causes the valuable efforts of many "average" folks to go overlooked - which, in turn, leaves them thinking that they do not have what it takes to be real Agents of Change in society.

My goal in sharing this story is to dispel that myth, give concerned LGBT constituents hope, and let everyone know that the only way to affect truly progressive change in the political landscape of America is for them to care enough to at least hold their Representatives accountable on issues that really matter.

It All Started at a Town Hall Meeting

Colorado Springs happens to have the distinction of being the veritable Mecca of Conservative Evangelical "Christendom". At last report, there were about 100 such organizations of all sizes headquartered here, the largest of which is Focus on the Family. Because of this fact, those of us in the local LGBT Community who dare to openly defy their discriminatory, anti-LGBT Dominionist agenda tend to be few in number - and wear many hats whilst "fighting the good fight". So although I am the current Co-Chair Incumbent of the El Paso County Stonewall Democrats, I was already obligated to be away at some other LGBT-related function when LisaJo Laptad (member of the EPCSD and Precinct Chair, Colorado Springs Pct264) reminded me about a special Town Hall Meeting to be held on Saturday, July 11 at the East Library - which featured our state’s freshman senator, Michael Bennet.

http://www.csindy.com/colorado/who-is-this-guy/Content?oid=1146307 ) shows his photo bearing the caption "Michael Bennet says he’ll learn quickly". Gauging by the interesting sequence of events I’m about to elucidate here, that indeed turned out to be an almost prophetic understatement.

Although we knew the general populace there would be more preoccupied with going after the sizzling Healthcare Reform debate ignited by President Obama’s promises of positive change across the board; and that other initial contacts had told me this Senator was already favorable towards LGBT issues; LisaJo wanted to hear it directly from the source, when it came down to if Mr. Bennet actually was in our corner. So she went to publicly get his take on whether he’d vote to repeal both the bigoted Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the heinous "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" policy towards LGBT folks in the Military; whilst going on record to support the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Legislation and the Trans-Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) of 2009. Since I serve in varying official capacities the Gender Equality Coalition, the World Gender Coalition and also network with UnitedENDA, I asked her to report her findings to me immediately after she left that Town Hall Meeting, so that I could forward that info to those who needed to be kept apprised of such matters.

According to LisaJo, it wasn’t until the very end of the gathering that she was able to get the floor long enough to pose our LGBT-related questions to Senator Bennet. She said he answered them all exactly the way we’d hoped he would - He’d vote to repeal DOMA and DADT; plus he’d cast a "Yes" vote on Hate Crimes and ENDA. I was understandably pleased with that news. So I gladly sent that data upline as soon as I returned home - and then spent the rest of that evening in Manitou Springs at the 30^th Anniversary Celebration Banquet of the LGBT-affirming Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church of Colorado Springs.

An Unfortunate Revelation

Despite the current state of this badly wounded economy, Sunday, July 19 in Colorado Springs brought along with it one of the most successful Pridefests the local LGBT Community had ever seen. Even on the political and social fronts, hugely positive gains were made which are so numerous, they would have to be the subject of some other story. But then August came - and when the 7^th of that month rolled around, I got another call from LisaJo about an online political report that instantly sent troubling feelings of possible political betrayal through both of us. The subject at hand was the Federal ENDA; and the spreadsheet which she directed me to via an online link revealed that when it came down to where the Senators in Washington DC really stood on this all-important piece of LGBT-Inclusive legislation, our very own Senator Bennet of Colorado was listed as "Undecided". From what I could tell, the tally was compiled by the Inclusive ENDA Facebook Campaign, and was based upon findings gathered from data in Washington DC and verified by reliable activist sources. At LisaJo’s suggestion, I printed out two hardcopies of what I saw there, just in case we needed to prove a point with this information later on.

Why It Mattered

Let me say at this point that some people participate in politics just because they like it; some may do it for a power trip; whilst others may actually do it for more philosophically "righteous" reasons. But when you find Transgender people involved in it, it’s mostly because it’s a matter of sheer survival for us. Because if the laws go bad (even ones that seem innocuous to the typical person), the day-to-day running of our very lives could get exceedingly far worse than any other people group could ever imagine. For example - what other law-abiding segment of society do you know of, that actually gets harassed or dictated to by policies and ordinances, regarding things as personal and essential as where they might relieve themselves whilst out in the Public Square? (In some odious cases, no tenable "Bathroom Option" have even "allowed" for Transgender people!)

It was LisaJo who had the courage around 13 years ago to establish SCIRTS (Southern Colorado Inter-Regional Transgender Society) here in Ultra-Conservative Colorado Springs; which eventually evolved into the group I now lead, called PAGE (Peak Area Gender Expressions). This is the largest and longest continuously-existing Transgender support group in all of Southern Colorado. We do what we do for our Constituents because history shows that no one else will ever look after the safety and well-being of the Transgender Community better than other Transgender people. Nothing is more fundamentally important than being assured of getting the fairest opportunity when it comes to securing suitable Employment Therefore, we felt it was our duty to assist in seeing to it that this Trans-Inclusive version of the Federal ENDA that is now before Congress gets a good shot at passing - and becoming the Law of the Land in every state across this Nation.

Having that in mind, it should be pretty obvious why both LisaJo ant I swung into action, when it appeared that Senator Bennet had told the public one thing in Colorado Springs - but did something entirely different regarding ENDA, whilst in Washington DC.

From Showing Concern to Real Shoe Leather Action

By August 13, I had received an e-mail from the Colorado Stonewall Democrats in Denver that reiterated the fact that Senator Bennet was still listed on ENDA support spreadsheets as being "Undecided"; and I was also getting calls from Transgender Activists and other out-of-state Allies asking me why I reported that both our Senators were already in our corner on this issue when that apparently was not the case. Since this discrepancy was now cutting into my personal reputation for being known as a trustworthy informational source in the Trans Community, it was definitely time to get to the bottom of this. So when LisaJo called and asked if I wanted to accompany her down to Senator Bennet’s local office here in Colorado Springs, I was more than ready to go there.

The link to the Official Invitation data LisaJo referred me to, initially gave the public erroneous address information because if you took it literally, it would have had you looking for the Senator somewhere in Acacia Park (209 N. Tejon Street) as opposed to it’s actual location two blocks to the north at 409 N. Tejon. We discovered that error on the way over, and ended up calling the staffers at the Office to redirect our course correctly. When we got there, we discovered a short line of people ahead of us, though the message we’d gotten had led us to believe this was a special appointment time just for us and the Senator’s Staff alone. Whatever the case, we waited out the situation until we got our turn to address the staff personnel on duty at the time.

The next few moments were so disappointing full of ineptitude that at one point, LisaJo actually left the room to keep from losing her composure, her temper - or both. The people we interfaced with were properly pleasant and politically correct - but they didn’t even know what ENDA was at first mentioning. After we produced papers with all the pertinent information upon them in an effort to make our point clear about the contradiction we saw in how Senator Bennet said he would deal with it; they somehow still couldn’t find the official text of the Bill, its sponsors, nor its current status on their office computer. (I thought it odd that a Senator’s staffers weren’t able to do something I routinely do online via State and Federal Congressional websites). When we asked if Senator Bennet would ever return to Colorado Springs during this Congressional Recess period, we were told "No" - because he was on an all-county tour of the State. The Senior Staff Representative then apologized for all the frustrating confusion, saw to it that our contact information was obtained - and promised to get back to us as soon as the Senator had rightly dealt with the matter. LisaJo at that point openly predicted that it would never happen, just as we were leaving; and true to her words, neither of us ever got that promised follow-up phone call.

All that experience did was strengthen our determination to find a viable fix for this unresolved issue.

Close Encounters at The Junction

On Saturday of that weekend (August 15th), President Obama was scheduled to hold a Town Hall Meeting on the subject of Healthcare Reform, out in Grand Junction, Colorado. Just plain logic and a couple of contacts I had told me that Governor Ritter and every major State politico who possibly could get there would be there, too - including Senator Bennet. Since I was already in communication with representatives of the local Change That Works Colorado group that was rounding up a bunch of pro-Obama supporters to drive up to Denver and help fill a chartered bus to Grand Junction; I now had an extra incentive to join in with them. I figured that sometime during our effort to offset the rancor of the opposition expected to show up out there, I just might also get to run into Senator Bennet - and possibly have time to voice in his presence the concerns I and LisaJo brought up about his lack of lending true support for a Federal all-inclusive ENDA at his office in Colorado Springs the other day.

Unfortunately, however, my designs on this day were at best a near miss. Our bus arrived at the Town Hall Meeting site so late that those who had official passes into the Central High School Gymnasium where it all was happening did not have time to clear Security in order to be allowed inside. The place already was totally maxed out anyway. So we all added ourselves to the huge throng of people outside which was lining both sides of the road (appropriately named "Warrior Way") that led into the Campus - for one side of the street was full of "Tea Party" Conservatives who were vehemently against President Obama; whilst our side was totally for his proposed plans for Healthcare Reform. There were a few times where the pandemonium on the Front Lines in that street almost hit a flash point that could have went violent - but then the local Sheriff’s crew moved in to separate the loud opposing factions. Not that this mattered - but from what I could tell, I was the only Transgender person out there in that near-melee of a scene.

When it appeared that things had calmed to an almost boring lull, I left the Front to see what was going on in the dusty field of a parking area farther back behind me. I then discovered that Senator Bennet was inside the very bus I had rode in on - exhorting the people who were already seated in there. He was just wrapping his speech up, when I came to the door of that vehicle (where a young girl whom I believe was his daughter was standing); and the best that I got out of him after that was just a handshake - because he and some other officials had to rush off to more rarified environs while the folks on our side of Warrior Way packed things up and called it a day. By this time, the President was already gone from the scene - and the opposition forces had all but dispersed. Therefore, I and the progressive amalgamation of people I was with also left - and ended up returning to Colorado Springs sometime way in the middle of the night.

What did I take away from all this? Although this close encounter Function at Grand Junction was historic and full of Activist "adventure"; it netted me nothing when it came to my goal of possibly getting Senator Bennet to dispel the confusion over where he was regarding ENDA by promising to go on record as being definitely in support of it in Washington DC.

Finally - The Day of Reckoning

I shared what I experienced out in Grand Junction with friends and constituents in several Internet groups and websites; then also dealt with a situation where I thought possible anti-Trans bias was at work (relative to certain other reports of the whole thing), before taking action on issues that were more close to home. But a little over one month later, I got yet another call from LisaJo where she asked me had I gotten an invitation to an up-coming event in Denver sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called the "No Excuses Community Meeting with Senator Michael Bennet", which was to be held on Saturday, September 19th at 3:30 pm. The short answer to her question was "No".

I had stopped getting direct e-mails from HRC back in 2007 when I halted my support for them, after they acquiesced to the heinous, "incrementalistic" sacrificial selling out of the Transgender Community through celebrating the forward progress of that version of the Federal ENDA which had been shorn of its original Trans-inclusive language. Although LisaJo’s sentiments about that divisive fiasco were the same as mine, somehow she was privy to this special HRC arranged Town Hall Meeting set for the LGBT Community to voice their concerns to Senator Bennet - and wanted to know if I’d go up to Denver with her to attend it. "Absolutely!" was my reply. Something inside told me that it was very likely that the Trans Community of Denver just might NOT show up for this all-important thing, though it was in their very own city. So we from Colorado Springs endeavored to at least try to make sure Colorado’s greater Transgender Community was rightly represented. Because this would finally prove to be the real Day of Reckoning where the Senator’s inconsistencies on the Trans-Inclusive ENDA would indeed be brought to light - and hopefully corrected.

I made sure to get LisaJo and I RSVPed in for the gathering up in Denver; and kept abreast of the situation, when the venue for it suddenly was changed from the Gill Action Building to the Park Avenue Lofts a day before it was to happen. I also printed a couple more copies of that online spreadsheet that showed where all the Senators stood in Washington DC, regarding the all-inclusive Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. So when that Saturday did arrive, we were ready - and all set - to go!!

We found the location of the Community Meeting after some minor detours amongst Denver’s sometimes difficult one-way Downtown streets; and got parked there 10 minutes prior to its appointed beginning. And because a certain elevator wasn’t working, a lovely onsite staffer had to lead us along a winding route that eventually had us on the top floor of that complex of expensive Lofts at 19^th and Clarkson. The actual site of the event up there was the Club Room, a place that appeared to be normally devoted to the recreational interests of those who lived in that complex.

LisaJo and I met and chatted with one other Trans-woman just before the meeting commenced. Her name was Nicole - and she was from a local LGBT-affirming ELCA Lutheran church. When asked where all the other Transgender people were, she said she had just come from a function at the Gender Identity Center where a lot of girls were - but they did not seem interested, when she told them about this opportunity to meet with the Senator. I didn’t see anyone representing The Center there, either. But I could be wrong about that, because other people were still filtering in by the time Senator Bennet arrived - and things really got underway

Speaking of the Senator, he began just prior to the official part of things by shaking hands and graciously greeting those of us who were at the front of the room. Most everyone was smiling whilst this was going on - but when Mr. Bennet got to LisaJo, her serious-looking expression caused him to say out loud "You’re not smiling...", to which she simply retorted "You waffled!" - and quickly let him know what she was referring to. The Senator then just as swiftly spoke forth a promise to explain and clarify the matter during the course of the meeting. After the preliminaries and pleasantries were out of the way, other people in the assemblage brought up all the key concerns of the LGBT Community at large. Like getting rid of the "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" policy towards LGBT folks in the Military; supporting the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Legislation, Not letting the Ryan White Act that helps people living with AIDS via special funding expire; supporting the Trans-Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) of 2009; and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Before the gathering ended, Senator Bennet quickly affirmed that he would properly address and handle every LGBT issue to our liking when he returned to Washington DC and his staff were way interested in getting a copy of that ENDA tally spreadsheet I brought forth, which proved the Senator’s words in Colorado weren’t matching what he was actually doing at the Capitol. A short lady who was with the team Mr. Bennet brought promised that they’d get this discrepancy fixed - and that it will soon be seen that the Senator is indeed in support of the all-inclusive ENDA. We were finally satisfied with this response. But why Senator Bennet tried to make excuse for initially admitting that he would not vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is another issue worthy of a totally separate blog...

In Conclusion

Although this was a very long and detailed account of just exactly what I witnessed and went through, when it came to resolving the inconsistencies and discrepancies which created static in the communication lines between Senator Michael Bennet and his LGBT Constituents in Colorado, I do not apologized for its huge size. Again - I posted this story to let others know how they might go about bringing change where apparent misunderstandings and communication glitches might be the only sticking points. I also want to make it clear that I in no way am alleging that the Senator had knowingly done anything nefarious. I am just bringing to light a process whereby common grassroots-level people can know that they hold the key, are empowered - and must hold their representatives accountable when what is said back home doesn’t match what’s actually done in Washington DC.

Sincerely,

Nancy-Jo Morris