The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be in town next week to deliver an overview of federal, state and local LGBT progress.
Dr. Jamie Grant, director of NGLTF’s Policy Institute, will meet with local LGBT residents from 6-8 p.m. June 9 at the home of Craig Hamilton, 227 S. Sixth St., #1-SW, an event also hosted by Michael Norris and Christina Edleman.
Grant, a self-described “Philly fan” whose partner is originally from West Philadelphia, said the fundraising event — motivated by NGLTF Action Fund board member Duane Ingram, a Philadelphia resident — is foremost an opportunity for the local community to become better acquainted with the national organization.
“We have a multi-issue shop,” she said. “I think of us as the progressive wing of the LGBT movement and the LGBT wing of the progressive movement. Some people ask how we’re different from GLAAD [Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] or from HRC [Human Rights Campaign], and I want to try to help people understand the way we do our work and why we prioritize certain things. We have somewhat of a different, more expansive lens on what an LGBT issue is.”
Grant will address NGLTF’s work on such hot-button issues as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and will explore the results of the recent NGLTF transgender survey — the largest in the nation’s history, which she spearheaded.
Grant also plans to touch on other important LGBT topics that haven’t made as many headlines.
“We’ve done a ton of work with the Obama administration since he came in on all kinds of agency-level changes that are really significant but that don’t get out there and that your average Joe or Jane LGBT person doesn’t know about,” she said.
Grant added she’s eager to garner feedback from Philadelphians on NLGTF’s direction.
“It’s a good time to have our eyes and our ears out in the community and hear what people care about,” she said. “I’m hoping to take the lead from those in the room and find out what they’re passionate about.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].