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Strategic Planning Task Force Seeking Nominations
For the Creation of a Michigan LGBT Strategic Planning Team
In the aftermath of the November elections, a group of community activists came together at Eastern Michigan University on December 11, 204 to participate in a day-long, facilitated discussion about the present and future of the LGBT community in this State. We were part of the discussion, and we were charged with writing you and other activists to inform you about what was discussed and to ask you to join a strategic planning initiative to advance the rights of Michigan’s LGBT citizens.
The discussion group included representatives of some LGBT organizations and active participants in our community’s affairs but recognized that it was not authorized or empowered to speak for Michigan’s diverse LGBT community and its allies. Those attending the discussion nevertheless shared a common vision: to secure full legal and social equality for the LGBT citizens of Michigan. We hope and believe that you share this vision.
How can we achieve our goal? Despite the election setbacks, our community’s efforts to defeat Proposal 2 revealed strengths and resources tha can be engaged to achieve our vision of equality.
Our existing LGBT organizations are staffed by talented individuals and supported by energetic volunteers. Our organizations fulfill critical functions within our community, providing services that include advocacy, education, political action, and social support. These organizations merit our continued and increased support.
The effort to defeat Proposal 2 drew heartening and heartfelt support from our straight allies, including the Michigan Federation of Teachers, the United Auto Workers, NARAL, and Planned Parenthood. We need to maintain and to cultivate these relationships with our allies for the struggles to come.
As the December 11 discussion group reflected on how to prepare for future battles, we recognized that our defeats came at the hands of an opposition that was better organized, better funded, and, most of all, better prepared for the battle. We discussed the need to emulate the long term strategic thinking of our adversaries who have used LGBT issues to advance their agenda. We thus saw a critical need for strategic planning to better employ the community resources that already have been developed. We did not see the need for a new organization in the traditional sense but rather for a strategic initiative, a statewide “think thank, that would assess our community needs, resources and goals. The community partners making up the LGB Strategic Planning Team would coordinate a conscious, ongoing and accountable effort to identify an degree upon long terms goals, interim objectives and strategies to attain our goal of full equality. The Strategic Planning Team should draw from our existing and untapped resources so that each participant could contribute according to the participant’s needs and abilities. We envision a Strategic Planning Team that will include women and men; youth, seniors and in-between; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight; community leaders and community volunteers; people of color and people of faith; those with financial assets to contribute and those with time and talent to donate; individuals , couples and families from around the state, both urban and rural. The shared characteristics of Team members will be the skills to contribute to the effort and the willingness to contribute significant time to the process.
At the conclusion of the December 11 meeting, a Strategic Planning Task Force volunteered to develop a process for recruiting those who might comprise the needed Strategic Planning team. We write today to ask you to nominate people to serve as members of this Team. We encourage you to nominate yourself and/or to recommend others hwo share the goal of securing full legal and social equality for Michigan’s LGBT citizens.
Please have y our reponse completed by February 7, 2005. The goal is to launch the strategic Planning team in March 2005. Starting at an initial meeting, the Strategic Planning Team will chart its wn course in support of full legal and social equality for Michigan LGBT citizens.
For more information Contact Howard Israel hisrael248@comcast.net.
Send E-Mail to: pflag_jackson@yahoo.com
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