Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force (PLGTF)
Summary 2002-2004
The Task Force is civil and human rights advocacy organization nationally recognized for principled leadership, tenacity, vision, and results. Our work is focused on law, public policy, and the development of public education and mass media as critical elements in the long process of social change. Our message is simple and clear. Bigotry and prejudice have no place in law or in a free society. Whether the result of public policy or individual animus, discrimination and violence are morally wrong and must end. Individuals and institutions can choose to exercise moral agency to support the expansion and enforcement of civil and human rights or elect to ignore and exacerbate human suffering.
Over a near 25-year history/herstory (1978), the Task Force has supported the rights of all oppressed minorities, with a particular focus on the civil and human rights of gay men and lesbian women as well as transgendered and/or bisexual people. Through the processes of labor-intensive research, public policy advocacy, and community organizing strategies, we have nurtured dialogue and collaborations with gay and non-gay organizations, minority and non-minority, and convened and participated in a wide range of public interest projects to reach common goals.
Task Force organizing efforts have resulted in the establishment of local laws and statewide executive policies to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations as well as the establishment of local and statewide policies to prohibit discrimination in employment and educational programs in grades K through 16 (1). Multidimensional efforts to focus mainstream media attention on minority issues and to assure the reflection of diverse communities in employment, programming and news coverage while successful, in part, have been eclipsed by the government's deregulatory fervor. In contrast, new technologies, e.g. the Internet, have enabled an extraordinary leap in public discourse about minority issues - while mainstream broadcast and print have lagged behind in representation and in coverage (2).
Overall, despite hard-won gains in Pennsylvania, lesbian and gay people as well as bisexual and transgendered people have no statutory civil rights protections at the statewide level or federal level (3). With important exceptions, mainstream media and education - public and private - continue to suppress or distort public discourse about our lives. In July 2000, the Task Force released its fourth statewide Pennsylvania-wide Study of Discrimination and Violence (Larry Gross, Ph.D. with Steven Aurand). Across all geographic locations, more than one of every two respondents has suffered sexual orientation discrimination over their lifetimes. Over a lifetime, across the Commonwealth, more than one of every two gay men and more than one of every four lesbian women has experienced hate-motivated criminal violence. Nearly 60% of gay respondents and 36% of lesbian respondents reported abuse by classmates and/or teachers. The study also found that Philadelphia African American women and men were far more likely to experience discrimination and criminal violence than their white counterparts. Across all locations, the majority of the sample reported high levels of fear of discrimination and of concealment to avoid discriminatory treatment. Anecdotal evidence demonstrates similar patterns of gender-based harassment and violence towards people who identify as transgendered or/and bisexual (4). It is of deep concern that these data have changed very little over the last decade, a fact that reveals the political and economic strength of our enemies and the killing passivity of our "friends," each safe absent focused community activism, engagement, and visible challenge to the establishment's malignant neglect.
In 2002, the Task Force's organization program objectives include the following components: The Equality Project (the Initiative), the Public Education Project, and the Mass Media Project. Proportionate to funding levels, the Task Force will sustain the Discrimination and Violence Hotline (1985) to support callers, to give appropriate and useful resources, and to provide direct intervention and oversight on a case-by case basis. PLGTF will organize and support a series of educational briefings about the Year 2000 Study of Discrimination and Violence and long-proposed legal remedies with senior level policymakers in law, government, education, and mass media. In collaboration, with teachers' unions and with education advocates, plgtf will support efforts to obtain quality funding for public education and the implementation and enforcement of now established non-discrimination education regulations and multiracial-cultural-gender fair equity policies. In concert, the Task Force will sustain the Philadelphia Television PSA Project and will negotiate public interest briefings with new media managers. We will produce an average of one to two 30-second PSAs per year which will broadcast on six television stations serving the tri-state area. If funded, the project will expand to the Harrisburg and Pittsburgh markets tripling outreach, and so too, project costs.
Neither discrimination nor violence occurs in a social, economic, or political vacuum. The Task Force's demonstrated civil and human rights efforts reflect a systematic and integrated problem solving approach to eliminate barriers to full equality and to address the social attitudinal biases that fuel discrimination and violence against our community. The Task Force's near-25 year expertise in research, public policy advocacy, community organizing, coalition building, and litigation, has generated a strong base on which to build and expand exponentially renewed efforts to reach shared human rights goals among oppressed minority groups.
The Task Force's minimum annual operating budget is $178,000/year. A critically needed capacity building budget hovers at $350,000/year permitting staff expansion and a long-awaited office in Harrisburg.
We have a long way to go, and we need your financial support and volunteer participation, if you can, to get the job done. In solidarity,
Rita Addessa, Executive Director. Sandy Henise, M.Ed. Linda Martin. Paul Thomas, Ed.D. Initiative Chairs. _________
NOTES:
[1]. Important milestones include the expansion of civil rights laws in Philadelphia County (1982); Harrisburg (1983); Pittsburgh (1989); Lancaster (1991); York (1993), and soon Erie County, each propelled by local communities. Important education milestones include the adoption of statewide education regulations (not yet statute) to prohibit discrimination in employment and in educational programs, the adoption of a first time Statement of Equity Principles to support gender-fair, multiracial and cultural curricula in 501 school districts and Policy 102 in Philadelphia.
[2]. See, for instance: Larry Gross. Up From Invisibility: Gays, Lesbians,
and the Media in America.
Columbia University Press 2001. See, also, Task Force media reports at
www.plgtf.org
[3]. For information about the Pennsylvania Civil Rights Initiative, please go to www.plgtf.org. Please also see PLGTF Comparison of U.S.A. Statewide Civil Rights Statutes that Include Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression, 1982-2001.
[4]. See the PLGTF Study at www.plgtf.org. See Transgender Equality at www.ngltf.org and www.nclrights.org.
Please Give Generously Today
Plgtf relies on the generosity of individuals, community and business groups, and progressive institutions to support its work. We welcome your tax-deductible contribution, monthly or annually, by check or credit card by mail or by phone.
Contact Information:
PLGTF at the Friends Center 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479 Discrimination and Violence Hotline 215-772-2000 and In Pennsylvania toll free: 1-877-PRIDE-2000 plgtf@plgtf.org and www.plgtf.org Membership Information: Annual Memership $ 10 / year Major Gift Donor $100 / year Honor Roll Donor $500 / year Organization $100 / year Business $365 / year