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208 W 13 St
New York, NY 10011

Building Hours

Monday-Saturday
8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday
8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

GETTING IN THE NEWS

You can help keep the conversation about LGBTQ equity front and center in the news. Local press and media outlets are great places to inform your community about current events and let your representatives know where you stand on issues.

Letters to the Editor (LTE)

LTE’s are generally meant to be reactions to an article that was previously written on the Editorial/Op-Ed page of a newspaper or online publication.

  • Make your LTE short and sweet. Aim for it to be less than 200 words.
  • Go for a conversational tone, and make it interesting.
  • Writing about your own experience, in your own words, makes your argument more persuasive.

Opposite the Editorial Page (op-eds)

These are longer than Letters to the Editor and are not necessarily responses to other articles or commentary. Op-eds should be a clear and concise analysis and opinion written with a more professional tone.

Some helpful tips:

  • Start by using a relevant example or personal story to frame your argument.
  • Assess the example by highlighting problems with the current state of affairs for LGBTQ rights.
  • Lay out what a more thoughtful, inclusive approach might be.
  • Incorporate ideas that appeal to core values of justice, equity, freedom and dignity.

Take a look at the RiseOut People’s Platform to help get you started.

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GETTING YOUR COMMUNITY INVOLVED

It’s time to spread the word in your community about the importance of advancing LGBTQ rights. To do that, you’ll need to get people’s attention, and be prepared to share your knowledge, skills and resources to encourage them to participate in LGBTQ advocacy.

Tabling at a Community Event

Tabling is a great way to increase visibility for your cause. Find out if there are opportunities to table at an upcoming event in your neighborhood. This could be a community fair, farmers market or local gathering.

  • Be ready to engage in conversation. Share your motivation for spreading the word about LGBTQ advocacy and create space to hear from other people.
  • Let people know that they can take action. Share information about other events, volunteer opportunities or petitions that support your cause.
  • Take pictures! Use the hashtag #RiseOut if you share them on social media.
  • Use a sign-up form to collect contact information from people who are interested in getting involved with LGBTQ advocacy, or encourage them to text RISEOUT to 69866 to stay informed about ways to take action for LGBTQ rights.

If you’d like to take materials about The Center’s advocacy initiative to your event, email advocacy@gaycenter.org.

Hosting an LGBTQ Action Party

Action parties are a chance for you to invite friends, colleagues and acquaintances in your network to discuss how you can act collectively to make the greatest impact for LGBTQ rights.

  • Don’t assume that everyone’s knowledge is the same. At a minimum, make sure people are familiar with who their elected officials are and be willing to answer questions.
  • Give everyone an opportunity to introduce themselves and share their concerns and experience.
  • Have an activity in mind. This could be be making phone calls to legislators to schedule visits, writing letters to your representatives or brainstorming other actions that you can take as a collective.
  • Set a date for a follow-up meeting or activity so people have a way to continue the effort.

Planning a Town Hall Meeting, Panel Discussion or Presentation

Town halls and other educational events are important ways to raise visibility and awareness, and provide information on an issue.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

  • Work together with a team so you can divide key responsibilities.
  • Determine what the goal of the event is. What’s the main takeaway that you want people to leave with?
  • Choose a few potential dates, then identify partners and key stakeholders to extend invitations to as soon as possible.
  • Reserve an available venue or meeting space early on. Make sure that the space is accessible to the community members that you want to engage.
  • Start outreach to desired panelists, speakers and/or a moderator. These are usually people who have expertise on an issue and can provide an appropriate overview. Have back-up options just in case anything falls through.
  • Recruit volunteers to help greet and check in visitors, as well as to coordinate with invited guests and keep track of time.
  • Have talking points ready that highlight the issue and provide some context for how it can be addressed.
  • Engage local media by sending details about the event and the people who will be attending.
  • Take questions from community members that highlight top issues facing LGBTQ people.
  • Be sure to share the event updates on social media. Use the hashtag #RiseOut.
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LOBBYING YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Meeting your representatives face-to-face requires a little effort, but it goes a long way in demonstrating the impact that policy decisions have on constituents.

Setting the Meeting

Your legislator’s office is open to the public. As a constituent, you can take advantage of this by calling a local office and requesting an in-person meeting.

  • Be prepared to meet with lawmakers or their staff. Often, you may only have the option to meet with staff, so don’t pass up the opportunity.
  • Plan to dedicate about two hours to planning your meeting.
  • For group meetings, assign meeting roles. For example, one person can lead the discussion, another can take notes and someone can keep track of items on your agenda.
  • Have a clear idea of what you’re going to say. You may only get a few minutes to present your points clearly.
  • Practice your elevator pitch where you summarize key points in three minutes or fewer.
  • Prepare relevant questions ahead of time.

Tips During the Meeting

Your goal is to build a relationship with lawmakers and their staff, such that they are willing to listen to your views on an issue.

  • Don’t be late. Showing up late may guarantee that your issues aren’t considered since lawmakers likely won’t wait around for you.
  • Figure out whether the lawmaker has taken a stance on one of your key issues before, and if they have any areas of interest or concern.
  • Be polite and respectful to keep a cordial relationship. You don’t want to burn bridges unnecessarily, even if you disagree with a lawmaker’s stance on an issue.
  • Don’t lie or make up information. Use your story and your credibility to get your point across.
  • Don’t do all the talking. Know when to be a good listener and write down any commitments that are made during the meeting.

Follow-up After Your Meeting

You did it! Now it’s time to follow up with the person or people you met so they know you’re serious about next steps.

  • Take a minute to debrief by discussing with your group how you think the meeting went and what can be done moving forward.
  • Send a note or email to thank them for taking the time to meet with you. Reiterate any commitments that were made during your conversation and share any positive feedback.
  • Provide any answers to questions that you were asked during the meeting.
  • Remember that persistence pays off. Be willing to meet again to share any updates since your last meeting. Expand your coalition to be as broad and as deep as you can!
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