Day 18
We love New Orleans! Today we met with Mary Griggs and Kenny Tucker from Forum for Equality; and Crystal Little from the New Orleans LGBT Community Center. These were great interviews that gave us a better understanding of the struggle for queer equality in Louisiana.
The Forum for Equality is doing great work in New Orleans and throughout the state. Currently, the city of New Orleans is the only place where LGBTQ people are protect from job discrimination. But the Forum for Equality is working to pass ordinances in cities across the state. Unfortunately, a state-wide employment non-discrimination bill doesn’t seem likely any time soon, as Louisiana has an socially conservative governor.
Crystal talked to us about the transgender community in New Orleans and across the South. Things are tough down here. There is a lot of work to be done. If we are working to pass the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) on a national level, it must include gender identity and expression. The LGB community cannot leave our trans brothers and sisters behind. You can’t spell equality without the T!
We met lots of fun people in New Orleans and had a blast getting to know the city a little bit. The folks we talked with told us about how the hurricane affected their lives and the local LGBT community. It seems like things are starting to get back to normal in the Big Easy. Hopefully, we’ll be back soon.
