While
gay
leaders
evaluated
dozens
of
national
strategies
to
consider
in
the
fight
for
gay
rights
during
last
week’s
Creating
Change
conference
in
St.
Louis,
many
advocated
for
a
greater
focus
on
state
and
local
issues.
The
17th
annual
conference
—
organized
by
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force
—
included
about
2,500
organizers
from
gay
rights
groups
across
the
country
reviewing
legislative
strategies
for
the
upcoming
years.
The
conference
came
on
the
heels
of
a
national
election
in
which
11
state
constitutional
amendments
banning
gay
marriage
—
and
in
some
instances
any
legal
recognition
of
gay
relationships
—
were
overwhelmingly
approved
by
voters.
Gay
activists
said
similar
amendments
are
likely
in
Mississippi
and
Florida,
and
the
Massachusetts
Legislature
will
once
again
debate
and
vote
on
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
gay
marriage,
which
is
currently
legal
in
that
state.
Lorri
L.
Jean,
executive
director
of
the
Los
Angeles
Gay
&
Lesbian
Center,
said
the
greatest
gains
for
gay
rights
over
the
years
have
been
at
the
state
and
local
level
and
in
the
courts.
Jean,
who
was
formerly
the
Task
Force
director,
offered
up
California’s
General
Assembly
and
new
Republican
governor,
Arnold
Schwarzenegger,
as
a
model
of
a
state
government
favorable
to
gay
rights.
“Our
assembly
is
primarily
comprised
of
Democrats
and
moderate
Republicans,
and
there’s
not
a
ton
of
anti-gay
fervor,”
Jean
said.
“We
have
an
unprecedented
gay
caucus
in
our
assembly,
and
we
have
a
Republican
governor
who
is
not
anti-gay
and
has
shown
himself
to
be
more
responsive
to
our
issues
than
our
former
governor,
Gray
Davis,
even
though
[Davis]
had
courted
us
for
years.
“I
have
long
thought
a
moderate
Republican
governor
would
get
more
done
for
us
simply
because
Republicans
want
him
to
stay
so
they
don’t
scream
too
much
at
him
and
Democrats
agree
with
many
of
his
policies,”
she
said.
Jean
added
that
she
is
concerned
an
anti-gay
marriage
amendment
might
be
introduced
and
put
to
California
voters
in
2006.
“Time
will
tell
what
happens,
but
when
you
put
our
civil
rights
up
for
a
vote,
it’s
awfully
hard
to
prevail
when
it
comes
to
marriage
at
this
stage
of
the
game.”
Some
activists
pointed
to
Connecticut
as
another
example
of
a
state
taking
on
gay
rights
issues
in
a
local
and
measured
way.
The
Connecticut
Legislature
may
consider
a
civil
unions
bill
when
it
reconvenes
in
January.
The
bill
would
likely
have
support
from
Democrats,
who
hold
strong
majorities
in
both
houses,
and
possibly
from
Republican
Gov.
M.
Jodi
Rell
and
House
Minority
Leader
Robert
Ward,
who
have
indicated
they
might
be
willing
to
expand
rights
for
gay
couples,
though
they
both
oppose
gay
marriage,
according
to
the
Danbury
News
Times.
Anne
Stanback,
president
of
Love
Makes
a
Family,
a
Connecticut-based
gay
rights
group,
said
she
also
expects
to
see
a
marriage
bill
introduced.
Stanback
said
same-sex
marriage
bills
have
been
introduced
in
previous
years
but
have
never
made
it
out
of
committee.
Stanback
said
that
more
education
and
lobbying
needs
to
be
done
on
the
state
level.
She
attributes
this
strategy
to
the
success
of
her
group.
“While
Connecticut
has
a
long
history
of
providing
equality
for
all
its
minority
citizens,
we
began
the
debate
over
gay
rights
in
the
legislature
and
that
has
been
helpful
to
us,”
said
Stanback,
who
attended
the
weekend
conference.
“In
other
states,
where
there
has
been
success
in
the
courts,
you
still
have
to
go
back
to
the
legislature,”
Stanback
said.
“Once
we
have
a
win
in
the
courts,
the
legislature
won’t
feel
they
need
to
take
that
away
from
us.
“But
every
state
has
to
look
at
its
political
realities
and
given
what
we
thought
we
could
do
in
Connecticut,
we
thought
ours
was
a
very
productive
strategy
in
part
because
it
is
an
opportunity
to
involve
constituents
in
terms
of
building
a
grassroots
movement.
It’s
hard
to
do
that
when
the
issue
is
being
played
out
in
the
courts.”
Keith
Boykin,
a
White
House
special
assistant
in
the
Clinton
administration
and
a
member
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition,
said
meeting
participants
were
“fired
up”
and
ready
to
be
“motivated
and
active,”
adding
that
it
was
important
for
the
gay
activists
to
have
a
multi-pronged
strategy
—
pushing
for
marriage,
fighting
for
civil
unions
—
similar
to
tactics
employed
during
the
black
civil
rights
struggle
of
the
1950s
and
‘60s.
“Pushing
for
civil
unions,
some
would
say,
seems
like
accepting
second-class
citizenship,
but
we
need
a
multi-pronged
strategy,”
said
Boykin,
who
attended
the
meeting.
“It’s
not
an
either-or
strategy.
During
the
civil
rights
struggle,
Dr.
King
pushed
for
a
more
moderate
agenda
than
Malcolm
X,
but
both
men
needed
each
other
in
many
ways.
For
civil
unions
to
have
been
taken
seriously,
marriage
had
to
be
pushed
to
the
agenda.”
Transgender
issues
were
also
addressed
at
the
meeting.
Mara
Keisling,
the
founding
executive
director
of
the
National
Center
for
Transgender
Equality
who
attended
the
weekend
meeting,
said
trans
rights
activists
have
done
a
great
job
at
keeping
a
grassroots
focus,
adding
that
she
hoped
to
see
a
continuation
of
that
approach
next
year.
“While
it
is
important,
we
don’t
believe
that
Washington
is
where
it
all
happens,”
Keisling
said.
“Next
year,
we
would
like
to
see
a
lot
of
local
activists
working
on
access
to
homeless
shelters
for
trans
people
and
we’d
...
