GLAD - Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

Victory in the Courts and the Court of Public Opinion - The work of GLAD.

When I think about the number of years I've been a member of GLAD's Board, one of the things that leaps out at me is not how little I really noticed the passage of time. Ten years on the board, eight as an officer, and I am still as excited, committed and engaged as I was when I first joined.

I believe in GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) and the work that we do. That work gives me an opportunity to take part in something truly transformative; something that creates change for me personally, and for the world at large.

Prior to my involvement with GLAD, I was very AIDS-focused. I was in New York in the 80's at the beginning of the AIDS crisis - before we really knew what AIDS was. I remember being in meetings at the upper east side YMCA, and I recall the chill I had when they told us that what we were seeing was the tip of the iceberg. We all felt so frightened and confused.

Many of us felt compelled to act, too. I did a great deal of volunteer work in the area of AIDS/HIV when I lived in New York City and later in Los Angeles and Boston. My experience with HIV/AIDS taught me about people's mindless discrimination, not just against people with AIDS but in general, and I was infuriated. I wanted to fight it; and I knew that I needed to be part of a solution. It became clear, too, that I wanted to get beyond immediate need, that I wanted to act on a more global level.

Around this time the chair of GLAD's Development Committee reached out to me at a GLAD event in Provincetown, due in large part to my background in banking and finance. I became involved, hosted several GLAD events, and later was invited to join the board.

From my perspective, I was "board naïve." I was intrigued and flattered; I like to do things where I learn - things that are new, that are challenging. I saw GLAD as a way to build on the experience I had developed supporting AIDS-related organizations. Supporting legal advocacy was a fascinating new opportunity to me, a very promising way to actively fight discrimination.

Shortly after I joined the Board that promise became crystal clear. GLAD went before the US Supreme Court and won Bradgon v. Abbott, which established federal discrimination protections for people with HIV and AIDS.

The Bragdon victory was a defining moment for me. I found it maddening that a law was passed to protect people with medical problems and disabilities from discrimination, and yet someone could ignore that and deny another human being basic medical care. That this little organization could go to the US Supreme Court and win, that we could make such a tremendous difference in so many people's lives...it feeds the soul to this kind of work.

Of course there were other cases too: dealing with discrimination, privacy, disability insurance, making schools safer for LGBT students, and later marriage. I was, and still am, in awe of GLAD's legal team, and how they start with these early baby steps and build into bigger victories.

What I also love about GLAD is how my involvement has broadened my horizons, and introduced me to issues I'd never engaged before. Take GLAD's work on gender identity and expression. I was very unaware. I had no transgender friends whom I knew of, I wasn't familiar with the issues transgender people faced or how gender identity and expression fit into the bigger picture. But because of my work with GLAD, because of GLAD's leadership, I came to understand that connection.

Marriage had not been a major concern for me, either. Marriage didn't speak to me personally. I don't need that piece of paper. But as GLAD fought for LGBT families, I realized that it's about more than that, about more even than just our families. It's fundamental fairness. Once that realization took hold, the issue began to resonate for me.

I think GLAD has changed a lot of people's minds.

GLAD's efforts create a dialog. GLAD began to work towards equal marriage over a decade ago, before it was really on people's radar. Now its center stage, and it has made so many people into activists. Like the AIDS crisis before it, the fight for equal marriage has galvanized not just the LGBT community but our straight allies. And as people became more active and more visible around marriage, we brought more visibility to our lives as a whole, so there's a ripple effect.

Part of my business experience and expertise has been helping clients re-engineer themselves, to change and grow. You have to be willing to change and grow to remain viable, vital. I've watched GLAD do that and hope that I have played a part in that growth.

In response to changing needs and the challenges we have all faced, GLAD has grown from being a grass-roots, barebones organization to one that has an infrastructure in place so that this talented staff has the resources it needs to be effective. We can do the legal work to prepare cases as well as shape the kind of public dialog need to support them. We have the ability to share our strength with other organizations at a much higher level than we possible when I first joined the Board.

Goodridge was a historic, landmark case, but of course the work didn't end there. GLAD had to adapt and develop new skills to deal with the anti-marriage amendment efforts, and to play a role in defeating that proposed amendment. We were always looking ahead, thinking about how end the discrimination married Massachusetts couples face at the federal level, and where to take the battle for equal marriage next.

I was in Denver when I found out we'd won Goodridge and when I heard that the SJC issued that ruling, I was moved to tears. That ruling gave me faith again, faith that people get it and will ultimately do the right thing.

I'm so proud to be a part of this process. When I first heard that we'd won Goodridge, I thought of what my epitaph in part would read and saw "I had a little bitty part in that," of ending that profound, silly bit of discrimination.

I invite you to join us, to make yourself and your support part GLAD's winning formula. You'll win some, you'll lose some, but in the end you'll have been a part of moving everything forward.