L-R: Leny Chacon (vice-president of the Cullman County LGBT), Lauren Chacon (social media director), Josh Coleman (president) and Patrick Camp (outreach director)
CULLLMAN – This weekend, the Cullman County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group held a gathering at the Cullman County Democratic headquarters in downtown Cullman. Activists, both LGBT and straight, were in attendance to strategize and to connect with members of their community.
Local activist Donna Clifton said, “I have been fighting for LGBT rights before the laws started to change in their favor.” Clifton says she will never stop fighting to achieve equality because she views the broader LGBT community as her family—making her position clear by stating, “I stand behind my friends and my family.” Clifton is a wedding officiant of all faiths and provided her services to many couples in the states of Florida and Alabama.
When asked about why she thinks Cullman would be receptive to the LGBT community group, Clifton said, “I was very surprised because Cullman has been in the closet for a very long time. I have had relatives that wanted to come out but they were not able to because of the way Cullman looked at LGBT issues. My cousin was a lesbian and never got to come out to Cullman because of the KKK; she was very miserable here and finally left. In my view, she was a sexuality refugee leaving the oppressive south to a more open part of the country.” She continued, saying, “I am glad right now to see people being able to be more open; it truly has been a long time coming.”
Josh Coleman, president of the Cullman County LGBT, formally thanked everyone who came and clarified that the group is not a political group, “We’re just here at the headquarters because it’s a safe place for us to gather, because (the Democrats) support us.” Leny Chacon, vice-president of the Cullman County LGBT, later continued this topic by saying, “We’re trying to have a safe environment for everybody, whether we’re in a building or sitting at the park.”
Things did start to get a little political, however, as Coleman, who is also the president of the North Central Alabama Young Democrats (NCAYD), mentioned the Rainbow Caucus of the state organization. “We cover every county, we drive around doing events… the purpose of the caucus is to get Democrats as well as (LGBT-)friendly Republicans and independents, the few that there are in this state, to support LGBT issues and to fight discrimination laws. We have a voice in Montgomery; we lobby representatives and senators to fight discrimination laws alongside the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).”
A large initiative of the HRC in Alabama is the #NoMoore campaign to get Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore off of the bench for his anti-LGBT views and alleged ethics violations. “Right now he is suspended from the bench and is awaiting trial, which is on the 28th, in Montgomery,” stated Coleman. Not only is the HRC fighting for #NoMoore, says Coleman, but #FurtherMoore is starting to take effect as rumors are swirling that Moore may run for Governor in 2018 as a Republican. “I think that we need to do everything that we can to be loud and proud,” concluded Coleman.
“We started this about a year ago and we haven’t gotten the numbers that we wanted to,” stated Chacon in reference to active members who want to participate in large-scale events. “If we can unite and support each other, then other people will come. If we’re not united and people don’t organize then fear will run rampant,” she said, stressing the importance of not letting members of the LGBT community in Cullman be afraid of what others will think about or do to them. “We can’t have 20 people say that they’re going to show up and it only be me and two other people. That’s not how groups work,” she said, as she continued to stress the importance of being willing to be active in the community and for LGBT people in Cullman to stop being afraid. “We can’t parade the streets of Cullman saying that ‘we’re gay and we’re proud’ without having people willing to walk down the street.”
Clifton chimed in, saying, “It certainly is the fear factor. People tend to have a tendency to fear something that they do not understand; we need to educate the public as to what we are, what we’re about… we’re your next door neighbors; we’re normal people. Once people are familiar with the LGBT community and know who they are, the fear will go away and people within our community will feel safer and would be more willing to participate.”
She then shifted to the successes of the group thus far. “This is a good place to start. This is where we want to build and where we need to build from. The more people that we can talk to, the larger that this group can become. We are the foundation that we can build on.”
Community members interested in joining the Rainbow Caucus are encouraged to attend the NCYAD meeting this Monday at 6 p.m. at the Cullman County Democratic Headquarters. For more information about the Human Rights Campaign or on how to come out, visit www.hrc.org. To learn more about the Cullman County LGBT group, visit their Facebook group at http://qrne.ws/lgbt.
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