What Do I Need to Do?

This kit contains the materials you need to set up a meeting with your state representative or senator. The time commitment is not large – generally, a meeting with your legislator should last no more than 15 minutes, and the total preparation time can take as little as one hour. Basically, we are asking you to do the following:

1. Read through our materials on lobbying your legislator.
2. Talk to your friends—recruit a team of people who are also interested in lobbying their representatives.
3. Review the background information on each of the bills affecting the LGBT community this session.
4. Let us know what issue(s) you and your team would like to bring to your representative so that we can keep track and also provide you with suggestions for the meetings.
5. Each group should call up their legislator's district office to schedule an appointment. We'll supply your legislator's contact information and past voting records if needed.
6. Visit your legislator.
7. Fill out and send us a Response Form for yourself and each of your team members so that we can track district visits and take into account your feedback and impressions. Without the feedback form, we have no way of measuring our success in generating constituent contact. Also, you may have a conversation with your elected official that will be helpful to our lobbying efforts.