Engaging, vocal and passionate about her work and her community, Stacey Long Simmons is the director of public policy and government affairs for the National LGBTQ Task Force.
Active in various advocacy groups, including being past chair of the DC Commission for Women, Long Simmons strives to never be a "boring policy wonk."
Windy City Times: Tell us about your work as the director of public policy and government affairs.
Stacey Long Simmons: My work is a combination of keeping track of what's happening inside the Washington beltway, while feeling a responsibility as an advocate to have ongoing and frequent conversations with everyday people who don't have access to the information we have. The Task Force is devoting attention to LGBTQ criminal justice, poverty, voting rights, and anti-discrimination issues, in addition to anti-LGBTQ violence, immigration and reproductive rights.
The Hobby Lobby case really afforded us the opportunity to be even more vocal in our support of reproductive justice. It's important for members of the LGBTQ community to stand shoulder to shoulder with other marginalized groups, because our destinies are really intertwined when you think about the ways in which people use religion as a guide to discriminate against us.
WCT: That's interesting to say in light of the no-indictment announcement in Ferguson. There were some LGBT and general organizations that were noticeably silent.
Stacey Long Simmons: I was pleased to see that so many national LGBTQ organizations, including the Task Force, either issued statements or posted something on their blogs in terms of Ferguson. That really affirmed the connectedness that I mentioned earlier. From conversations that I've had, there are many folks who want to be sure that the LGBTQ movement doesn't forget that the civil rights protections that we seek for our own community has a foundation and a debt of gratitude that is owed to past civil-rights groups and, in particular, Black folks and allies who literally shed blood, sweat and tears to be able to allow us to enjoy some of the privileges we have now.
Granted, there have been some setbacks. It's not the first time that we as an organization had to be nuanced in terms of our communications about what's happening in the world. There was a senate vote to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell and it passed, and it was also around the same time the senate failed to proceed on a vote to consider the DREAM Act. I remember the people who were in the galley when that vote happened: some of the DREAMers were queer-identified, undocumented youth and they were crushed, on the other side a group of LGBT people were excited because it was a win. So many instances where intersectionality is really prevalent, really stark, and abundantly apparent; where we're cheering and applauding but disheartened on another front.
WCT: What are some of the Task Force's current initiatives?
Stacey Long Simmons: The Stop Trans Murders initiative comes out of our commitment to shining a light on issues concerning our community's most deeply marginalized members. We did a joint report with the National Center for Transgender Equality called the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. There were incredibly troubling data points that came out with respect to how frequently people are harassed or how they get treated by public civil servants like police officers.
There's such a siege right now on trans women. It touches a nerve for me because I lost my partner, Wanda Alston, to a violent crime in 2005. Whenever there's a loved one who dies, whether it's Michael Brown or any of the too many trans women who are just discarded. … We're finding them in alleys, we're finding them in places where there's no regard for them as human beings with beautiful lights inside them. When we changed our name from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to the National LGBTQ Task Force to be more inclusive—so people could actually see the letters and see themselves as a part of—we adopted the tagline, "Be You," because we feel it's important for people to really own and fully be themselves.
But, the truth of the matter is, it's still incredibly risky for so many. They are exhibiting the bravest of brave when they do. We wanted to make sure people are talking about the value of people's lives, we want to stop the onslaught of murders that have been happening and we want to make sure the loved ones of those who have fallen have support and know that they're not alone. Doing this campaign with the support of local community activists is critical. It's important to ensure that the policy recommendations that our organization is putting forward are authentic and have genuine resonance with the people who are going to have to live these things out.
WCT: Tell us about the upcoming National Conference for LGBT Equality: Creating Change event in February.
Stacey Long Simmons: We're super-thrilled about Creating Change, which we've been doing for over 25 years. We're expecting about 4,000 folks in Denver and we're probably going to reach millions via live streaming. What I love about the conference is that it's a place for people to come and be themselves, pick up tools, learn more about how to be great activists, learn about policy advancements in our community, create alliances, expand networks and do a little bit of flirting. There's no secret that the conference is a place where some hooking up happens.
WCT: Nice! In what arena do you feel the LGBTQ community has made the biggest steps?
Stacey Long Simmons: Time Magazine talked about the transgender tipping point, so I say the ways in which things that were not openly discussed that are now getting mainstream media attention. Deeply marginalized segments of our community are starting to have a platform, like Laverne Cox on the cover of Time.
A lot of the benefit of having marriage-equality wins is that it creates a space for us to talk about the work that still needs to get done. Every time there is another state that we win or a positive ruling, I use it as an opportunity to say, "Yay! That's great for the people that want to get married, but there are still health disparities, still members of our community who are disproportionately poor compared to their cisgender counterparts, still problems around voter ID—and identity documents, period—and problems that surface for trans and gender non-conforming people."
[There are] things that still need to be addressed with policy solutions and cultural change within our community, as well as the broader public mindset. But, I'm optimistic about what the future holds for our movement.
