Who We Are ...

The Western Massachusetts LGBT Political Alliance is a community-based volunteer political action committee formed to promote and secure full civil rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexual people, and transgender people at the local, state, and national levels.

Our goals are:

•  To increase awareness of political issues of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people among the general public, elected officials, candidates, and the media

•  To provide information about political issues of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people among the general public, elected officials, candidates, and the media

•  To encourage active and informed participation in the political process by all LGBT people and allies

•  To build coalitions with other progressive and social justice organizations

The Political Alliance focuses on such issues as:

•  Passage of civil rights laws protecting people from discrimination, harassment, or violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression

•  Same-sex civil marriage rights

•  Passage of hate crime legislation protecting LGBT people

•  Defense against campaigns to eliminate laws protecting LGBT people and families from discrimination or harassment

•  Defense against campaigns to amend the state and U.S. constitutions to exclude LGBT people and families from legal protection

•  Support for programs to assist schools in protecting LGBT and questioning youth from discrimination and harassment

The Political Alliance was founded in 1991 and serves constituencies in the four counties in Western Massachusetts : Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin , and Berkshire .

Political Alliance Activities Include:

•  Providing membership with periodic action alerts when legislators or other public officials need to hear from constituents about impending legislation or other actions that affect the rights of LGBT people

•  Organizing, sponsoring, and participating in educational programs about political issues of concern for LGBT people

•  Surveying candidates for local and state office about their positions on issues that affect LGBT people and publicly endorsing supportive candidates

•  Lobbying local, state, national legislators about issues of concern to LGBT people

•  Providing information and interviews to the local media for stories on LGBT-related political topics

•  Meeting with other social justice organizations in Western Massachusetts to develop effective coalitions to promote progressive political causes

•  Responding publicly to local incidents of discrimination, harassment, or violence directed at LGBT people

•  Grassroots organizing to educate the general public about issues of concern to LGBT people and to influence participation in the political process, through voter identification, voter registration, and get out the vote efforts

The Political Alliance can most effective in meeting our goals with participation from the community. We need volunteers to join us to help plan and carry out our activities and we need financial contributions to enable the Alliance to support and extend our efforts on behalf of LGBT people in Western Massachusetts . Please contact the Alliance to volunteer your time or donate your money to help us achieve our goals.