Executive director of Equality Texas also announces upcoming training session in Dallas on lobbying legislators on LGBT rights issues
 |
| Paul E. Scott, executive director of Equality Texas |
Paul E. Scott, executive director of Equality Texas and Equality Texas Foundation, was elected by members of the Equality Federation to serve on the organization’s board of directors during the membership’s recent annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.
Scott was also appointed to serve on the Equality Federation Institute board of directors and was tapped to serve as treasurer of both the Equality Federation and the Equality Federation Institute.
Scott joined Equality Texas in March of 2006, after several years as executive director of The Resource Center of Dallas. He moved to the statewide organization’s lead post with the goal of strengthening the organization’s LGBT advocacy across the state.
Scott has served on the Equality Federation finance committee and on the National Workplace Working Group. He also served as a board member of the National Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Centers from 2004 to 2007.
In a written statement released this week, Scott said it is a privilege to be elected to the boards of the two national groups.
Equality Texas also announced this week that the organization will present a North Texas “Equality Project” training on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Resource Center of Dallas, 2701 Reagan St.
The Equality Project aims to educate participants about the current status of public policy issues affecting LGBT Texans, and the training prepares attendees to advocate for policies and legislation that eliminate discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
“Most Texas legislators have a Capitol office in Austin and a district office in their local community,” said Scott. “Establishing a constituent-lawmaker relationship at the district level is an integral part of educating legislators about the effects of public policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Texans.”
Scott said that having constituents visit their lawmakers in person “demonstrates the importance of every child having a safe, loving and permanent home. In-person visits allow one-on-one conversations about policies that would allow employees to do their jobs without fear of being fired or harassed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
“A district office visit empowers a student to explain how devastating bullying and harassment in schools can be,” he continued. “These visits are extremely powerful because they show lawmakers how public policies affect real lives, and they demonstrate the breadth and diversity of people who believe that all Texans should be treated equally under the law, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.”
The upcoming training session in Dallas will provide step-by-step instructions on establishing an in-district relationship with a state representative and state senator, what to expect when making in-person visits and how to communicate information back to Equality Texas in order to advance statewide efforts to end discrimination, Scott explained.
Additional training sessions will be conducted across the state, and the Equality Project will continue through the opening of the next regular session of the Texas Legislature in January of 2009.
The training session will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 26, and will be facilitated by Equality Texas board members Reed Bogle and Dawnetta Miller, and Equality Texas Deputy Director Chuck Smith. Interested parties can register online at www.EqualityTexas.org or call Equality Texas at 512-474-5475.
Equality Texas also recently announced the addition of four new members to the organization’s board of directors.
New board members are: Paul A. Boskind of San Antonio who is chief executive offficer of Deer Oaks, a behavioral health organization; Kim Lair of San Antonio, who is an account executive with Univision Radio; Rob Caballero of Houston, a lawyer who specializes in immigration and nationality law; and Grant Caplan of Houston, who is a partner in a boutique management consulting firm.
This article appeared in the September 14 edition of the Dallas Voice.