Dan Fotou

Special to Desert Outlook

The 2014 midterm elections brought some sour news for Democrats. Though historically the Dems have favored equal rights, legislation has been slow to reflect this for the better part of three decades. Only in the last six years have we seen momentum build toward full equality, and now, with the shift to a Republican majority in Congress, that pace may begin to slow as the future of LGBT Americans hangs in the balance.

Since 2009 there have been numerous victories: the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell; the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to overturn section three of the Defense of Marriage Act; President Obama's signing of the long-awaited federal employment nondiscrimination executive order; hate crimes legislation; hospital visitation rights; and the legal right for same-sex couples to marry in a majority of states.

What lingers are employment protections, housing and public accommodations protections, safe schools legislation, marriage equality in all 50 states, access to credit without discrimination, and the right for transgender service members to serve openly. To get there, it is essential to win the hearts and minds of those living in many Southern, Midwestern and Great Plains states where few equal rights exist for LGBT residents.

To help bridge the gap and reach beyond the gay ghettos, last spring several civil rights organizations shifted their focus to address the oft-overlooked LGBTQ contingent in the oft-forgotten rural communities.

The Human Rights Campaign launched Project One America, an $8.5 million initiative that for the next three years is focusing on three key Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

And for the next five years, Colorado-based philanthropist and millionaire Tim Gill plans to invest $25 million in conservative states where few to no legal protections exist. He will do this through his political advocacy groups, the Gill Foundation and the Gill Action Fund, according to the New York Times.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union is expected to commit resources at local and state levels to ensure civil rights are protected. And the National Center for Lesbian Rights has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Rural Pride initiative that was launched in May 2014.

Together, these organizations are taking a softer approach in the fight for full equality as compared to the 1960s when Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and boycotts became effective tools in the fight for civil rights.

HRC has opened offices in each of its three identified states and hired 20 field personnel to hold "front porch meetings" with local business owners, community and faith leaders, and friends and families of LGBTQ people. This approach is based on the theory that people are more likely to support full equality once they've met an LGBTQ person or acknowledged they have an LGBTQ family member.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights' Rural Pride initiative is creating a policy action network by connecting on-the-ground organizers with policymakers to provide an active voice in the policy-making process.

"We have organized a series of summits across the country to elevate the work that has already been done in these areas," says Maya Rupert, NCLR's policy director. "[We're] showcasing their work, raising the visibility and making sure they're equipping policymakers with experts."

Gill's advocacy organizations, the ACLU and smaller state-based organizations are lobbying for statewide nondiscrimination ordinances addressing employment, housing and same-sex parent adoptions. Additionally, Gill's groups are allocating funds for support, research, and polling of LGBTQ-specific legislation and candidates for public office.

Although the Democrats lost big in November, HRC Vice President of Communications Fred Sainz said on the day following elections that "Each and every openly-LGBT member of Congress running for re-election won last night … There was not a single race where supporting LGBT equality cost an elected official their seat, and the Republicans who were victorious tended to avoid LGBT issues altogether."

This is a distinct shift from past elections, including George W. Bush's 2004 campaign when he put the LGBTQ community in the crosshairs by proclaiming, "Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society."

As recently as the 2008 presidential campaign, LGBTQ "allies" refused to support marriage equality, while even the mention of full equality sent them running for the hills. Today, however, it is clear that failing to support the LGBTQ community has become a real factor in whether or not a campaign succeeds.

The recent election results are not expected to have a significant negative impact on HRC's Project One America or recent shift to lobbying for a full equality bill, according to Sainz. "Our strategy in unchanged," he says. "We view this as an opportunity to reach out to and educate a whole new group of members of Congress. Our work in the South is based on changing hearts and minds and gaining enduring legal protections in those states."

While these groups have adopted a less abrasive approach, direct action continues to be used by organizations like GetEQUAL.

"GetEQUAL has been working in the South since we started in 2010," says Heather Cronk, co-director. "Given that both co-founders and one of the current co-directors are all from the South, we deeply understand the region. However, we're working closely there with groups like Southerners on New Ground (SONG) and others who have been doing frontline justice work for over a generation."

Regarding funding for smaller organizations like SONG, Cronk says, "While I'm glad that organizations and funders are now realizing that the South is an important place to do this work, what's even more necessary is for these groups and funders to support groups that are deeply rooted in and committed to the region, and that have ample leaders at the ready if there were only the resources to support them."