News Blog

Staff Spotlight: Christine (CO)

1/14/2021

Spotlight showcases the work of NEAT supporters who are the backbone of what we do every day for LGBTQ+ Justice.

NAME: Christine

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

AGE: 49

STATE: Colorado

Tell us about yourself outside of NEAT! (e.g. work, family, hobbies)
I am a single mother of a hilarious almost 13 year old boy and wrangler of our menagerie which includes a dog, snake, frogs and fish. I am also a lawyer in the juvenile court system representing the best interests of youth who do not have an available or appropriate guardian, as well as the executive director for a small foundation focusing on support of arts and education. Hanging out with my son, reading, outdoor exercise, singing and baking / cake decorating are some things I enjoy.

What's your connection to LGBTQ+ Justice work?
As a member of the LGBTQ community, an ally of the community and having worked in the justice system with many LGBTQ youth, the connections run deep. I know the issues which affect one underrepresented or disenfranchised group affect all of them, and working on the justice piece will lead to a better society and world for us all.

What is your staff role(s) at NEAT? What inspired you to get involved?
My primary role has been to run the HelpLine for NEAT for the past three months. The policy director at NEAT is a dear friend, and he made the initial connection for me when Justice Ginsberg passed away and I was looking for a way to help make a difference.

Share a memory from your work that sticks out in your mind.
One conversation in particular was with an older gentleman from the Northeast who volunteered at least three times per week during the Georgia runoff campaign. He was unfamiliar with the calling system but stuck with it and we had at least two conversations each week about the impact of volunteering and how he had been active as a volunteer for organizations for over 50 years. It was very inspiring!

What would you say to anyone considering volunteering with NEAT?
Absolutely do it. You will be part of the change in making the world a better place and working with some really fantastic people in the process.

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NEAT Helps Turn Out Historic Number of Georgia Runoff Voters

1/9/2021

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A record breaking 4.4+ million votes were cast in the Georgia runoff election and NEAT was proud to play an important part in reaching that milestone. Through NEAT’s Virtual Phone Bank program, volunteers made almost 200,000 dials to reach just under 100,000 voters in a little over one month. To accomplish this we partnered with Pro Georgia, a coalition of local Georgia progressive groups, to target these calls and manage hundreds of their volunteers. We also built a national coalition of 30+ groups that included URGE, SAVE, PFLAG, LULAC and others to bring in more volunteers and host remote phone bank parties.

Hersheda Patel, Director of Data from ProGeorgia said “NEAT has been an amazing partner [to ProGeorgia] during the Georgia Federal Runoff Election! They lent their amazing community outreach infrastructure and shared their network of active volunteers with Georgia. We hope to make this a lasting partnership as we continue to build progressive power coalitions for our shared communities in 2021 and beyond.”

Volunteers contributed an amazing 1500+ hours to this campaign. NEAT ran daily phone banks for over a month where volunteers accessed OnDemand video training and made calls whenever it was most convenient for them. In addition, partners organized virtual house parties so volunteers could dial together and provide support. The campaign initially focused on registering new voters, especially those who turned 18 after the November election. That turned into “get out the vote (GOTV)” calls where we provided information about how to request absentee ballots, vote early in person, and navigate Georgia’s strict voter ID laws to ensure that every vote would be counted on election day.

“It was so inspiring to see people across the country come together to make calls for Georgia day after day; during lunch breaks, after classes and any free time in between,” explained Christine Thornton, NEAT’s Field Organizer. "I couldn’t be more proud of everyone who helped make this happen.”

At a time when the COVID 19 pandemic continues to rage nationwide, NEAT volunteers made an important contribution to safer voting by increasing absentee and early in person turnout amongst the 4.4+ million people who cast their ballots on January 5 -- a record that exceeds the 2.1 million ballots cast in a 2008 Georgia Senate runoff. This was NEAT’s last field campaign of 2020 and its 44th campaign since the organization began. Onward to more Justice in 2021!

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Intersections: Getting the Census Done Right

10/13/2020

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Intersections highlights NEAT’s work on issues that traditionally have not been seen as LGBTQ+. These issues, while not exclusive to our community, often disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ people. Check out all our issues here.

What’s Happening with the Census Right Now and How is NEAT involved?
A recent court ruling bars the census from ending early, but the Trump administration has appealed it and the fate of the current census remains uncertain. Therefore, NEAT is proud to endorse a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate recently by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (Hawaii-D), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska-R), and Dan Sullivan (Alaska-R). If passed, the bill would extend all of the statutory deadlines for the Census by four months, and require that field work continue through the end of this month. A companion bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives.

The 2020 Census was understandably and undeniably impacted by the COVID pandemic. Most of the country was on lockdown during the peak time that the Census should have been conducted. The current administration wants to end the Census in October and call it done. Obviously, there are grave concerns that an improper census will negatively impact an unknown number of people in the country in an unknown variety of ways.

What is the U.S. Census and Why is it Important?
The law requires that (nearly) everyone in the country be counted every 10 years. This is important because it makes population the directive of how many seats are in the House of Representative and where, and how over $1 trillion in US taxpayer dollars are spent. But, in addition, the data has a considerable impact on an entire bucket of other issues, like business decisions in the private sector, diversity and inclusion assessments, healthcare projections, academic analyses, and the list goes on.

The original Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution reads:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Note that the original document said the count must include all “free Persons,” but excluded indigenous people (unless they paid taxes) and only count all others (e.g., enslaved people) as 3/5 of a person.

In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified which modified the language to be:
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.

Now, the only exclusion is non-taxed indigenous people--everyone else is counted (“whole number of persons”). It’s important that both the original and the revision have broad language when referring to people--neither say citizens.

What about LGBTQ+ Individuals and the Census?
In recent years, there are progressive calls to include “SOGI” data in the census. SOGI is an acronym for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Unfortunately, that was not realized for this census, but we can continue to press for SOGI data to be included in 2030. A well-known quote on the topic of demographic data: “You have to be counted to count.”

Even though Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) data is not yet included, it is imperative that the Census be completed as thoroughly and accurately as possible. Once that battle has been won, we can move on to improving future cycles.

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Staff Spotlight: Christine (CO)

NEAT Helps Turn Out Historic Number of Georgia Runoff Voters

Intersections: Getting the Census Done Right

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