“If you don’t come, they won’t hear you,”says Representative Larry Turner to an assembled group of lobbyists from the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP). “If you don’t speak, they won’t hear you. They will pretend you don’t exist.”
And for this exact reason, on February 21, people from across the state came to the capitol in order to speak directly to their representatives and lobby for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights in Advancing Equality Day on the Hill.
For example, an amendment to the Tennessee state constitution is being put up for referendum in the next election which would invalidate the homosexual marriages of any couple which chose to live in Tennessee. In other words, if you move here, you’re no longer married (http://tnequalityproject.com/assets/SJR0031.pdf).
It is for reasons like this that we have TEP in the first place, to identify the aspects of inequality which remain in the law from earlier times (such as the laws which make it illegal for a transsexual to change the gender on their birth certificate) or to combat new threats to American civil rights such as that awaiting referendum today.
However, the only way to affect these changes, is to keep in contact with your local representative, because no matter what your age is, or whether you can vote, or whether you voted them into office, they accept your opinion as being a representative of many other opinions left unvoiced.
Your representatives will almost always stand by and represent the opinions of their constituents. This is the reason that some representatives, such as Gary Odom, hold open forums to resolve conflicts of the constituency and self (a clear reflection of his stance that “gay marriage is an issue in which there must be a lot more communication and understanding discussion”).
So even if you can’t vote, you can influence public opinion either way. As for Rep. Odom, he recommends that anyone wishing to have an active role in our local policy, should hold him to his commitment to hold these meetings and encourage them by attending, and always stay in touch. Because even though representatives can receive as many as 750 emails a night, adding your name to the list is the best way to make sure your voice is heard.
For more information see, http://tnequalityproject.com/index.php