GetEQUAL
GetEQUAL was, from 2010 to 2018, an American non-profit organization and advocacy group which advocates for LGBT social and political equality through confrontational but non-violent direct action. Mission statement. GetEQUAL's mission was as follows: Our mission is to empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and our allies to take bold action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way. Background. The organization was founded on March 11, 2010, by Robin McGehee of Jackson, Mississippi (she was a co-director of the National Equality  March and the Meet in the Middle March 4 Equality, both of 2009), and Kip Williams of Knoxville, Tennessee as a nationwide alternative to other, older LGBT civil rights advocacy organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign. GetEQUAL was envisioned as a group to establish the continuation of the message presented at the National Equality March which was to hold political leaders accountable for their campaign promises to the LGBT community as well as broaden this effort at the grassroots level. The message was a focus on recently elected officials in the presidency as well as the congressional leaders in  power at the time which consisted of the Democrat house and senate majority leadership. The organization was launched into the national spotlight when McGehee participated with Lt. Dan Choi and Captain Jim Pietrangelo in a March 18, 2010, protest on the sidewalk in front of the White House lawn; all three were arrested by Washington, D.C., police after handcuffing themselves to the White House fence. It has since protested against the don't ask, don't tell (DADT) policy of the United States military and in favor of ENDA and UAFA, neither of which have passed a congressional vote as  of October 2010. Organizational actions. GetEQUAL issued travel alerts for LGBT travelers, particularly targeting places in which laws or government actions threaten to discriminate against or impact the safety of LGBT people. Local branches issued travel alerts for San Antonio (when, in 2013, the city council threatened unsuccessfully to strike down a municipal non-discrimination ordinance) and Mississippi (when, in 2014, the state legislature worked on a bill which would allow business owners to refuse service to customers on religious grounds). Public and LGBT community reaction. While many events have resulted in arrests for minor misdemeanors, the general public and  news media have taken increasing notice of their activities and have often resulted in responses made by congressional leaders with some local success. Within the LGBT community, critics have objected to the tactics of GetEQUAL as annoyances that may hurt the LGBT cause by criticizing the political party they view as having done most everything politically possible with the way politics actually operate from a pragmatic viewpoint. GetEQUAL has addressed these critics by clarifying the expectations being requested by leaders and addressing it from the viewpoint of promises and statements made by these leaders even though they may not have  had the actual capability of fulfilling them. More recently, they have engaged these leaders in meetings where possible and when allowed. Supporters in the LGBT community support the efforts to remind people of LGBT issues—feeling that the majority are still unaware of many LGBT issues like continued lack of work protections and the forgetting of broken promises made by politicians. The organization's more recent activities, even before the election have quelled some of these criticisms within the community by addressing politicians like republican Senator John McCain in Arizona demonstrating their focus on LGBT rights and holding the current  leadership and obstructionists accountable, regardless of party. After the 2010 congressional elections, media attention increased due to the apparent dissatisfaction by lower LGBT voter turnout and an ongoing emphasis of DADT repeal was combined with the Trevor Project's It Gets Better Project. Once considered a wedge issue, DADT is now considered to hold out some promise as a bipartisan pilot issue that may gain traction on other needed and critical civil liberties such as equal employment rights, equal tax deductions, and granting stop gap solutions for families separated solely based on their LGBT identity.