Organizing for Change

Abstract

SUMMARY This article illustrates a multilevel process of organizing for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights carried out by concerned citizens in Louisville, Kentucky. It describes how a grassroots campaign, the Fairness Campaign, lobbied successfully for a local ordinance protecting GLBT rights in Louisville. Broader implications for advocacy and organizing efforts include an understanding that significant change requires coalition building and systemic intervention, that organizers need to be ready to take advantage of key opportunities to take action, and that action must be sustained even beyond victory.