The GLBT community in San Diego is networking like never before. The San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council (CLC), started in November of last year, is a collaboration of executive directors, board members and representatives from numerous GLBT and GLBT-friendly organizations throughout San Diego County that meet at The Center once a month to pool resources and harness the energy of San Diego’s thriving GLBT community. Over 50 organizations already participate, and the CLC is looking for more, from every segment of the community.

“The idea for the CLC came from discussions Delores Jacobs [executive director of The Center] and I had last spring after being approached by a number of community leaders who shared our desire to see a more united LGBT community with greater reach and greater impact,” said Robert Gleason, chair of The Center’s board of directors. “But, to do that, we need to know each other better first, know who to call, know what each organization does and its capacity, share information about events, leverage tight resources, collaborate on programs and services, and work together on issues of community-wide concern. Together we are better, stronger, louder and more powerful.”

“For at least the last decade we have seen ballot initiative after proposed legislation after negative media coverage; each one targeting a different ‘minority’ group,” said Dale Kelly Bankhead, co-chair of San Diegans Against Marriage Discrimination and public affairs director for the San Diego ACLU, who is a member of the CLC. “The lesson learned from these experiences is ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall.’”

In addition to the current marriage equality movement, the united efforts of the GLBT community and its allies helped defeat Proposition 54 – the “racial privacy initiative” – in October, and similar efforts dampened late California Senator Pete Knight’s campaign to recall AB 205 last year. Gleason and Bankhead agreed that the GLBT community has demonstrated its power to coordinate and collaborate successfully.

“But we must continue our outreach efforts and our coalition building to improve the voting patterns of the LGBT community, to continue progress towards marriage equality, and to gain full and equal civil rights for all members of our community,” Gleason added. “For me, there could be no greater goal than a mature LGBT community that is honestly inclusive of all its diverse members; is able to offer all of the programs and services its members desire; and is united in causes of justice and civil rights.”

CLC coordinators estimate that 50 percent of the GLBT community in San Diego does not read GLBT publications, does not live close enough to Hillcrest to access many of the GLBT centers located there and cannot participate as fully as they may wish to in the GLBT community. One of the CLC’s outreach objectives is to mobilize and connect this portion of the community; another is to strategize opportunities for the younger GLBT community, allowing upcoming leaders to develop their skills and potential.

“The Victory Fund will be more able to identify potential leaders to run for public elected or appointed offices; raise funds for outstanding public officials; and keep our seats at the table by utilizing the communications and marketing savvy of the council,” said CLC member Bill Beck, who represents the Victory Fund, in an emailed statement. “In a perfect world, the council would become the heart and soul of the LGBT community; the group that could provide advise and counsel; the research house that would understand our special needs in a rapidly changing world; the group to determine the means to keep worthy and worthwhile organizations operating when financial and administrative problems occur; the testing group for future leaders; the communications vehicle to educate others about us.”

CLC members include the NAACP, the Diversionary Theatre, the San Diego Police Academy, the San Diego Men’s Chorus, the American Lung Association, United Way, Lambda Letters, the leather community, the San Diego Labor Council, Immigration Equality, Planned Parenthood, Front Runners and UCSD, among others.

The concept for the CLC has been attempted several times in the past, Gleason said, but the timing was right last November to try again.

“When I saw the announcement from The Center that the leadership council was being formed, I was thrilled to see that our community was working to organize the many LGBT and LGBT-friendly organizations in San Diego,” said Joyce Marieb, executive director of the Greater San Diego Business Association, another CLC member. “GSDBA alone represents 700 businesses or business professionals. … Getting to know each organization and the mission of each is in itself a value to all. The more knowledge we have of one another the better we can meet the needs and aspirations of all.”

The CLC brings members up to speed on the issues facing each as individual agencies and as members of the community as a whole; everything from the national marriage equality movement to the needs of the smallest nonprofit startup are brought to the table. The council is broken into committees for membership and GLBT community outreach, community information/calendar and communications, fundraising, outreach beyond the GLBT community and public policy.

Initially, participants become familiar with each other’s membership, leadership structure, mission, events, resources and needs. All information gathered at the meetings is catalogued for council members to access. The calendar on The Center’s website serves as the central community events calendar for all CLC agencies.

“Already, we’ve seen the number of monthly events go from around 10 – almost all Center-sponsored – to around 50,” Gleason said. “This should be a one-stop solution for both community members looking for information about events and also for organizations planning events to avoid conflicts.”

Each 90-minute meeting begins with a “roundtable” discussion in which members new to the council introduce their organization, upcoming events are discussed and feedback is given. For example, prior to the GLBT Community Easter Egg Hunt in April, organizers mentioned that they needed additional toys and Easter baskets to give to participating children. Shannon Wagner of Being Alive said her organization could provide 120 Easter baskets.

“This wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” Gleason said. “The opening of each meeting is a venue for announcements and requests for help, tickets, contributions and collaborations.”

Another example is when the Community Health Information Project, who was conducting a countywide needs assessment and was having problems accessing the GLBT community for feedback, approached the council for help. By the end of the meeting, CHIP had collected a wide range of health needs and access questionnaires from CLC members. Some members also took additional questionnaires with them to be filled out by other boards and members in their organizations.

Aside from streamlining schedules and resources within the GLBT community, Gleason said the CLC hopes to be a clearinghouse for ways to expand GLBT representation in organizations throughout the region.

“We want to secure attendance from as many organizations as possible, representing the widest range of diversity possible,” he said. “This process is ongoing and we are gaining members … with the continuing goal of reaching deeper and deeper into the community.”

Compiling a fully representational list of GLBT and GLBT-friendly agencies throughout the county is an ongoing process. CLC members spend 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each meeting brainstorming for more agencies to contact.

For more information about the San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council, email Delores Jacobs at djacobs@thecentersd.org or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the community calendar on The Center’s website.