Alaskans for Civil Rights     
ACR's Main Goals

Alaskans for Civil Rights is envisioned to be flexible and adaptive as an organization, and has a closely related cluster of focus issues within its domains of concern. The notes below are abstracted from a "Restructuring Retreat" meeting held in Anchorage on 12DEC1998. That organizing meeting was attended by twenty-five delegates from across Alaska, including bush communities. The Restructuring Retreat meeting had been preceded by local meetings held in communities throughout the state, as well as by several telconferences, all discussing what shape ACR would take and in what direction it would lead our collective political efforts in Alaska. The notes following below suggest the vision for ACR which emerged from those discussions.

Like the group of blind men each describing an entire elephant by their individual experiences of touching one limited area on the elephant, different people may have different experiences of what ACR is and does based on their experience to date in the organization. These notes are not intended to fill in every last possible bit of description of what ACR is and what the organization's main goals include, but rather are provided to sketch an outline of ACR's main areas of concern.

ALASKANS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS...
Is dedicated to obtaining full civil rights for gay, bi, lesbian, transgendered, and
     progressive straight people in all aspects of personal and public life.
Serves as a coordination/umbrella organization, provides statewide leadership, and
     provides a point of contact.
Develops grassroots political structure in the GBLTS community throughout Alaska.
Is a political organization with Political Action Committee (PAC) tax status, lobbying and
     working for political gains.
Serves as a data base for campaigns and as an information clearinghouse for the
     statewide GBLTS community.
Has a basic core membership, with liasons from all relevant organizations.
Remembers and includes our straight (but not narrow) allies within its constituency.
Views all civil rights, for everyone, as being an important part of the GBLTS civil rights
     picture.
Is led by a steering committee with an advisory board.
Must be its own group, not a "coalition."
Must be a coalition BUILDER, but with its own, distinct, agenda.
Must include representation from all regions of the state on steering committee.
Promotes and facilitates communication among and between groups.
Is project-driven, with committees/subcommittes based upon topic/area of action.
Will not duplicate the role of other groups.
Will not provide "umbrella-type" funds to other groups.
Will promote visibility for the GBLTS civil rights cause in Alaska.
Will identify political actions which are beneficial, as distinct from those which promote
     "us versus them."
Will be supportive of a wide variety of political actions and groups.
Will encourage large numbers of participants to become involved with events.
Will actively plan responses to actions by the opposition.
Will pursue hate crimes legislation for Alaska.
Will hold an Annual Meeting to occur in various regions of Alaska on a rotating basis.

ACR's DOMAINS of CONCERN (in alphabetical order):
Coalition-Building and Alliances with Other Groups
Domestic (Family Life/Spousal & Children's Wellness)
Education
GBLTS Community Empowerment
GBLTS Youth Wellness
Political
Public Safety
Workplace

Alaskans for Civil rights will accomplish positive change in our domains of concern by undertaking ACTIONS with OUTCOMES.

Through political action, education, intergroup communication, and networking with like-minded groups ACR will work toward full civil rights by focusing on the following interconnected objectives:

COALITION-BUILDING AND ALLIANCES WITH OTHER GROUPS
Developing ties and solidarity with minority groups throughout Alaska.

DOMESTIC (FAMILY LIFE/SPOUSAL & CHILDREN'S WELLNESS)
Adoption
Domestic Partnerships
Home Ownership
Inheritance
Insurance
Marriage
Medical decisions and hospital visitation rights

EDUCATION
Anti-harrassment enforcement in schools
"Clergy who Care" education
Educational outreach to the "movable middle" portion of the electorate
GBLTS families (Love Makes a Family)
Tolerance education

GBLTS COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
Pride development
GBLTS economic community development
Promotion of activism in GBLTS community

GBLTS YOUTH WELLNESS
Health information
Crisis intervention access

POLITICAL
ACR support for friendly candidates and legislation
ACR opposition to unfriendly candidates and legislation
Develop and train individuals for service on regional speaker's bureaus
Encourage and facilitate dialogue among polarized groups and the "movable middle"
Consciousness-raising direct actions

PUBLIC SAFETY
Collect state-wide statistics on hate crimes
Pass hate crimes legislation in Alaska

WORKPLACE
Anti-harrassment
Benefits
Equal-opportunity employment
Professional promotion
Survey and publicize elected officials' non-discrimination policies toward staffers

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