This guide comes out of the experiences of dozens of activists around the country. Perhaps the most important thing all of us can tell you is that being clear at the start about why you are working for an LGBT rights policy will make your campaign more focused and greatly improve the chances that it will succeed at the most important of its many potential goals. It will also make working on it a better experience for you.

Who You Might Need

In most circumstances, it is important to have a lawyer working with the campaign. As explained in the next section, lawyers can help you write, negotiate, and answer arguments against any policy proposal. If you are proposing a domestic partnership policy for a health care plan, an economist who is familiar with health care economics is essential. Depending on how you go about proving your case, how much you need to teach your board, and how elaborate you decide to make any public hearing, you many also need:

Introduction: No Two Alike

You need to know what you are doing. So before you do anything else, you’ve got to do some basic research. There are many different models for running businesses and universities and for governing cities and counties. They all have different structures and policy processes.

Introduction: What is Covered Here

This section covers important basic decisions you should make about your campaign right at the start.