SPRINGFIELD, MO, April 8, 2015 — A slim majority of voters in Springfield, Missouri have repealed the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance approved by the city council last year. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund provided on-the-ground organizing, logistical and financial support in the effort to reject Question 1—a ballot measure that called for the repeal of the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.
“We are deeply disappointed but not defeated. While a slim majority of voters repealed Springfield’s nondiscrimination city law extending basic rights and protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, the real story is that of the courageous volunteers and the record voter turnout.
“This means that every single door volunteers knocked on and every single conversation counted. We learned from the thousands of interactions we had with voters that Springfield does not believe in discrimination. We are proud to have worked alongside the One Springfield campaign, which built a strong base of volunteers and staff that poured their hearts into the campaign—many who showed up first time to volunteer.
“We thank our volunteers and coalition partners who worked tirelessly to defend the nondiscrimination ordinance including the ACLU of Missouri, FOCUS Inc, Gill Action Fund, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of the Ozarks, Leadership Lab, Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, PFLAG of Springfield, Planned Parenthood Action, PROMO, Straight For Equality, and the Human Rights Campaign. We will continue the fight for lived freedom, justice and equality for all LGBTQ people in Springfield and across our nation. We are on the right side of history and will win this fight,” said Sarah Reece, Director of the Academy for Leadership and Action at the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund.
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CONTACT:
Jorge Amaro
Media and Public Relations Director
213-842-7564
jamaro@thetaskforce.org