OkEq Achievements

The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, the 18,000 square-foot home of Oklahomans for Equality, opened in February of 2007 after a seven-year capital campaign and 7000 hours of volunteer work on renovations. After the opening, OkEq hit the ground running, offering a wide variety of programs and events, hosting several affinity groups and other organizations, educating and reaching out to the community-at-large, and building alliances with other agencies to increase awareness of and provide better services to the LGBT community.

At the same time, OkEq has undertaken several other major transitions including a new name and brand, a new staff structure and staff, a new governance model and expanded board of directors, a new website and email software, and a revised office layout. These changes have made OkEq stronger and more capable of meeting the needs of the LGBT community. We are now the only LGBT organization in the United States that simultaneously provides programs and services, does advocacy and outreach, sponsors and organizes an annual Pride festival, and operates a community center.

The following are some important achievements of Oklahomans for Equality since the opening of the Equality Center. This list is by no means exhaustive, but rather serves as a snapshot of the type and scope of our activity both at the Equality Center and in larger local, state, and regional contexts.

• Existing Programming
• New Programming
• Events and Activities in 2007
• Large-scale Events
• Facility Usage
• Community Partnership
• Media Coverage
• Advocacy and Education

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Existing Programming

Increased space has allowed expansion of many of our existing programs including the LGBT Info Line, connecting people to LGBT-friendly resources, services and support; the David Bohnett CyberCenter, offering the public free high-speed internet access and the use of nine computers; H.O.P.E. STD testing, now providing free, anonymous HIV testing five days a week; and the Nancy and Joe McDonald Rainbow library, housing thousands of LGBT-related texts for leisure or reference, now with a searchable online catalog.

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New Programming

OkEq’s enhanced programming slate includes the Diversity Business Association of Tulsa (DBAT), bringing professionals together for skill-building and networking opportunities; Gender Outreach, a support and discussion group for transgender individuals; Faith in Crisis, helping to reconcile spiritual and sexual orientation issues for LGBT individuals and their loved ones; First Thursday Art Openings, featuring local talent in our gallery; Camp Fire Teens in Action, empowering LGBT and allied youth through service-learning; Oklahoma Deaf Spectrum, providing support and social programming for our LGBT deaf community; the online Community Calendar, a centralized resource for both OkEq and community events and programs; and our Affinity Group policy, providing regular meeting space for organizations including T.U.L.S.A., Tulsa Area PrimeTimers, Tulsa Two-Spirit Society, Unity String Orchestra, and Inside Out ACA.

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Events and Activities in 2007

Grand Opening Celebration, which included an Opening Night reception, Gay Bingo, Test Fest, the Wild Hearts Ball, and Brunch and Blessings; Creation Weekend, which featured Toni Broaddus of Equality Federation and Mickey MacIntyre of RealChange Partners, underwritten by a gift by the Gill Foundation; Clock in for Equality, a reception honoring corporations with LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policies; the International Day Against Homophobia panel spotlighted speakers from OkEq, MCC, and the TU Law School; filmmaker Tim Cornman’s presentation about his film The Buckle; Aaron Bachofer's lecture on the LGBT history of Oklahoma City; the Big Gay Garage Sale; and the LOGO Presidential debate screening.

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Large-scale Events

Pride & Diversity 2007 kicked off with PFLAG’s annual Spaghetti Dinner and also featured an Interfaith Service, East End Block Party, Pride Parade and Festival, concerts by Sisters in Song and Council Oak Men’s Chorale, Openarms Youth Project’s fashion show, Youth Services of Tulsa’s costume party, Circle Cinema’s screening of Tying the Knot, and the Diversity Gala. An estimated 18,000 people participated in this year’s activities.

October LGBT History Month highlighted both past and present through “Out of the Closet”, an art exhibit chronicling the history of the LGBT rights movement through t-shirts; Team OkEq in the Tulsa AIDS Walk; lectures by two openly gay officials: Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, and State House Representative Al McAffrey; National Coming Out Day, celebrated with a “Coming Out Through the Ages” panel and an Out and Proud bar crawl at local bars; the online launch of Matthew’s Place, a web resource for LGBT Youth; and OkEq’s first participation in one of Tulsa’s largest family-oriented parades, Brookside BooHaHa.

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Facility Usage

The Equality Center’s facilities offer myriad options for the community, in both the beautiful new Event Center — which has hosted events for organizations as varied as OCCJ, Planned Parenthood, Oklahoma Pagan Association, and LIFE Senior Services — as well as the rest of the facility, where we’ve hosted Landmark Forum, the Breast Impressions exhibit and calendar photo shoot, the Tulsa Reaches Out selection committee, the OCCJ New Leadership Roundtable, TYPros Diversity Crew, and Just Progress.

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Community Partnership

OkEq has collaborated with local and regional organizations to expand awareness about LGBT issues and provide broader services and programming to the community. Alliances include the Tulsa City-County Health Department, providing an LGBT health care clinic; PFLAG; the Mental Health Association of Tulsa, requesting assistance in the search and hire of an anti-bullying campaign staff member; OKC Pride; McPride; TU Law School’s Pro Bono fair; the Tulsa Islamic Society mosque tour; Cimarron Alliance’s statewide Stop Hate in the Hallways conference; the Say No to Hate Coalition, with OkEq board president Laura Belmonte serving as convener and our staff serving on the committee; the Childcare Resource Network teacher conference, requesting a Family Diversity centerpiece for a fundraiser; Domestic Violence Intervention Services, helping improve services to LGBT individuals; Circle Cinema, generously sponsoring LGBT-themed films, including God and Gays: Bridging the Gap, Tying the Knot and For the Bible Tells Me So, and accompanying panel discussions; the Sacred Activism conference; and the TU BLGTA and TCC SEC Student Government Association, who have both successfully added sexual orientation and gender identity to their universities’ non-discrimination policies with help from OkEq.

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Media Coverage

OkEq personnel and events have been featured widely in the local and national press. The 2008 Pride Festival and Gala media coverage was greater than ever before, including features in the Tulsa World, Tulsa People, KOTV Channel 6, KTUL Channel 8, and FOX 23. Other OkEq publicity included Executive Director Justice Waidner’s enclosed Tulsa People editorial on the status of Tulsa and its LGBT community. Waidner was also highlighted in the Tulsa World’s Business Spotlight, Outreach Coordinator Toby Jenkins appeared in a CNN documentary on Bishop Carlton Pearson, and KRMG interviewed board president Laura Belmonte for National Coming Out Day.

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Advocacy and Education

OkEq has used its position as Oklahoma’s only statewide LGBT advocacy organization to educate both the civic community and the government on local and national LGBT issues. OkEq leaders met with City of Tulsa Director of Economic Development Don Himmelfarb to discuss LGBT concerns and the future of local business. In honor of Valentine’s Day, OkEq held “Love: The Higher Law”, underwritten by one of 15 grants given nationwide by Freedom to Marry, which included a same-gender marriage demonstration at the Tulsa County Courthouse and wedding reception at the Equality Center — the event received media coverage on KRMG, FOX TV, KTUL Channel 6, and the Tulsa World. President Laura Belmonte addressed the Tulsa Human Rights Commission on special issues facing the LGBT community during emergency situations and disasters. Second Vice President Kris Wilmes spoke at “Diversity — What is the Tulsa Experience?”, a Tulsa Metro Chamber panel addressing various minority groups’ experiences in Tulsa. Throughout the year, OkEq online Advocacy Alerts keep members apprised of critical pieces of legislation requiring significant support from the LGBT community including the Matthew Shepherd Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).