‘Washington D.C.’ Articles at WOW Fellowship Blog

As I approach the half way point of my internship at PFLAG National, I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. So much has happened since I began my internship in June: I’ve written 3 issues of our national policy newsletter Policy Matters; three other amazing interns have joined me in the office with all of us working together to accomplish some serious LGBT advocacy; I’ve attended more events than I can count at places like the White House, various federal agencies, and a range of NGO’s; Pride Month ended; and oh yeah of course, MARRIAGE EQUALITY!!!

Hundreds of people gathered at the Supreme Court on June 26th waiting anxiously for the ultimately monumental decision handed down on marriage equality.

Having the opportunity to witness the historic SCOTUS Obergefell v. Hodges decision in action was incredible and to be honest, almost unbelievable. During the decision days, the entire office waited on the edge of our seats anxiously watching SCOTUSblog. When the decision came down on Friday June 26th at 10 in the morning, everyone in the office cheered and many of us interns went over to the Supreme Court to join hundreds of others in celebration. But although the marriage decision was a success, at PFLAG we also wanted to make clear that the fight for LGBT rights was in no way over.

“While we celebrate today’s victory, we are dedicated to continuing and redoubling our advocacy work to secure legislation that explicitly protects people who are LGBTQ from discrimination in the workplace, in their homes, in their schools and in their communities. Now is the time to expand federal law–law which already protects people from discrimination based on race, sex, age, ethnicity, disability, and religion–to include explicit protection from discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” – PFLAG Marriage Equality statement

Taking advantage of the White House while I was there for a Big Table discussion with Valerie Jarrett about the Obama Administration's LGBT priorities for the remainder of his term. — Taking advantage of the White House while there for a Big Table discussion with Valerie Jarrett about the Obama Administration’s LGBT priorities for the remainder of his term.

But in respect to things other than marriage equality, in this past month I have already surpassed all of my initial expectations and goals. By working on Policy Matters as well as various other policy-related PFLAG publications, I have not only learned so much about LGBT advocacy and policy, but also have become up to date on all LGBT current events. Similarly, by attending White House briefings, and working directly on LGBT federal legislation and advocacy, I have truly learned and received first-hand perspective on the political process and all of the research and preparatory work that goes into policy work behind-the-scenes. Finally, by attending countless events and having my supervisor Diego introduce me to more people than I can remember, I have had the opportunity to meet and form important connections with influential figures in the field of LGBTQ advocacy from across the country.

An exciting July 4th in our nation's capital while on our nation's Capitol. — An exciting July 4th in our nation’s capital while on our nation’s Capitol.

All of these skills, experiences, and connections will prove valuable in the future. I am doing all I can to take in and take advantage of every opportunity offered to me while here in DC and while working at PFLAG National. It has been such a beyond marvelous month so far, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the month ahead.

– Aliya Bean ’16

This past week, I started my internship at the National Consumers League. The National Consumers League, or NCL for short, is the oldest consumer organization. NCL is dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers and workers through progressive legislative change. They are a nonprofit (501c3) located in Washington, D.C. For my internship, I am working both with the executive director, as well as the vice president of public policy. I am responsible for researching and supporting policy projects. I found this internship through the Hiatt Career Center. It was attached to the Social Justice World of Work grant.

My first week was a whirlwind of introductions, meetings, and of course, new assignments. Everyone in the office was incredibly welcoming. On my first day, there was a staff meeting, so I was able to meet just about everybody. After the meeting, the executive director invited me and the other intern to see her speak at the Woman’s National Democratic Club. The Club treated us to lunch, and we met several members. After lunch, the executive director of NCL spoke on a range issues, including the role of women’s clubs and female leaders in the consumer movement and NCL’s history. As she discussed various consumer issues, from clear unit pricing in grocery stores to safety of electric table saws, one thing she said especially resonated with me: that safe products, safe food, clean drinking water should not just be for the rich and those who can afford it, it should be for everyone.

I will research a variety of consumer issues, including phone “cramming,” which involves a third-party adding additional fraudulent charges to phone bills that appear as normal charges, such as “additional fees” or “voicemail.” The FCC now protects consumers from wireline cramming, but does not yet protect for wireless cramming. With cell phones, this often appears as text messaging scams, such as horoscope or celebrity gossip sent to cell phones via text message without the customers agreement. The problem has been written about in the New York Times.

I also began research on ticketing issues. Over the past few years, two coalitions have emerged arguing that they protect consumers’ rights. Fan’s First supports paperless tickets, in which one cannot receive an actual paper ticket, but must present his or her credit card and ID at the event in order to gain entrance. Paperless tickets essentially prohibit the resale of tickets in the secondary-market, such as on websites such as StubHub, or even to a friend. NCL stands with the Fan Freedom Project, which asserts that there should always be a paper ticket option and that paperless tickets promotes the monopolization of the market by Livenation/Ticketmaster, who controls the prices, and they continue to raise prices and add additional service fees. This video illustrates the problem:

“The Real Story Behind Paperless Tickets”

This summer I’m excited to learn a lot about various consumer issues that I did not know about before. In addition, I will learn more about the political processes, and have an opportunity to focus on issues of interest to me, such as labor issues and food safety.

– Lili Gecker ’13