By Mark Riccobono

Greetings, fellow Federationists,

This is to share the perspective of the most recent Presidential Release. You can access the full June Presidential Release for all of the recent updates and upcoming events (audio and transcripts). 

I want to celebrate the fact that on Thursday, May 25, the House companion bill for the Access Technology Affordability Act (the ATAA) was introduced in the 118th Congress. Very exciting news! The bill's lead sponsor is Representative Mike Kelly from Pennsylvania, with lead co-sponsor Mike Thompson from California. It comes with 14 originating cosponsors—eight Republicans and five Democrats.  Very happy to see our act launched in this Congress with bipartisan support.  I think we can get the bill done this year.  I'm going to urge you to call, email, find your members of Congress on the street and get them to support this bill.  Let's see if we can get it passed before we get to the fall.  That would be a great victory for us.  I should let you know that our bill number is H.R. 3702 for the Access Technology Affordability Act. As you know, this will create a refundable tax credit for the purchase of technology.  

As long as we're talking about our advocacy work and looking to the future, mark your calendar for our 2024 Washington Seminar, January 29 through February 1 of 2024.  That means the Great Gathering-In meeting will by tradition be at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 29.  We will gather at the Holiday Inn Capital in Washington, D.C. Plenty of time to plan for that.  We have a Convention and other things in front of us first, but I wanted to make sure you could mark that on your calendars. Hopefully we'll be celebrating getting some bills enacted before that, like the Access Technology Affordability Act. 

Happy Pride Month to everybody, in particular our blind members who are also LGBT+. I want to make sure that all of our members know that we have an LGBT+ group in the National Federation of the Blind.  The purpose of this specific group is to increase NFB membership and involvement among the blind LGBT+ community, and to provide resources.  They provide mentorship and support to blind LGBT+ community members, and educate the general public regarding myths and misconceptions about blindness. This includes the general LGBT+ community, which frequently discriminates against individuals on the basis of blindness. 

Sanho Steele-Louchart chairs the LGBT+ group and is also president of the Oklahoma affiliate.  Sanho advises that people can find the group through the very active LGBT+ listserv, which can be found at NFBNet.org. You can also find the group on Facebook by searching for National Federation of the Blind LGBT group, and you can reach Sanho by calling the national office and dialing extension 2440.  You can also find his information on our website, where we have more information about the group. and I encourage you to look up the NFB listserv—it's a great resource.  

The group has weekly meetings on Zoom, which are open to LGBT individuals and allies.  Right now, the meetings are on Thursday evenings. You can get a weekly reminder.  Again, the group is for LGBT individuals and allies, and Sanho emphasizes that everybody is welcome to participate in this group. 

On a more personal basis, I call on all Federation members to recognize that our members who also identify as LGBT+ face many intersecting points of discrimination.  This impacts their full participation in society.  I feel that to some degree, just by the way that people react to the fact that Melissa and I have a transgender daughter, and that's without even having the particular characteristics myself.  As excitement grows for National Convention in Houston, I really urge Federation members to recognize that it is a painful experience for many of our members who are also LGBT+.  The public laws and policies in a number of states—including Texas—create real fear and pain for our members who have these intersecting characteristics, and potentially limit their ability to feel comfortable participating in National Convention.

Leaders in the Federation seek ways to mitigate the harm that is done to communities by the creation of laws that make it difficult for our members to fully participate in those locations. We're figuring out how to do that in our future activities, recognizing that there are many complications. We're going to continue interfacing with the group about what we can do to ensure that our Convention environment is safe and welcoming. 

All Federation members can do something about this today, and leading up to and including National Convention. Recognize that many of our blind Federation family members who are also LGBT+ wrestle with a confluence of concerns and feelings relating to National Convention. Whether they're sharing them with us or not, those concerns exist, and impact their ability to participate fully in our Convention.  This includes those who make the painful decision to stay home from our National Convention because of their concerns about traveling to a place like Texas. It also includes those who decide to come to Convention, but may have real fears about their safety and ability to fully participate.  Safety is a real risk for them. We should all be aware of that, and I encourage each and every one of us as members to rally around these members and let them know that we want the Federation and our Convention to be a welcoming and safe space for everyone.  

We can all do a little extra to ensure that our Texas Convention this year expresses that very, very deeply. Our Texas affiliate and certainly the leaders in Houston have all expressed support for blind members of the LGBT+ community, and we stand with them.  They’re committed to making sure that Convention is safe and welcoming. I urge everyone to be part of that.  

As our society struggles with diversity, we have opportunities to make sure that the Federation stands as an example of creating welcoming and safe spaces, with an understanding environment for all blind individuals that serves as a model for other parts of our society.  I hope you will join me in acknowledging Pride Month by recommitting to making sure that our Federation spaces are inclusive and welcoming of all individuals. Especially acknowledge our LGBT+ community this month.  Many of our chapters are undertaking efforts in that regard, and I think it's a great way to continue reaching out and building our organization.  Thank you for the work that you’re all doing in that regard. 

There’s a lot to do between now and Convention, and I know there is a lot of work happening in our chapters as well.  So, I look forward to being with all of you at National Convention, and if you can't be in person, please participate in the virtual Convention experience, so that we can continue building this important movement of ours.  If you are at Convention, take an opportunity to come by the presidential suite and say hello.  

And thank you in advance for your part in making our Convention a success.