Area Latino Leaders, Legislative Aides, Representatives of LGBT Agencies Get National Update

Date: January 20, 2012

ADL's Director of Government and National Affairs Stacy Burdett briefed Latino leaders, legislative aides, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) leaders, ADL board members and young leaders on cutting edge issues important to the League and the groups' respective communities, including comprehensive immigration reform, gay rights, anti-Semitism, discrimination, and separation of church and state. Burdett, who leads ADL's Washington, D.C. office, is ADL's expert on international issues and immigration reform, and is one of the agency's top liaisons to political leaders, government agencies and aides.

Her visit with key Latino leaders, which was hosted by Michael Trevino, included discussions on how ADL and Latino leaders and groups can work together to encourage comprehensive immigration reform and challenge hate rhetoric and hate crimes in the community and bullying in schools. 

Burdett also briefed LGBT leaders about ways that ADL has stood up for the rights of their constituents, in particular how ADL has worked to enact and strengthen state and federal hate crimes legislation and provide anti-bullying training in schools to address the ongoing concerns of hate crimes perpetrated against the LGBT community. 

Members of ADL's 2011-2012 Glass Leadership Institute also heard from Burdett about current issues of concern to the League and ADL's Washington, D.C. National Leadership Mission the group will attend in April. 

Next morning, legislative aides from a variety of offices, including U.S. Senate, Congressional, State Senate and State Representative offices joined Burdett for a breakfast during which she discussed a wide range of issues including immigration reform, gay rights, anti-Semitism, discrimination, and separation of church and state.   State Representative Scott Hochberg also spoke about ways that ADL could be helpful to legislators. 

"We are cold stones being thrown into boiling water," Burdett told those she met with during her Houston visit.  "ADL issues are at the forefront of what’s in the future, and it’s about changing the atmosphere around these issues.  We’re in the atmosphere business," she said.