Advocacy During Election Season

Types of Advocacy Efforts:

• CANDIDATE FORUMS: Chapters can sponsor candidate forums and debates if all candidates are treated in a fair and impartial manner. All viable candidates must be invited to the debate, which should be held at a location free of political considerations. The forum should focus on a broad range of LGBTQ and related issues.
• VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES: Chapters can organize “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV) drives, as long as the message focuses solely on registering more voters. Chapters cannot ask people how they intend to vote, and they must select voterdrive locations based on neutral criteria that will result in registering more voters. See the PFLAG National Get Out the Vote Guide and Toolkit for more detailed information.
• PUBLISH LEGISLATIVE VOTING RECORDS: Chapters can publish legislative voting records for educational purposes, even during an election season, but cannot indicate which of the elected officials are up for reelection.
• SCHEDULE BRIEFINGS WITH ALL CANDIDATES: Chapters can advocate for issues by scheduling meetings with candidates to inform them of PFLAG’s position and encouraging the candidate to support it. If a candidate announces agreement with PFLAG’s position, the chapter cannot publicize the candidate’s position to the media, the public, or its members.
• ISSUE CRITICISM OF ANTI-EQUALITY POSITIONS: Chapters may continue to criticize or support incumbents on their on-the-record positions related to LGBTQ equality during the election season, as long as the chapter has a track record of doing so. The focus should be on the issues, not the candidate, and no comparison to the opposing candidate’s position should be made. The level of criticism should not increase to coincide with the election. The language of the critique should remain civil.