Stonewall Young Democrats
Encyclopedia
| Stonewall Young Democrats | |
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| Founded | 2004 |
| Location | Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... , California |
| Website | http://www.stonewallyoungdems.org |
The Stonewall Young Democrats, also known as SYD, are youth-based organization across the country which are part of the GLBT-rights
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
group in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, affiliated with the National Stonewall Democrats and with the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. There are several chapters of Stonewall Young Democrats, including the first chapter which was started in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.
Los Angeles Chapter
The group serves the greater Los Angeles County region but mostly holds it meetings in the West Hollywood area due to its central location to the Greater LA region. The group's website describe themselves as "a community of passionate progressives excited about the political and societal issues of the day who want to give voice to their priorities and take action in a grassroots community-oriented manner on matters of both local and national prominence."Stonewall Young Democrats is growing to include other cities across the country as well.
Stonewall Young Democrats was founded in 2004 by John Cleary and Andrew Lachman, both members of the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club, who wanted to start a youth-oriented version of the club, recognizing the need for younger membership. The Los Angeles chapter of Stonewall Democratic Club has for years attempted to create a youth-centric version of itself to get younger gays and lesbians involved with politics but was only able to do so when large amounts of gays and lesbians rallied in support of Howard Dean for his 2004 Presidential campaign. It was only the night when Dean lost his bid for the Democratic Primary that Andrew and SYD Founding President John Cleary sat down and wrote the draft of the group's bylaws, surrounded by people who would become the Founding Members of Stonewall Young Democrats.
SYD is an affiliate of the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club as well as members to other groups such as the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV), the California Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...
, Young Democrats of America
Young Democrats of America
The Young Democrats of America , founded in 1932, is the official youth arm of the Democratic Party of the United States, although it severed official ties with the Democratic National Committee following passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and became an independent 527 group...
, and National Stonewall Democrats
Stonewall Democrats
The National Stonewall Democrats is an LGBT-rights group based in Washington, D.C. with a political affiliation to the Democratic Party. The word "Stonewall" in its name refers to the 1969 Stonewall riots, a pivotal event in the history of gay rights....
.
| President | Michael Colorge |
|---|---|
| Operation Vice-President | Shirin Buckman |
| Political Vice-President | Ari Ruiz |
| Community Vice-President | Chris Hauck |
| Communications Vice-President | Shant Krikorian |
| Secretary | Arun Ramakrishnan |
| Male-At-Large | David Reddish |
| Female-At-Large | Rosalba Sanchez |
San Diego Chapter
Stonewall Young Democrats of San Diego was founded in 2005 by Jonathan Goetz and 'Allan Acevedo. Under its initial inception, SYDSD was started as the youth branch of the San Diego Democratic Club.Dallas Chapter
Though there had been previous Stonewall Young Democrat chapters in Dallas, the current Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats (DSYD) chapter was founded in March 2009.This chapter serves the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and surrounding areas. Meetings are usually held in the Oak Lawn
Oak Lawn, Dallas
Oak Lawn is a neighborhood in Dallas, Texas , defined in Dallas City Ordinance 21859 as . The unofficial boundaries are Turtle Creek Boulevard, Central Expressway, the City of Highland Park, Inwood Road, and Harry Hines Boulevard. It is over in area...
area.
The DSYD mission statement is "Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats strive to effectively advance the rights of the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community and democratic values through political action, community service and social involvement."
DSYD held its inaugural meeting on March 29, 2009 at Woody’s Sports Bar. The chapters bylaws were approved by those present and club officers were elected.
The group was founded in time to charter with the Texas Young Democrats at the Austin convention, and was quickly accepted by the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus with the support of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas.
DSYD is a youth branch of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas (SDD) and therefore each member of DSYD also has voting rights in SDD. Due to the nature of this relationship, one member of the SDD board sits on the DSYD board and one member of the DSYD board sits on the SDD board.
The Red Party
The original organizers of the group were all volunteers at Legacy Founders Cottage, an AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
in Oak Cliff
Oak Cliff
Oak Cliff is a community in Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town located in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1903...
, where they built a friendship based on community service and activism. Since its inception, DSYD has maintained a close relationship with the Legacy Founders Cottage and continues to provide support in the form of volunteer hours and by hosting benefit fundraisers.
| President | Pennington Ingley |
|---|---|
| Vice President | Vacant |
| Secretary | Jared Pearce |
| Treasurer | Justin Williams |
| Membership Director | Clint Thomson* |
| Community Events Director | Edgar Negron |
| Political Director | Jennifer Allen |
| Communications Director | Michael Maldonado |
| Liaison from SDD | Kenneth Denson |
*Liaison to Stonewall Democrats of Dallas.
Membership
Membership to Stonewall Young Democrats is open to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) individuals and its straight Allies who are under age 36 (40 in Texas), as to comply with the California Young Democrats requirement of all its Young Democrats groups that charter with them.- Any persons under 36 (40 in Texas) can either become At-Large Members or Active Members:
- Active Membership: Individuals who are of qualifying age and who have paid may vote at any General Membership meeting, run for any of the elected offices, participate in committees, and represent SYD in Democratic events. An individual must be a member of good standing for a period of at least twenty-five (25) days before voting in a meeting.
- At-large Membership: Any person meeting age and Democratic registration requirements who wishes to be a member without paying dues shall be granted At-large membership. At-large members receive all privileges except the privileges of voting, filing and running for SYD office, representing Stonewall Young Democrats at any Democratic event, automatic membership into Stonewall Democratic Club or any other affiliated organization.