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It’s June, and like every June, I am celebrating my work anniversary with Clean Water Action and Pride Month.  It was 29 years ago this month that I walked into the Clean Water Action office in downtown San Francisco for my first day. My goal was to work part-time for a few months in phone canvassing, but little did I know,  I was about to embark on a lifelong career with an employer that was welcoming and accepting of the LGBTQ community.  This was not the norm in 1996 even for a city like San Francisco, known for having a robust queer community for decades.

Working for an organization where I am supported and allowed to be my authentic self has helped me grow professionally to my fullest potential.  Over the years, my role has advanced from a part-time fundraiser in the phone canvass to directing and supervising field and phone canvass operations. Under my supervision, the team have raised millions of dollars for the cause and we're building our grassroots power in membership. This role has empowered me as a human being to always strive to do my best and take refuge in the community that has felt safe and supportive of who I am and what I do.

As I reflect on the many campaigns I’ve been part of during my time at Clean Water, I’m often struck by the parallels between the struggles of the LGBTQ community and the environmental movement. Both are rooted in the fight to protect the most vulnerable among us—those simply seeking to live in safe, supportive communities. We face powerful forces that seek to divide, exploit, or ignore our needs, yet both movements remain committed for the long haul. We understand that real change takes time—time to educate, to raise awareness, and to expose the deeply rooted challenges that affect us all.

We are best when we work as a community!  This has certainly been the case for both the LGBTQ and environmental movements.  The advances made in both areas have come from individuals working with others—power in numbers. Clean Water Action has been a prime example of organizing, motivating communities, and raising their voices to be heard on issues that are crucial to the survival of the planet and the life that occupies it.  

And in a similar way, the LGBTQ community has been fighting back with their voice, from the Stonewall uprising to the intolerance and attacks of the current administration.  The fight is real, but this community has shown that we only fight harder the more we are attacked for being who and what we are.  

People should be able to love whom they want without others being critical.  People should be able to define their gender on their terms and not have to adhere to someone else’s definition of what that is. Humans are and always have been complex beings, and thrive when allowed to freely express themselves. 

So, hats off to June, Pride, and 29 years working for Clean Water Action—a company that knows that even though we celebrate Pride Month, the fight for our freedom to exist in a safe and healthy space continues.

I am grateful to the folks who came before me and hope that their efforts, and now mine, will make it better for future generations.

 

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