Contacting your legislators

Throughout the legislative session, we’ll be asking you to contact your legislator and make your voice heard in the lawmaking process. We know that for beginners, calling elected officials can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be!

Who are your legislators?

You can find your state legislators by visiting this page on the Louisiana State Legislature website:

http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx

Simply enter your home address, hit “Find,” and it will bring you to a list of your elected representatives. Focus on the top two people on this list, your Louisiana House District and Louisiana Senate District. Those are your representatives in the State Legislature. 

If you click on your House member or Senate member, it will bring you to a page with their contact information, including their phone number and email address, and some biographical information. 

Initial Contact

For your first contact with your legislators, send them an email introducing yourself. In this email, be sure to include your home address and cell number. We’ve included a sample script to use as a guide in this initial contact:

Hello/Good Morning Representative or Senator ____________,

My name is ________ and I’m a constituent of yours. I work as a __________ at _________ (describe your role/job), and I live in ________________. I am writing to introduce myself as a consituent, and also as a transgender person.

[Feel free to add any personal details such as schools attended or connections to the community, etc.]

I’m reaching out to you to let you know I am very interested in following LGBTQ issues at the state level and plan to stay involved in the process as we move towards the legislative session next year. I’d like to be kept informed as you work on pending legislation and keep an open dialogue as various decisions are made, especially with regards to the civil rights of transgender people.

Thank you,
[Name]

Making your voice heard

Throughout the legislative session, you'll have opportunities to reach out to your legislator in support or in opposition to bills impacting our lives and communities. Each of them has a legislative aide whose main job is to note your concerns and pass them along to the legislator. Calling their offices will give you an opportunity to be counted among the voices on either side. 

Those calls make a real difference. Legislators have noted that when they get 15 calls on a bill, they know it's significant and make sure to pay attention to the debate as it moves through the process. Save their numbers in your phone, and don't hesitate to call them. Their job is to represent you -- their constituents!

When you call, all you have to say is

Hello, my name is ___________, and I'm a constituent in Rep. / Sen. __________'s district. I'm calling to ask him to support LGBTQ equality. Thank you for your time. 

The legislative aide answering the phones may ask for your home address to ensure you're a constituent. If you aren't one, that's okay! Just make sure you're honest. In many cases, it's important to call legislators who don't represent your district. That's because your legislator may not serve on the committee that a bill will move through. 

In Summary:

The Louisiana State Legislature works for you. They're expecting your calls. When most people think of civic duty, voting comes to mind. Maybe you also include paying taxes and attending jury duty. But one of the most impactful civic duties we have is the duty to hold our government accountable. Make sure you take advantage of your rights as a Louisianan to get involved in the lawmaking process!