BALTIMORE, Md. -- This weekend approximately 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists descended upon Baltimore, Md., for a national advocacy conference, while a few miles away the Republican branch of Congress — which consistently resists pro-LGBT policies – gathered for a retreat.

Despite an absent House (Democrats were also at a retreat in Cambridge, Md.), about 300 of those LGBT activists occupied the capitol last Thursday for the first federal lobby day associated with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24th annual Creating Change conference. The Senate was still in session.

“The Senate is not going to know what hit ’em,” said Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey, as scores of activists, from teens to seniors, walked through the metal detectors in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Various activists told The American Independent that the sit-down meetings with their representatives gave them an opportunity to let Congress know that many issues – beyond marriage equality – affect their lives and voting habits.

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