Description
Call to order
Welcome
Assign minute taker
Review and Approve Previous Minutes
Recap of previous Working Group proceedings
Updates on Previous Action Items
Old Business
New Business
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Review Policy and Advocacy Working Group Mission, Purpose, Goals, Tasks, Areas of Interest, and Objectives.
Plan April Policy and Advocacy Events and Activities :
April National Month-(Autism Acceptance Month, Arab American Heritage Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Stress Awareness Month, National Volunteer Month, Earth Day, Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month, National Alcohol Awareness Month, National Occupational Therapy Month, National Fair Housing Month, National Financial Literacy Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Cannabis Awareness Month, National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, National Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month)
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Coordinate a collaboration event with The Salvation Army Cambridge.Captain Bree Barker and Captain Trisha Smouse with the New Protected Class Working Group (Chair Vanessa Carr) and Policy and Advocacy Working Group on Fair Housing.
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Next Meeting Date and Time: Apr 22, 2026 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Adjournment
Policy and Advocacy Working Group
Our Mission: Advance LGBTQ+ focused policies within the communities of
Cambridge; advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ populations, to further equity and inclusivity.
Our Purpose: Create and maintain a visible presence in Cambridge neighborhoods by
volunteer opportunities to show commitment to LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Our Goals: Bridge and strengthen the Cambridge community by networking in collaborative events to provide more LGBTQ+ resources.
Our Specific tasks: Assist and collaborate in Policy and Advocacy processes within:
-Commerce and Entertainment
Our Defined objectives:Identify the benefits of utilizingpreferred names and legal names in pharmacy/healthcare practice and recognize the importance of referral of health and wellbeing, legal services in housing and employment.
For over a decade the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission has had a working relationship with the Cambridge Police Department (CPD). We established this relationship at the request of LGBTQ+ community members to emphasize the need for LGBTQ+ training for all members of the Police Department, and to create a forum to raise other topics relevant to the health and safety of the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2020, the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission dedicated several meetings to intentional discussion and reflection on our relationship with the CPD. We emerged from these discussions with a renewed commitment to our meaningful relationship with the Cambridge Police Department, alongside a recognition of the marginalization and violence that BIPOC/LGBTQ+ people have experienced from police in this country.
Based on this work, we have taken the following action steps:
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Our Police Department Liaison, currently Police Commissioner Branville Bard, is invited to our Commission meetings on a quarterly basis. Invited police presence will be announced ahead of time in our monthly agenda. Please visit our website or social media to review the agenda for monthly meetings, including those when a police representative is invited.
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In advance of our meetings with the Police Department, we will prepare questions for Commissioner Bard, so that Commissioners will better understand how the department engages with the LGBTQ+ community, and LGBTQ+ communities of color specifically. We welcome your feedback on these conversations.
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We will continue to help CPD develop up-to-date and high-quality training for police officers, fire fighters, and EMTs. We continue to emphasize the importance and need for these first responders to be educated in, and sensitive to, the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community. We regularly review and recommend improvements to the department’s LGBTQ+ training components. These trainings were originally developed at the request of the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission.
We appreciate Commissioner Branville Bard’s partnership. He has expressed a deep understanding of our concerns, and advocates for greater community involvement in policing. We share this vision and are committed to holding ourselves and the department accountable for facilitating a more just and equitable Cambridge.
If you’d like to share your thoughts about the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission’s relationship with the Police Department, or your own experiences, please reach out to us.
In solidarity, Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission