The impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision striking down Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) continues to be felt across the country.

As each federal department issues new rules and guidelines for implementing the decision, families in states across the country are asking more and more questions about what it all means for them. A number of member organizations have taken the initiative to inform folks in their states about what a post-DOMA country means for them.

PROMO, Missouri’s Federation member, teamed up with the ACLU of Eastern Missouri to host town hall meetings focused on answering questions about the DOMA rulings and creating strategies for moving forward. The meetings ended with a statewide Webinar and Twitter Town Hall on October 4.

We connected with Katie Stuckenschneider, the Communications Organizer at PROMO, to learn more about their successful events.

EF: What was the purpose of the DOMA webinar and Twitter Town Hall? What were PROMO’s goals in having the meeting?
KS: We hit urban core areas with the in-person DOMA Town Halls with ACLU (Kansas City, Columbia, Saint Louis). We decided to offer the webinar as an alternative for people who couldn’t attend in other areas. Our goal was to have at least 10 in attendance from all over the region, and we met that goal. It was our first ever webinar so we were pleased with the results and definitely have ways to improve for next time.

EF: What was discussed? What was the outcome?
KS: We focused on how the strike down of DOMA Section 3 impacted Missourians. We had a fact sheet that we printed up and used as talking points. We also explained the Glossip v. Missouri Department of Transportation case, focusing on survivor benefits that will be decided in the next month.

EF: How were you able to engage the community via Twitter?
KS: We used hashtag #DOMAMO13 and registered it on Twubs. The hashtag was launched during the in-person town halls, and then we finalized it the day of the webinar to field any questions.

EF: How does this event fit into the overall work you are doing at PROMO?
KS: We want people outside of the urban core areas to know that we are reaching out to them as well. Our goal for 2013-2014 is to increase awareness in these rural communities. Also, this was a perfect time to start talking about marriage in Missouri. Since there is a ban here, it was a good way to start on educational talking points around relationship recognition.

EF: What are some other ways you’re educating LGBT Missourians about the Supreme Court decisions?
KS: We have a portion on our website, as well as when anything is released, we are announcing it socially and trying to stay in the know of what is going on. For a state like ours, it is huge news when the IRS included that taxes can be filed jointly, even if a couple lives in a state that doesn’t recognize marriage equality.

ES: What future events can we expect to see from PROMO?
KS: We are pushing forward with the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act and are going to be launching a new microsite in November as part of our strategy when the Legislative Session begins. It will be more of a positive message focused on businesses (stay tuned). We launched Fired for Being Gay www.firedforbeinggay.com last spring and have had some amazing results from it.

Congratulations to the team at PROMO for all of their incredible work educating Missourians about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision!