This is one in a series of profiles marking the 60th anniversary of the ACLU of Kentucky’s founding. Each week through December 2015 we will highlight the story of one member, client, case, board or staff member that has been an integral part of our organization’s rich history.
Jan Phillips
“I think what we’re seeing now is that you just have to keep on these issues. It’s that constant struggle: you win victories, but by God, you have to protect them.” -Jan Phillips
Jan Phillips’ experience with the ACLU began in Tennessee, where she watched a friend work to get that state’s chapter off the ground. After a short time, Phillips moved to Louisville and found herself in a similar position. “Initially, I got involved in the board, and I was on the board for several years,” she said. “Nonprofit boards can be interesting because there’s a sort of culture that you see in them where you just come, and you meet once a month, and you say to the staff, ‘you’re doing a good job,’ and then you go home. So I was trying to change that into a culture that would actually take on some activities that would be board-driven, and that was a fun thing to do.” Phillips later served as Executive Director of the affiliate after Suzy Post resigned from the position.
One board-driven activity was the ACLU of Kentucky push for Louisville to pass what would later be called a Fairness ordinance. After some deliberation, the city’s Human Relations Commission recommended that a civil rights ordinance be put into place to protect LGBT citizens.
Phillips said the ACLU-KY board was interested in joining the grassroots effort in support of the Fairness ordinance. “One of the things we decided we would do was send a letter to every member of the ACLU-KY in Jefferson County, urging them to contact their alderman in support of civil rights protections.” A volunteer went to the county clerk’s office and looked up each member to figure out which alderman represented him or her. “It was a massive undertaking because it was done before the age of the Internet,” Phillips said. Although it’s hard to gauge how much of an effect local members had on the aldermen’s decision, the ACLU-KY’s efforts were one part of broader community efforts, and in the end the ordinance was adopted.
Phillips recalled also being passionate about the “motor voter bill,” which made it easier for people to register to vote by, among other means, giving them the option to do so when they applied for a license. “Kentucky actually has a very liberal voter registration system, as opposed to other states,” she said. “Many of the changes that have been made in Kentucky and many other states came back to the motor voter bill.” Phillips explained that when she was working with the ACLU-KY in support of the bill, she was happily surprised when the county clerk, a Republican, joined the effort. “It was really encouraging to see that support not only from liberal staff here in Louisville,” she said, laughing.