The Center for Artistic Revolution (CAR) is the statewide

lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

(LGBT)

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

organization for the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Founded in 2003 by Sabrina Zarco and Randi Romo, the organization is currently headed by Romo and is headquartered in downtown

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. CAR has been at the forefront of many LGBT-related news events in Arkansas, such as the 2004 ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage (the "We the People Project" was created to educate Arkansans on its LGBT population), the 2008 ballot initiative banning unmarried couples from adopting children, the 2010 controversy surrounding school board member Clint McCance's anti-gay comments via Facebook, and the 2011 decision by the newspaper ''The Batesville Daily Guard'' to omit a dead man's male lover from his obituary. CAR is also well known for its "Safe Schools Initiative," tackling the issue of bullying, including the bullying of children who may be perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.KUAR National Public Radio - Gay in Arkansas
/ref> No gay-straight alliances existed in Arkansas schools when CAR was founded in 2003; by the beginning of 2012, thirteen had been organized, with CAR's help, across the state.

References

{{reflist LGBT political advocacy groups in Arkansas Organizations established in 2003 2003 establishments in Arkansas