Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
For years, we've been sending our members Fed Head News, a somewhat monthly email newsletter with announcements, news, and tips all focused on building a strong movement for equality. Today, we bid farewell to this old friend. It has served us well, but it's time to move on.
With July right around the corner, we're really looking forward to seeing all of our members and partners in Salt Lake City at the 16th Annual Summer Meeting, hosted by Equality Utah.
This weekend, families across the country celebrated Father's Day. My partner Brad and I got to spend the evening with my parents, relaxing on their screened porch here in Raleigh.
This year’s Summer Meeting is shaping up to be one of the best yet. We’re planning sessions that will fuel collaboration within regions, caucus groups that will connect attendees based on their organizational roles, and workshops that are geared toward helping state leaders build greater success in lobbying, organizing, communications, organizational development, and more.
This Pride season, we have so much to celebrate in our community. I’m proud of the marriage victories and non-discrimination wins that Federation members have had a part in this year. I’m also extremely proud of the stand that the LGBT community, including many Federation members, has taken on immigration reform.
In November 2012, three states -- Maine, Maryland, and Washington -- extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples. And in the past few months, three additional states -- Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota -- have followed suit, reaching 12 states in the nation that allow all loving couples to share in the joys and responsibilities of marriage.
Over the past few months, many of our members have expressed interest in learning more about the Voter Activation Network (VAN).The VAN is a voter database containing information on voters for the purpose of assisting your get out the vote (GOTV) efforts and other areas of your campaigns.
Are you running into challenges with your board of directors? Do you wonder how to recruit engaged and active leaders?
At this year’s Summer Meeting, we invited state leaders to take five minutes to share a big idea, talk through an innovative strategy, or offer up an exciting concept in a FEDtalk.These energetic and captivating presentations about the most innovative parts of our members’ work stood out, once again, as a major highlight of Summer Meeting.
Protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations has been a priority for the movement since the 1980s. And still, the end goal of prohibiting discrimination nationwide eludes us.
At Equality Federation, we believe the movement for equality is not done once the freedom to marry has been extended to same-sex couples nationwide. We know we have more work to do.
We’re in the midst of a unique moment in the movement for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. As marriage wins continue in the courts, and national attention shifts to work in places where LGBT people aren’t protected from discrimination — strong leadership in the states is more important than ever.To guide the movement beyond the marriage milestone, we need adaptive leaders.
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With your support, we'll be able to continue our work to build the leaders of today and tomorrow, strengthen state-based LGBTQ+ organizations, and make critical progress on the issues that matter most—like protecting transgender people, ending HIV criminalization and ensuring access to care, and banning conversion therapy across the country.
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