Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
We, the undersigned, recognize we cannot remain neutral, nor will awareness substitute for action. The LGBTQ community knows about the work of resisting police brutality and violence.
ALOK and Vivian Topping from Equality Federation teamed up to share some important updates with you about anti-transgender legislative trends from around the country.
The 2020 legislative session has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the current coronavirus crisis, many state legislatures have either suspended session or are focusing primarily on pandemic relief bills.
As Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Vivian Topping works with state-based LGBTQ organizations to craft smart, effective legislative and electoral campaigns.
Earlier this month, the FDA decided to relax its rule of banning donations from gay men, bisexual men, and trans people from 12 months to 3 months. This is a good start but it's not a win. Any ban based solely on identity is wrong.
Emmett Schelling, Executive Director of TENT: Being an immigrant born in South Korea always plays a factor in who I am and how I am treated in America. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the xenophobia that I am experiencing related to the pandemic is heartbreaking.
The Federation’s Director of Communications, our beloved Jace Woodrum, is leaving us to join the team at the Gill Foundation in Denver, Colorado. Over the past 15 months, Jace has revolutionized our communications with our members, partners, donors, and supporters. Never before have so many people understood what our team does and what impact we’re making in the movement.
Many people are surprised to learn that in the fourth largest city in the country, it’s perfectly legal to fire someone, deny them an apartment, or refuse them service at a business simply because of who they are. That’s why, earlier this year, activists in Houston were pushing for HERO, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, a law protecting Houston residents from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, military status, religion, disability, genetic information, and sex.
Exclusionary policies go against our movement’s commitment to winning equality for all. But our members stand up against such hurtful practices that leave out people in our communities.Groups like Equality Michigan, who recently publicly denounced the exclusion of transgender women from the state’s annual Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (Michfest), are reaffirming our movement’s commitment to equality for all — with no one left behind.
Every Summer Meeting is special, but the energy of this year’s gathering was as unique as the movement moment we’re in. This energy was felt throughout the Meeting, but especially during our favorite plenary session: FEDtalks.
In Maine, Federation member organization EqualityMaine is working beyond the marriage milestone — proving to Mainers and Americans that we have a lot more to do after winning the freedom to marry. In recent months, since completing its new strategic plan, EqualityMaine has shifted its focus to ending transgender discrimination in healthcare.
Although our country has come a long way in teaching sexual education to adolescents, many states still teach ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs to students. Many of our members live in these states, but are working within their communities to implement more comprehensive sexual education programs that educate students while supporting the sexual health of adolescents. But federal funding plays a huge role in what sexual education programs can be provided.
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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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