Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Growing up in Alabama, I loved visiting the farm where my dad was raised. We’d ride four wheelers, hunt, fish, and all pitch in during hay season. Well, mostly my cousins and I got in the way. In some ways, I felt at home in the country, as my family called it.
Dear Supporters,In 2018, our 43 state-based member organizations made a lot of headway despite the tough political struggles at the national level. Equality Federation is a strategic partner to our member organizations, making sure that the whole movement for LGBTQ equality and justice is linked, from one end of the country to the other.
Big congrats to Freedom Oklahoma!The organization has recently welcomed their new executive director Allie Shinn.
Today Equality Federation lauded the reintroduction of the Equality Act by Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) in the House and Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the Senate. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has made passage a top priority for the new Congress.
Four anti-transgender bills were defeated in South Dakota’s legislature this month! HB1225 and SB 49 would have made it difficult for transgender youth to participate in school sports and programs; HB1108 would have banned discussion about gender identity and expression; and HB1205 would have allowed parents to deny healthcare for transgender children.
Recently, I got to spend the weekend at one of my favorite Equality Federation programs: our New Executive Director Boot Camp. Fran Hutchins, our deputy director, and Diana Gonzalez, our director of leadership programs, joined me for an intensive two days of training with three talented new state leaders: Jamie Foster of Equality Alabama, Kendra Johnson of Equality North Carolina, and Abbi Swatsworth of Out Nebraska.
Equality Federation Institute’s annual Summer Meeting is the premier gathering of state-based and national LGBT movement leaders. More than 150 advocates from across the country gather to connect and forge relationships, collaborate for future success and build momentum toward even greater wins in the communities we call home.
In a country that incarcerates more of its people than any other in the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are more likely to end up behind bars, and even more likely to face abuse while there. To address the issues and harms faced by LGBT prisoners, and to give activists and allies tools for working to improve jail and prison conditions for these individuals, the National Center for Transgender Equality has released an excellent new resource: Standing with LGBT Prisoners: An Advocate’s Guide to Ending Abuse and Combating Imprisonment.
With 17 states and Washington, D.C. allowing same-sex couples to share in the freedom to marry, a major shift in attitudes within the Republican party is increasingly emerging. In a recent memo from Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, they cite a surge in support coming from Republicans of all ages, as conservatives across generations are changing the way they think about marriage for same-sex couples.
Just this past week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took the latest step in implementing the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) with its announcement that same-sex spouses will be recognized in administering several aspects of the Medicare program, regardless of where the couple lives. Now that Medicare is no longer prevented by DOMA from recognizing same-sex marriages for determining entitlement to, or eligibility for, Medicare, CMS is working with the Social Security Administration to conduct eligibility determinations and to enroll seniors and individuals with certain disabilities in the program.
Summer Meeting 2014 is coming together, and it's going to be the best one yet -- especially with the newest addition to the program.This year, the Equality Federation Institute is proud to offer a special opportunity for member organizations -- a free fast-paced crash course in the basics of effective management.
It took years of organizing and lobbying and coalition building and storytelling. But soon, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014 will become law.
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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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