Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
This legislative session, we’ve hired a Policy Fellow to analyze the impact of proposed policies related to the LGBTQ community in all 50 states at the state legislative level. After a wide search with numerous qualified applicants, this week we welcomed Maryse Pearce to the team.
Today the Trump Administration took a giant step back from their previously stated commitment to champion fairness and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
In late January, South Dakota’s SB115, was withdrawn from the senate. The bill, which would have banned transgender students from fully participating in school programs and using the facilities that matched the gender they live every day, was pulled by its sponsor right before its hearing on January 31st.
Equality Federation joins Equality Florida in applauding the Jacksonville, FL City Council for banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender expression.
In early February, the South Dakota legislature introduced SB149, a FADA (First Amendment Defense Act) style adoption bill. Despite the bill’s sponsor’s claim to the contrary, the impact of the legislation is clear. This bill will allow taxpayer funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Did you know that bisexual-identified people comprise more than half of the LGB community? In fact, recent polls suggest that one-third of young people don’t identify as straight or gay or lesbian. When communicating with your members, the public, law makers, or the media, a simple and powerful way to include this enormous, but often invisible, population is to add examples of how various policies impact the lives of bisexual people. Here are a few simple examples.
Equality Federation has been operating virtually for a number of years and would like to share tip for organizations who are new to the world of working online. Check out our list of resources that will help you navigate your new digital workplace.
As the spread of the novel coronavirus a.k.a. COVID-19 increases, many LGBTQ+ people are understandably concerned about how this virus may affect us and our communities. We want to remind all parties handling COVID-19 surveillance, response, treatment, and media coverage that LGBTQ+ communities are among those who are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects.
At Equality Federation, we work with many politically and civically engaged LGBTQ folks, and we often hear that they don’t feel welcome in other (even progressive) political spaces. What’s more, a 2019 report from Williams Institute found that 21% of LGBTQ people are not registered to vote, compared to 17% of the general population.
We, the undersigned, a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) state and local organizations, make the following statement in response to the introduction of the Equality Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
We applaud Gov. Newsom for announcing this long overdue pardon of civil rights hero Bayard Rustin along with the new clemency initiative to correct a historical wrong.
The State Equality Index (SEI) is a comprehensive state-by-state report that provides a review of statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ people and their families. The SEI rates all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. in six areas of law and assigns the states to one of four distinct categories.
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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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