News & Resources

Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.

The Latest

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LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence

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.

May 29, 2020
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Watch Vivian Topping and ALOK Talk Equality

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.

May 29, 2020
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2020 Legislative Session Recap

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.

May 14, 2020
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Meet Our Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement

As Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Vivian Topping works with state-based LGBTQ organizations to craft smart, effective legislative and electoral campaigns.

May 11, 2020
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Tell the FDA to lift the blood donation ban on gay and bisexual people

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.

April 27, 2020
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LGBTQ People Must Condemn Violence Against Asian-Americans

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.

April 22, 2020

Press Releases

Executive Director Betsy Smith Steps Down from EqualityMaine After 14 Years of Incredible Work

Executive Director Betsy Smith has been leading EqualityMaine for fourteen years. After securing many incredible wins for LGBT Mainers, she has announced that she will soon step down from her position. Before Betsy officially leaves the Federation family (though we'll always count her as one of our own), we wanted to learn everything we could from her work and experience. So we caught up with her to talk about her successful tenure at EqualityMaine.

August 28, 2013
FEDtalks Daily: John Smallwood of Fair Wisconsin--Watch Now!

Our final FEDtalk given at the Summer Meeting 2013 is from John Smallwood, Advocacy & Organizing Director at Fair Wisconsin.

August 26, 2013
FEDtalks Daily: Shannon McCann of Equality Utah--Watch Now!

Our ninth FEDtalk given at the Summer Meeting 2013 is from Shannon McCann, Intern at Equality Utah. 

August 23, 2013
Sam Nitz

Sam Nitz currently serves as the Data & Targeting Manager for EMILY’s List, using data and targeting to help elect more Democratic, pro-choice women to office across the country. Previously, he served as the Deputy Targeting Director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2010 and worked at political direct mail and polling firms.

August 22, 2013
More FEDtalks Now Available!

At this year’s Summer Meeting, we invited state leaders and our Federation interns to take five minutes to share a big idea, talk through an innovative strategy, or offer up an exciting concept. We called the presentations FEDtalks, and since the meeting wrapped, we keep getting requests to publish the videos online.

August 22, 2013
Aaron Welo

Aaron Welo is an at-large director and the Treasurer for the Equality Federation. He is currently an associate with Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, where he practices in the firm's business litigation group on a variety of class and complex litigation matters.

August 22, 2013
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