Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Across the country, our members are working hard to ensure that young people feel safe and protected at school. In order to build safe environments for students, we need support from decision makers in the community. But it isn’t always easy to build community support for schools that openly affirm people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth are disproportionately represented in the foster care population and are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment due to widespread anti-transgender bias, prejudice, and transphobia. Young transgender individuals may face unnecessary barriers while under the care of Children’s Services, such as in foster care or juvenile detention.
Each year, millions of students are removed from their classrooms for minor misconduct. This puts them at a significantly higher risk of falling behind academically, dropping out of school, and potentially being forced into the juvenile justice system.
In the past year since the Supreme Court struck down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), we’ve witnessed 36 consecutive victories, and zero losses, for the freedom to marry. Twenty rulings have been issued in federal court, 13 in state court, and 3 by a federal appellate court.
Monica Meyer became the Executive Director of OutFront Minnesota in 2010, after serving as Public Policy Director since 2001. Under Monica's leadership, OutFront Minnesota and Project 515 co-founded Minnesotans United for All Families, the campaign which defeated the proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom to marry in 2012 and won marriage equality just seven months later.
Michael Nordman is the Director of Development at Equality Illinois. Since starting in 2012, he has helped the organization raise more than $2.8 million towards their fight for LGBT equality by mobilizing existing supporters and inspiring Illinoisans from all walks of life to join the movement.
Every year at our Summer Meeting, we take the time to recognize our members who are doing exceptional work in the fight for LGBT equality. This year, as we gathered in Salt Lake City, we honored two state leaders whose work over the past year showcased the absolute best our movement has to offer: Monica Meyer from OutFront Minnesota and Ann Kaner-Roth from Project 515.
In the weeks following the Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA and Proposition 8, member groups across the nation have held statewide celebratory rallies in response to these historic decisions. But Federation member organization Equality Alabama went one step further, holding a Marriage Town Hall Meeting focused on shedding some light on what the Court’s rulings mean for residents of Alabama.
At Summer Meeting 2013, our friends from the National Center for Transgender Equality joined us to facilitate an important topic of discussion: trans inclusion
Our member organizations are always striving to do the best work they can to serve the diverse LGBT communities in their states. To continue to do just that, Fair Wisconsin and Equality Wisconsin have decided to combine their efforts to create a more unified, stable, and successful LGBT equality movement in Wisconsin!
The Obama Administration is continuing to implement the Supreme Court's landmark decision striking down Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.Soon after the ruling was handed down, the President directed the Attorney General to work with other members of his Cabinet to review the Justices' decision and determine its impact on Federal benefit programs to ensure swift and smooth implementation.
Thank you for filling out the evaluation for our 2013 Summer Meeting. To enter a raffle for a free registration to the 2014 Summer Meeting, July 30 - August 2, in Minneapolis, MN, just reply to the thank you email you received or email the Federation Institute at summermeeting@equalityfederation.org.
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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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