Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Within hours of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation, the Department of Justice put a wrench in the Department’s ongoing defense of President Obama’s guidance on fairness for transgender students, sending a troubling hint that the new Administration may be taking a different course.
Equality Federation stood in solidarity with the broad, diverse opposition to Senator Sessions for Attorney General due to his history of opposing fairness, freedom, and justice for all. He has a record of opposing LGBTQ equality, making racist statements, and acting as a barrier to progress for people of color, women, immigrants and other communities.
We’ve already sent you several emails and flooded your social media with news and action alerts about the Administration’s anti-LGBTQ appointees and attacks on immigrants and refugees. So, I’m proud to showcase this Trump-free newsletter, highlighting victories from across the country.
In October, Equality Utah made history by filing a lawsuit against Utah’s state education office. The lawsuit challenges a curriculum law that prohibits discussing homosexuality in a positive way.
Lester Jackson (D-Savannah) introduced a historic, comprehensive civil rights bill in co-sponsorship with five of his colleagues. The bill represents the first time a civil rights bill that includes nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people was introduced in the state.
A copy of Trump’s religious exemption executive order has leaked, and it is being described by legal experts as staggeringly broad in scope. The order would give license to discriminate to any person or organization and flies in the face of the values Americans hold dear – fairness, freedom, and treating others the way we’d like to be treated.
Today, Equality Federation responded to the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case about whether a business that is open to the public can be granted an unprecedented free speech exemption from state nondiscrimination law in order to turn away customers they would rather not serve. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled for 303 Creative in a highly fact-specific decision authorizing a narrow exception to state nondiscrimination laws for a website developer.
After you donate to Equality Federation, please consider matching that gift with a donation to your closest participating state partner and a BIPOC-focused organization this Give Out Day.
Paid Health Leave for everyone would provide access to taking care of oneself without jeopardizing their employment. This is a part of public health, and we must invest in it to keep everyone safe.
Investing in furthering transphobic laws is a waste of precious resources, resources that come from our hard work. There are so many other things to invest in instead.
The Biden administration has issued new proposed regulations under Title IX, the federal civil rights law, stating that schools cannot categorically ban transgender students from joining athletic teams consistent with their gender identity.The regulations are a response to a coordinated nationwide effort to erase trans people from public life, including 64 bills seeking to bar transgender students athletes from participating in school sports. Since 2021, 20 states have banned trans student athletes from participating in school sports.Equality Federation Executive Director Fran Hutchins had the following comment on the proposed regulations:
LGBTQ+ Communities Fight Back Against Coordinated Nationwide Assault State legislators have passed 28, proposed 460 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills In 2023, state lawmakers have introduced 460 bills attacking LGBTQ+ people, with 356 bills specifically targeting transgender people. Recent reports indicate that the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills result from a coordinated, nationwide effort by far-right politicians with ties to extremist groups.So far in 2023, states have enacted 28 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including legislation or executive action banning or further restricting gender-affirming health care for adults or children in twelve states:, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, Idaho, and Arkansas. In 2022, Arizona and Alabama passed similar laws banning health care. Advocates expect as many as twenty states will ban gender-affirming health care this year.
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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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