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.
Our families are under attack. From the White House to state legislatures across the nation, right-wing politicians are trying to prevent justice and equality under the guise of protecting religious freedom.
The Georgia State Senate, by a vote of 35-19, advanced legislation that would allow taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to deny service to LGBTQ youth and families.
As part of our Raising the States resource development training program, Equality Federation is excited to team up with Network for Good to provide training opportunities open to all members!
Last week lawmakers in Georgia passed positive reforms to the state’s adoption and foster care code. HB 159 updates the state’s antiquated child welfare laws and does not include any discriminatory language.
Two additional bills targeting LGBTQ people have failed in the South Dakota Legislature. SB 160, which would have prohibited classroom instruction of gender expression or identity, and SB 202, which would have required all public restrooms to have a sign posted giving notice that a person of the “opposite sex” may be in the restroom, were both killed or voted down with bipartisan support.
The Education Department has said it will not investigate or take action on any complaints of discrimination filed by transgender students who are not permitted to use the facilities that match their gender identity.
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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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