Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Recently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a proposed rule regarding their use of nude body scanners in airports. The proposed rule is in response to a 2011 D.C. Circuit Court ruling that TSA violated the law by introducing the scanners in 2008 without rulemaking. The proposed rule consists of just two sentences, stating that TSA has authority to implement "screening technology used to detect concealed anomalies without requiring physical contact."
Good news for Federation members from the Arcus Foundation! They have announced the Arcus LGBT Leadership Initiative, an array of resources to support leaders of the LGBT movement in the United States. This initiative is a chance for movement leaders to enhance their skills and collaborate with one another, strengthening the movement!
This year’s Summer Meeting is shaping up to be one of the best yet. We’re planning sessions that will fuel collaboration within regions, caucus groups that will connect attendees based on their organizational roles, and workshops that are geared toward helping state leaders build greater success in lobbying, organizing, communications, organizational development, and more.
This weekend, families across the country celebrated Father's Day. My partner Brad and I got to spend the evening with my parents, relaxing on their screened porch here in Raleigh.
This Pride season, we have so much to celebrate in our community. I’m proud of the marriage victories and non-discrimination wins that Federation members have had a part in this year. I’m also extremely proud of the stand that the LGBT community, including many Federation members, has taken on immigration reform.
In November 2012, three states -- Maine, Maryland, and Washington -- extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples. And in the past few months, three additional states -- Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota -- have followed suit, reaching 12 states in the nation that allow all loving couples to share in the joys and responsibilities of marriage.
In a case brought by Transgender Law Center, on behalf of high school senior Ash Whitaker, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Equality Federation congratulates Basic Rights Oregon on the historic passage of HB 2673A. This legislation allows transgender individuals to amend both name and gender marker on their birth records without going to court.
Governor Abbott has called for a special session to continue pushing for an anti-transgender bathroom ban.
Equality Federation congratulates our partners and advocates on the ground who have worked tirelessly for these victories in Connecticut and Nevada. This week, we add two more to the list of states that have banned conversion “therapy” for minors.
Equality Federation has condemned Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam for signing HB 1111/SB 1085, requiring that all words in Tennesee state code be defined as their so-called “natural” or “biological” meanings.
Today President Trump signed a troubling and unnecessary executive order (full text below) that directs the Justice Department to draft religious exemptions guidelines that could promote anti-LGBT discrimination, promotes limiting access to contraception, and promotes partisan political spending by churches.
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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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