Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
In the world of LGBT legislation, the biggest trends this season are marriage and bathrooms. Through our newly launched Legislative Action Center, the Federation is currently tracking an unprecedented 200 bills, including a slew of anti-transgender bills that focus on preventing public facility use in 11 states and religious exemption bills targeting marriage in over a dozen states.
The Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, and TD Garden have voiced their support for legislation that would ban discrimination against transgender people in public spaces such as shopping malls, restaurants, and other public accommodations.
The Program Associate will support the Equality Federation’s development and communications departments (60%), annual Leadership Conference (10%), board of directors (20%), and our day-to-day operations (10%). The Program Associate will work from a home office and travel 3-4 weeks a year. This position reports to the Executive Director with ongoing coordination with the Development, Communications and Leadership Program Directors.
Today, Equality Federation launched the Legislative Action Center (LAC). The LAC will empower state-based LGBTQ organizations to hold their ground during turbulent state legislative sessions while also winning nondiscrimination protections and other important policy advances for LGBTQ people and their families.
With barely a moment to take a deep breath, the LGBTQ community is back in the trenches, ready to fight for equality and justice in a critical legislative year. Immediately following a historic victory on marriage, after the balloons and confetti, we faced a tide of anti-LGBTQ attacks.
Equality Federation supports commuting Chelsea Manning’s court-martial sentence to time served and calls on President Obama to grant her clemency petition. Chelsea has served longer than anyone else with similar charges, and as a transgender woman, has been treated inhumanely and denied fair treatment.
In case you missed it, 2016 was a year for the record books. Well over 200 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation kept Equality Federation and our state partners busy in state capitals across the country. That’s the bad news.
Equality Federation regrets to report that several organizations, including two Federation member groups, have been targeted by acts of vandalism. Someone smashed a window of Equality Florida’s Orlando office in late February.
A judge in Pinedale, Wyoming faced discipline from the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics for a newspaper interview she gave stating that she would not officiate same-sex marriages. She said, “When law and religion conflict, choices have to be made.”
With the challenges, disappointments, and threats coming out of Washington, it’s a pleasure to see forward thinking legislative packages coming out on the state level. Equality Federation will keep highlighting the groundbreaking work of our member organizations.
Though the national political scene has been tumultuous, unpredictable, and downright discouraging these past few months, I have the privilege to work with passionate Ohioans in several of our cities who are determined to do everything they can to stand with LGBTQ Americans in the face of harmful rhetoric coming from this new administration and its advocates.
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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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