Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Equality Federation is a proud signer of the following letter in coalition with The National LGBTQ Task Force and other national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations.
Last month I had the honor and pleasure of gathering with Federation members from our Midwest cohort at the annual Midwest Leadership Summit in Chicago. As part of our State Leadership Project, the Midwest Leadership Summit is a chance to share strategies, network, and plan for collaboration in the year to come.
Across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals face some of the greatest barriers to accessing adequate and affordable healthcare. For transgender individuals, these barriers are often increased.
Since 2006, the State of the States report by Equality Federation has documented the strength and sustainability of state-based advocacy organizations that advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the communities they call home. Over the past eight years, State of the States has faithfully documented our movement’s triumphs and trials as reflected in the capacity of our state-based organizations.
The Fairness Project is a resource for state and national organizations working to secure nondiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. Through its Fairness Project, the Equality Federation offers the public a place to learn more about the need for comprehensive and inclusive nondiscrimination protections.
To call 2014 an exciting year is an understatement -- and the year isn’t over yet!In just one year, we’ve already seen incredible advances for our movement -- marriage equality in states across the nation; municipal wins to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals from discrimination; and activists working together across issue areas to protect our nation’s youngest and most vulnerable populations.
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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