Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Ted Martin is the Executive Director of Equality Pennsylvania, the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) political advocacy organization. He is also a native Pennsylvanian, a longtime LGBT activist and non-profit professional. Martin has worked in several varied administrative and communications capacities over the past two decades.
Katie Belanger is an experienced consultant who has worked with nonprofits and for profits, boards and staff teams, and coalitions and campaigns to develop shared missions and craft comprehensive implementation plans through her business, Katie B. Strategies. Katie has a passion for aligning groups around their vision, building robust implementation plans, engaging and developing leaders, and delivering real successes to the communities we serve.
On Thursday last week, Wyoming’s state legislature withdrew House Bill 135. HB135 would have allowed businesses, state and local governments to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Last year Federation member Freedom Oklahoma led the defeat of 27 anti-LGBTQ bills, and this year they are ready to continue their winning streak on behalf of every Oklahoman who values fairness and equality for all. Earlier this week, they hosted 150 people interested in advocating for equality.
On Wednesday last week, Colorado House Bill 1013, a religious exemption bill, died in committee for the third year in a row. The bill, the Colorado Freedom of Conscience Protection Act, was essentially a state RFRA.
438 civil and human rights organizations, including Equality Federation, have signed onto a letter from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to express our strong opposition to the confirmation of Senator Jefferson B. Sessions (R-AL) to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States.
Today Lt. Governor Dan Patrick introduced a bill cosponsored by Senator Lois Kolkhorst, that would discriminate against transgender people under the guise of protecting women’s and students’ privacy. The bill would ban transgender people from using the restroom that matches the gender they live as every day and ban cities and towns from passing nondiscrimination ordinances that protect transgender people from discrimination.
Equality Federation stands in solidarity with immigrants, refugees, and their families today as the Trump Administration launches an attack on millions of people’s freedoms and civil liberties.
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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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