Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
President Obama and his Administration have shown great leadership in the midst of national, often nasty and negative, attention and attacks on transgender people and their families. Recent public statements made by the president and the Department of Education send an especially inspiring message to our youth; that the most powerful leaders in our nation have their back.
“My answer is that we should deal with this issue the same way we’d want it dealt with if it was our child,” Obama said. “And that is to try to create an environment of some dignity and kindness for these kids. And that’s sort of the bottom line.” – President Obama
Equality Federation congratulates Massachusetts on the passage of a proactive, transgender-specific public accommodations bill. This bill updates Massachusetts state law to ensure explicit protections for transgender people from discrimination in public places, including restaurants, hospitals, parks, and public restrooms. We celebrate this powerful victory, which comes after over a decade of public education and dialogue in the state.
This week more than a dozen organizers working to secure non-discrimination protections for LGBT Americans nationwide came together in Atlanta, Georgia, launching a new project dedicated to developing conversations about the importance of comprehensive non-discrimination protections.
Officials in eleven states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin – have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its directive to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
Equality Federation joined the chorus of LGBTQ advocates and health care professionals in praising the Obama Administration for finalizing a rule in the Affordable Care Act that bans discrimination in health insurance and health care.
Two years ago, Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri, a city where less than two years before, we worked with the Ferguson City Council to pass the first inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in North County.
On Friday, August 12th, a federal court in Forth Worth Texas will hear arguments in State of Texas v. United States, a lawsuit that is a clear attack on transgender people with the sole purpose of enshrining discrimination into the law.
ORLANDO, FL – Equality Federation member Equality Florida, faith leaders, and family members of victims of the Pulse shooting were joined by nearly 200 local advocates on August 11th outside the “Rediscovering God in America” conference in Orlando to call out Marco Rubio and Donald Trump.
Equality Federation is proud to have raised $22,369 from donors like you on Give OUT Day – August, 2nd. We won a second place prize of $5k for garnering the second most individual donors of the day bringing our grand total raised to $27,369.
Nearly 200 leaders from Equality Federation’s state-based partner membership as well as leaders from national LGBTQ organizations attended our annual Leadership Conference this July in Portland, Oregon. Local hosts Basic Rights Oregon supported the efforts and an array of new sponsors ensured the event was a smashing success.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
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.
.png)
