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 stands with our member organization Freedom Oklahoma in our disgust at the passage of SB 1140.
In 2016 we published a blog post on the growing threat – the use of preemption legislation. Today, we’re proud to participate in the release of a new report led by Movement Advancement Project in partnership with A Better Balance, Family Values @ Work, and the Local Solutions Support Center.
I’m so proud of my dad today, and well, every day really. He’s an honorable man who works hard and owns a business in our hometown, Oklahoma City. Like any family, it was a journey with ups and downs when I came out, but he has always supported me.
As an adopted LGBTQ Oklahoman I find SB 1140, Oklahoma’s anti-LGBTQ adoption bill, to be a direct attack on myself and the hundreds of prospective adoptive families across our state.
Equality Federation staff will hold parties featuring live goats on both coasts this spring, and anyone who contributes to the organization’s Give OUT Day efforts will be added to the guest lists. Give OUT Day, held on April 19th, is a national day of giving for LGBTQ organizations raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the movement.
On Thursday, April 28th, the House Armed Services Committee voted to pass a discriminatory amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act introduced by Representative Steve Russell (R-OK). The amendment applies the private employer religious exemptions of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to religious organizations receiving any federal contract or grant – which could include universities and hospitals employing thousands of people.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed discriminatory legislation that allows counselors and therapists to refuse treatment based on their religious objections or personal beliefs. The American Counseling Association has called the legislation an “unprecedented attack” on the counseling profession.
President Obama called for the repeal of Anti-LGBTQ bills in North Carolina and Mississippi at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The British Government recently issued a travel warning to LGBTQ tourists visiting those states.
In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Virginia, a federal court of appeals ruled in favor of plaintiff Gavin Grimm, a transgender student at Gloucester High School who was not permitted to use the facilities and participate in the programs that match the gender he lives everyday. This is a historic victory for transgender students who, like all students, deserve a fair opportunity to fully participate and succeed in school as their authentic selves.
Equality Federation member Forum For Equality issued the following statement praising Governor John Bel Edwards for signing an executive order forbidding state government and government contractors from discriminating based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, while also repealing Gov. Bobby Jindal’s maligning Marriage and Conscience executive order.
Equality Federation continues to call upon North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and the legislature to repeal House Bill 2 (HB 2), one of the most extreme anti-LGBT laws in the country. The Governor’s executive order purports to create protections in public employment for gay and transgender North Carolinians but does not repeal the law or provide comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people in housing, public spaces, and so on.
.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)
