Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
ALOK and Vivian Topping from Equality Federation teamed up to share some important updates with you about anti-transgender legislative trends from around the country.
We, the undersigned, recognize we cannot remain neutral, nor will awareness substitute for action. The LGBTQ community knows about the work of resisting police brutality and violence.
The 2020 legislative session has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the current coronavirus crisis, many state legislatures have either suspended session or are focusing primarily on pandemic relief bills.
As Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Vivian Topping works with state-based LGBTQ organizations to craft smart, effective legislative and electoral campaigns.
Earlier this month, the FDA decided to relax its rule of banning donations from gay men, bisexual men, and trans people from 12 months to 3 months. This is a good start but it's not a win. Any ban based solely on identity is wrong.
Emmett Schelling, Executive Director of TENT: Being an immigrant born in South Korea always plays a factor in who I am and how I am treated in America. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the xenophobia that I am experiencing related to the pandemic is heartbreaking.
March 10th came and went without much fanfare, yet it was a milestone day for Equality Federation member Freedom Oklahoma. When the Oklahoma Legislature gaveled into session earlier this year, Oklahoma’s LGBTQ community faced a daunting challenge to overcome 27 anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation — many carried over from the previous legislation.
In state after state this year, opponents have used ever-evolving strategies to legislate anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The two most common strategies are religious exemption bills (so-called “religious freedom” bills) and bills focussed on restroom access.
Update: Equality Federation extends our deepest gratitude to the eight courageous Senators in Missouri who filibustered for a historic 39 hours to prevent a discriminatory religious exemption bill from moving forward in the legislature. SJ39 is a dangerous bill that would ask the voters of Missouri to amend their constitution to allow religious organizations and individuals to use their faith to legally justify refusing services and benefits to LGBTQ people.
Now is the time for transgender equality, and more states are doing the right thing. They are no longer forcing transgender people to have surgery or obtain court orders in order to change the gender marker on their birth certificates.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that ensures the enforcement of federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate on specified grounds against a job applicant or an employee has announced two lawsuits alleging anti-gay discrimination.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael delivered a tearful floor speech in support of a “civil rights amendment” to an anti-LGBTQ religious exemption bill, #HB4012, to prevent the bill from being used to discriminate. The amendment passed, and on Wednesday, March 2nd, the entire bill was killed in a 27-7 vote.
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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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