Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging same-sex marriage bans in four states in the Sixth Circuit, and a ruling is expected in June.
State-based organizations across the country are advancing major progress in the communities we call home -- where the work is hard, but the impact is great. We are only two weeks into 2015, and already another state has won the freedom to marry, and another could be on its way.
Last year, Idaho and Montana became two of the 36 states (and D.C.) that now have the freedom to marry. This was a great advancement for LGBT people in these states, but it also brought about a new reality: it is now legal to marry a same-sex partner in the same state where protections against discrimination are limited.
From incredible wins for the freedom to marry to the passing of over a dozen local nondiscrimination ordinances in cities across the country, 2014 was a year of remarkable advances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. However, despite these advances, deep disparities still remain in all aspects of life for LGBT individuals.
In just the past few months, the freedom to marry has been granted to same-sex couples in more states than ever before. While the benefits to committed and loving same-sex couples are vast, the economic impact of marriage equality within each state is great as well.
For many of our movement’s state-based organizations, funding is often stretched too thin.Groups continue to make progress, but there is always more work to be done and more support than can be provided. Luckily, there is a new opportunity for some of our groups to receive this needed funding.
Last week, Governor Cuomo of New York announced regulations that will ban public and private healthcare insurers from covering so-called gay conversion therapy and prohibit state mental health facilities from conducting the controversial practice on minors. This is big news.
In a close 25-24 vote, the Washington Senate today shut down an anti-transgender bill, SB 6443, that would have undone the state’s regulations that ensure transgender people are able to use the facilities that match their gender identity.
Equality Florida made historic progress by achieving a committee hearing on The Florida Competitive Workforce Act (HB 45/SB 120). It was the first time a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill had such a hearing in Florida.
Two anti-LGBTQ bills were defeated on February 9th in Virginia thanks to the hard work of Federation member Equality Virginia and many advocates on the ground who bravely shared their stories and asked their legislators to stand for fairness.
As our organization headed into 2016, it felt a bit like deja vu. Once again, we were preparing for a possible historic year in the fight for full equality for LGBTQ Floridians!
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling establishing nationwide marriage equality masks a stark and persistent reality: a patchwork of state and local non-discrimination laws continues to leave millions of LGBT Americans – including those who are legally married – without reliable protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, according to a report released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.
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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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