Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
With all the excitement and energy around recent marriage equality wins, it can be easy to forget that despite our monumental progress on marriage, LGBT people are still under attack in many places.
Since 2006, the State of the States report by the Equality Federation has documented the strength and sustainability of state-based advocacy organizations that advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
In West Virginia, the LGBT community remains hidden far too often. The stories of individuals facing employment discrimination as they work hard to earn a living, of couples struggling to take care of one another because they’re denied the freedom to marry, have been left untold for far too long.
I remember when I first became Executive Director at Equality North Carolina; like most Executive Directors, I was facing a number of substantial gaps in my skill set. While I had learned a lot about state politics and built a good network in the state, I had no idea how to read a financial statement, and managing staff was a brand new challenge for me. There were even some things I didn't realize that I didn't know.
State-based organizations across the country are making change in the communities we call home -- where the work is hard, but the impact is great. Nearly every week, we hear about another victory that provides LGBT people with the protection, respect and dignity they need and deserve, but far too often, these wins go unsung by the broader LGBT movement.
On November 5, the Illinois House passed the freedom to marry in a decisive 61 to 54 vote, following Senate passage on Valentine’s Day earlier this year. On November 20, Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law and gave committed same-sex couples across the state the protection and dignity they deserve.
This position requires a combination of internal direct service and external outreach and education. The successful candidate must provide direct service to survivors of violence via a crisis line, peer counseling, court accompaniment, police accompaniment, and otherwise as needed.
Only 22 percent of states—including the District of Columbia—offer free or reduced-cost ID cards to young people who are homeless. With research that suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness, this is a problem.
Chris Hartman, Executive Director of Fairness Campaign, an Equality Federation member, was one of the activists arrested in August while peacefully demonstrating at the Kentucky Farm Bureau's annual Country Ham Breakfast due to the company's longstanding anti-LGBT lobbying. This week, Hartman and fellow activists Carla Wallace and Sonja De Vries had their charges (which should never have been pressed) dropped.
2015 Icons
A legislative hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th, on the “Pastor Protection” Act. Federation member Equality Florida calls the act a misleading masquerade for religious freedom when in reality it is simply a cynical, anti-LGBT political move.
This position requires the Executive Director to be a self-starter with the enthusiasm to build MassEquality’s small, grassroots organization. The organization seeks a hands-on operational manager who can also fundraise and be the face of the organization.
.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)
