Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
The LGBTQ community is no stranger to state overreach – when legislatures swoop in to eradicate local nondiscrimination measures or take other sweeping actions that, ultimately, hurt our ability to live, work, and raise our families free from discrimination. In fact, the first time most Americans even became aware of the concept of preemption legislation was when North Carolina enacted HB 2 – the discriminatory law that attacked the very humanity of transgender people, and eviscerated local nondiscrimination measures across the Tar Heel state.
Chrissy Etienne joined Equality Federation in October 2019 as the organizations first Digital Strategist and Kairos Fellow.
I took a job working for Equality Federation because I believe it is everyone’s job to help make the world a better place. The fact that I can do that while working for a cause I so deeply believe in was a double win.
Des Moines, IA—Media coverage often portrays rural America as singularly white, conservative and working-class. Yet at least 10 million people of color, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of color, call rural America home.
Our Legislative Action Center curated a conversation about building trans political power with experts Emmett Schelling, Executive Director at Transgender Education Network of Texas, and Dylan Waguespack, president of the board of directors for Louisiana Trans Advocates. Check out some of the highlights from our conversation.
Dione Friends joined Equality Federation as Director of Communications in August 2019. Prior to joining Equality Federation, she spent eight years on the communications team at the ACLU of Texas, where she substantially grew their digital presence, communications capacity, and ability to reach people offline.
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. 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 are unrecognized by the broader community.
On July 4, 1999, I left Alabama, the state I had called home for my entire life. Since the moment that I pulled away from my childhood home in a car packed to the gills, I have considered that day my own personal Independence Day.
Equality Federation is proud to have had the opportunity to learn, share knowledge, and mingle with advocates from across the country at the LGBTQ Task Force's Creating Change Conference recently held in Denver, Colorado. (See photos from the conference below!)
With incomplete nondiscrimination protections in 32 states and misleading religious exemption bills popping up across the country that would create loopholes allowing unfair treatment and discrimination against gay and transgender people, it is increasingly important that we raise awareness about the need for complete nondiscrimination protections for all people. Despite the momentous victories for the freedom to marry, many people remain unaware that there is still work to do to ensure full equality under the law.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Alabama Attorney General’s request for a stay on a judge’s ruling allowing same-sex marriage in Alabama. This should clear the way for same-sex marriage to begin next week unless the Supreme Court intervenes.
D.W. Trantham testified in support of a bill that would ensure LGBT citizens of Idaho were protected from discrimination in its statewide human rights law. Unfortunately, the bill was defeated. Idaho is one of the 32 states that urgently need to update their laws so that all people, including LGBT, people are protected from discrimination. Get involved in our #DiscriminationExists campaign to learn more about where your state stands and what you can do to help.
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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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