State-based organizations across the country are making changes 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.

At the Federation, we’re committed to telling the story of these victories. And this week, we're headed to North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

• Attorney Mark Kleinschmidt has filed an amicus brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of Equality North Carolina and South Carolina Equality in the marriage equality case of Bostic v. Schaefer. This brief includes profiles of two North Carolina military families negatively impacted by the state’s constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples as well as other state laws targeting same-sex couples and their children. We applaud the teams at Equality NC and SC Equality for filing this brief in support of protections for gay and lesbian service members in the South!

• In Wayne County, Michigan, Executive Robert Ficano signed an executive order expanding Wayne County’s equal employment and nondiscrimination policies in the workplace to include sexual orientation and gender identity, joining two other counties in the state who have expanded their policies. Equality Michigan has been working with municipalities around the state to expand workplace discrimination policies like that in Wayne County, and we congratulate them on another successful effort!

• Tempe, Arizona, is now the fourth city in the state to pass a nondiscrimination law, thanks to the help of Equality Arizona who worked for more than six months to craft the ordinance. In a 7-0 vote, the Tempe City Council unanimously approved a law to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people by  businesses, and in employment and housing. Congratulations to the team at Equality Arizona for your hard work in drafting this ordinance!

• The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voted on April 24 to amend its nondiscrimination ordinance to ban bias based on gender identity and gender expression, protecting those who work for the county and also those who work for companies that do business with the county. This ordinance extends the City of Milwaukee's existing protections, protecting transgender and gender nonconforming individuals from discrimination. We join Fair Wisconsin in applauding the County Board for updating their policy to ensure protections for all LGBT individuals in Milwaukee!

What else? Let us know about a win in your community, and we’ll feature it in an upcoming edition of Unsung Victories! Just send an email to communications@equalityfederation.org.