Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Executive Director Betsy Smith has been leading EqualityMaine for fourteen years. After securing many incredible wins for LGBT Mainers, she has announced that she will soon step down from her position. Before Betsy officially leaves the Federation family (though we'll always count her as one of our own), we wanted to learn everything we could from her work and experience. So we caught up with her to talk about her successful tenure at EqualityMaine.
Every day, the momentum for full marriage equality across this country builds. And our members are right in the thick of this critical work, achieving some major victories. Just look at what’s been happening these past ten months.
For years, our members have requested assistance and guidance in the area of communications. And although we have always been able to connect state groups with resources and provide some useful advice, we simply weren’t equipped to offer comprehensive communications support.
Our final FEDtalk given at the Summer Meeting 2013 is from John Smallwood, Advocacy & Organizing Director at Fair Wisconsin.
Our ninth FEDtalk given at the Summer Meeting 2013 is from Shannon McCann, Intern at Equality Utah.
The State Equality Fund (SEF) has announced its new guidelines for 2014 and issued an invitation for letters of inquiry (LOI).For the past eight years, Federation members have used support from SEF to make huge policy advances that improve the lives of LGBT people in their state. And at the Federation, we're eager to help even more of our state groups take advantage of this critical funding stream.
In a country that incarcerates more of its people than any other in the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are more likely to end up behind bars, and even more likely to face abuse while there. To address the issues and harms faced by LGBT prisoners, and to give activists and allies tools for working to improve jail and prison conditions for these individuals, the National Center for Transgender Equality has released an excellent new resource: Standing with LGBT Prisoners: An Advocate’s Guide to Ending Abuse and Combating Imprisonment.
Summer Meeting 2014 is coming together, and it's going to be the best one yet -- especially with the newest addition to the program.This year, the Equality Federation Institute is proud to offer a special opportunity for member organizations -- a free fast-paced crash course in the basics of effective management.
We've developed the tools below so that all Federation member groups can organize and engage their supporters in the fight against Mississippi's harmful and dangerous bill to allow discrimination against LGBT people.
It took years of organizing and lobbying and coalition building and storytelling. But soon, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014 will become law.
In 2011, the IRS defined marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman, essentially forcing legally married same-sex couples to lie on their income tax returns by filing as single. This legal injustice inspired Nadine Smith of Equality Florida to create the Refuse to Lie Campaign, encouraging legally married same-sex couples to take a stand by refusing to deny our spouses.
It’s time to start thinking about summer. Warm breezes, green trees, vacation days. And Summer Meeting.Each year, the Equality Federation Institute hosts the Summer Meeting to bring together the sharpest minds and the most strategic players in the movement for LGBT equality.
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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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