Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
The cornerstone of our Southern Leaders program is our Southern Leadership Summit, an annual gathering that brings together advocates from the region for two days of intensive workshops and discussion. Challenging legislative sessions in all the Southern states gave us a lot to talk about, and leaders shared what they’d learned so far, with many fights still going on.
On March 23, the North Carolina General Assembly held a special session to rush through—in less than 12 hours—legislation attacking the LGBTQ community. House Bill 2 abolished all local nondiscrimination laws that go beyond state law, leaving LGBTQ people unprotected across the state, and would force transgender people to use bathrooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates in government facilities, putting them at risk of harassment and violence.
Fresh on the heels of new anti-LGBTQ smears by outside groups trying to mislead people about pending nondiscrimination legislation, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf has signed executive orders providing non-discrimination protections for members of the LGBT community employed by or contracting with the Commonwealth.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed into law one of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523. The law allows discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
One of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523, is making its way through the Mississippi legislature and will reach Governor Phil Bryant’s desk within days. It would allow discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
On Friday, April 1st the Kentucky Senate unanimously approved a single marriage license form, a move in stark contrast to a divisive vote on the same issue several weeks ago. The Senate had previously approved Senate Bill 5, a measure introduced by Senator Stephen West (R-Paris) that would have created separate marriage license forms for gay and straight couples in Kentucky.
In 2013, the board and staff of the Equality Federation completed an exciting branding process to reinvigorate and reenergize our brand, message and story. During this process, we modified our logo, updating it with bright new colors that have been integrated into all of our communications.
It took hundreds of hours, thousands of miles, and countless conversations. But it was worth it.As a result of that work, the Equality Federation helped secure more than $650,000 to fuel the campaign to win nondiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pennsylvanians. That brings our “dollars marshaled” total to more than $1.5 million invested in state-based campaigns.
After the long-awaited repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) in 2011, the movement for equality celebrated. Finally, lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) servicemembers could be open and honest about who they are.
All of us at Equality Federation Institute are proud to welcome Andy Garcia as Program Manager. Andy has joined our nondiscrimination team and will work with veteran movement leaders Roey Thorpe and Anne Stanback to implement our expanded program focused on advancing policies that protect LGBT people from discrimination.
The entire Equality Federation team is looking forward to connecting with our members, partners and friends at The Task Force's National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change!
It's that time again! The State Equality Fund (SEF) has issued an open invitation for letters of inquiry (LOI). The Cycle 2 LOI deadline is January 27, 2014. This is your last opportunity to apply for 2014 funding!
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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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