Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
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The new anti-trans bill in Kansas is one of the most severe and harmful limits that we’ve seen on the freedom and civil rights of our community. We brought the power of our network to Kansas last week when 42 Equality Federation member organizations signed a letter of solidarity with transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender diverse Kansans affected by it.
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In honor of HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day, we sat down with 3 Black LGBTQ+ leaders and executive directors whose state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations successfully modernized or repealed HIV criminalization laws for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to win—and why victory can still feel incomplete.
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It’s hard to be a queer or trans Texan right now, especially in deep-red rural areas. But Equality Texas has the answer: the Rainbow Rights Roadshow, a 15-stop tour of the state is a chance for LGBTQ+ Texans to connect, learn, advocate, and be in community.
Check out our bilingual community education toolkit to help our communities learn about mpox and the safe and effective vaccine that protects against it.
FACT: Cuts to health care disproportionately hurt LGBTQ+ communities. Click to view our health care factsheet!
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We are thrilled to share that three of our incredible team members have been selected for the National Black Justice Collective’s (NBJC’s) 2025 Cohort of 100 Black LGBTQ+/SGL Emerging Leaders to Watch!
Washington, DC — On September 27, in support of National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, hundreds of organizations and individuals have signed onto a joint letter (http://www.wethelgbt.org) to re-engage with the broader LGBT community in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gay men, bisexual men, and men who have sex with men accounted for 63% of the new HIV infections in 2010. In fact, gay men are the only group in which HIV infections are increasing.
Founded in 1984, EqualityMaine is the largest LGBT organization in Maine, with a $500,000 budget and 5.25 FTE staff. It is headquartered in Portland, ME, with a satellite office in Brewer ME. The Executive Director will lead this highly respected and historically successful organization into its new future, following the passage of marriage equality in Maine in 2012.
Too often, LGBT immigrants are forced into two closets — one because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and the other because of their immigration status. At the Federation, we believe that it’s time for all immigrants, including at least 267,000 LGBT immigrants, to be able to come out of the shadows. And we believe that our members can be a powerful voice in helping this dream become a reality.
Great organizations need great leaders — and they need them to stick around a little while. For years, the turnover rate in our statewide LGBT advocacy groups has been high, and in 2010, Equality Federation Institute identified this challenge as one of our organizational priorities. Committed to addressing this turnover, particularly among executive directors, we began tracking executive tenure and rolling out new programs to help ensure that state leaders were thriving.
Earlier this month, Equality North Carolina welcomed Christopher Sgro to their team as their new Executive Director. We were able to catch up with Chris to learn more about his experience and his hopes for his new position at Equality NC.
The Obama Administration is continuing to implement the Supreme Court's landmark decision striking down Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the months since the June ruling, federal departments have issued guidance and policy updates further detailing the far-reaching impact of DOMA's demise.
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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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