Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
I spent Wednesday standing shoulder to shoulder with Equality North Carolina and their partners as we worked to repeal House Bill 2, the devastating law passed last spring that forces transgender people to use restrooms that don’t match who they are and prohibits cities from protecting their communities with nondiscrimination ordinances. Unfortunately, we failed.
A deal to repeal North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ law, HB 2, failed to materialize on Wednesday. The city of Charlotte upheld their side of the bargain and repealed their nondiscrimination ordinance on Tuesday after an agreement with the Legislature was reached to repeal HB 2.
Since 2006, the State of the States report by Equality Federation has documented the strength and sustainability of state-based advocacy organizations that advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the communities they call home.
North Carolina Governor-Elect Roy Cooper and Governor Pat McCrory have announced a deal, along with the state legislature and city of Charlotte, to repeal HB 2, the state’s notorious anti-LGBTQ law. In exchange for Charlotte repealing its nondiscrimination ordinance, the state legislature is expected to repeal HB 2 on Tuesday.
Ohio is one of 28 states that leaves LGBTQ people out of laws that make discrimination illegal. However, some individual communities have enacted these protections themselves.
While more than 111 million people live in states where LGBTQ people lack clear state-level protections against discrimination in the workplace, the SEI points to a few encouraging signs -- particularly in areas related to LGBTQ youth, health and safety.
One year ago, many of us worried that people wouldn’t understand the need to continue contributing to our movement for equality after marriage equality was secured. Ironically, thanks in part to the media firestorms generated by far-right attacks on our civil liberties such as the religious exemption bill in Indiana and cause célèbre du jours like Kim Davis, it is more likely that our funders and donors understand the need for a strong state-based LGBTQ movement.
Equality Federation hosted an amazing fundraising reception on April 24th at the Studio Theater in Washington DC. With the help of Board Members, Sam Nitz and Kellan Baker, we had 14 sponsors and over 175 attendees!
Equality Federation faced a challenging 2019 and used creative strategies to help state-based equality groups across the country support LGBTQ Americans. The fight for justice is a long game. We are committed to using every opportunity to keep building the power of our state-based movement while inspiring communities to stand with us on the side of fairness and 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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