Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Founded in 1996 as the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, Equality Pennsylvania is the only organization in the Commonwealth based in Harrisburg and advocating there and across the state, exclusively for the rights of LGBT Pennsylvanians.
Many Federation members are actively engaged in efforts to support LGBTQ young people. Some are working to develop Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs); some are fighting to end school pushout; some are advocating for bans against harmful conversion therapy. No matter what form it takes, ensuring that LGBTQ young people are safe and thriving is a key part of all of our members' youth programs. That's why we're excited to share a new resource from our friends at The Trevor Project.
The Regional Field Director (Western U.S.) is a regular, full-time position who reports to the Deputy Field Director and is based in Washington, DC. The states included in the Western Region are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
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.
Popular culture images of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people suggest that most LGBT people live in cities or on the coasts. Yet an estimated 2.9 – 3.8 million LGBT people call rural America home. Today, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) released a new report, Where We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America, which examines the structural differences in rural life and their unique impact on LGBT people in rural areas, who are both more vulnerable to discrimination and less able to respond to its harmful effects.
HIV is still very much an LGBTQ issue. Yet, for the past two decades, HIV has not been a high priority for many LGBTQ advocacy organizations; it’s past time for that to change. HIV organizations and advocates living with HIV are doing important and successful work but there are significant gaps in HIV advocacy capacity in many states.
Equality Federation applauds this week’s decision by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, ruling that transgender students’ right to use the restroom and locker rooms matching their gender identity is protected by federal and state law. Congratulations to our member FreeState Justice, who filed the original suit, and the ACLU of Maryland, who joined as co-counsel, on this historic victory!
Our mission to advance and empower the state-based LGBTQ movement has remained constant for the almost 21 years of Equality Federation’s existence. The communities we call home continue to be attacked, which means we must be strategic in our work and growth.
In the nearly three years since the Obergefell ruling legalized marriage in all fifty states, we’ve faced an uphill battle. Victory has often meant defeating anti-LGBTQ legislation rather than passing proactive, pro-equality legislation.
As part of our Raising the States development training program, Equality Federation is excited to team up with Network for Good to provide training opportunities open to all members!
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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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