Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
For too long, the LGBT community has been left out when it comes to health coverage. It has been too hard to find coverage that treats our families fairly, that covers the care we need, and that doesn't break the bank.
This is what progress looks like. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court quietly extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in five states.
Five years ago this week, Connecticut became the second state to secure the freedom to marry for loving, committed same-sex couples. A ruling in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health by the state Supreme Court on Oct. 10, 2008, said that same-sex couples could not be prevented from marrying.
Laws and ordinances that protect LGBT people, families, and communities are a patchwork in the USA. Our partners at the Movement Advancement Project have created a series of Equality Maps, which provide a quick snapshot of the current status of protections, state by state and issue by issue.
On the heels of the introduction of a new immigration proposal in the House of Representatives and Saturday’s National Day of Dignity and Respect, our partners at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) have released a new report: Our Moment for Reform: Immigration and Transgender People.
On September 16th, Brandie Balken and the Equality Utah team held their 12th Annual Allies Dinner, a gala fundraiser celebrating the individuals, businesses, and organizations that have done extraordinary things in support of the LGBT community in Utah.
Equality Federation’s conferences, convenings, and trainings provide an extraordinary opportunity for member organizations to learn from and support each other.
Equality Federation members scored key municipal policy wins this year. While we often focus on statewide wins, these city and county victories are critical components of the fight for equality in the communities we call home.
In 1997, a few LGBTQ movement leaders, including our current executive director, Rebecca Isaacs, came together at the Highlander Center in Tennessee. Sitting in a circle of rocking chairs in the room where Rosa Parks was trained in civil disobedience, they envisioned coming together as a state-based movement to form the “Federation of Statewide LGBT Political Organizations.” From that loose network, an organization grew.
Equality Federation’s Legislative Action Center tracks every piece of LGBTQ-focused legislation in all 50 states, allowing us to deploy critical resources to our state partners at every step of the legislative process. This year we tracked over 350 bills affecting the LGBTQ community. Fifteen states faced down anti-transgender bathroom ban legislation this year and we were victorious in fighting every one of these discriminatory efforts.
This year was the most successful ever in the fight against so-called “conversion therapy.” Equality Federation supported legislation in 20 states to protect youth from the harmful, unscientific, disproven practice of sexual orientation and gender identity conversion efforts.
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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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