Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Every year, the Equality Federation Institute hosts its annual Summer Meeting, bringing together LGBT movement leaders from across the country to build skills and forge connections that strengthen the incredible work that’s happening in all the communities we call home. Even as many of us are still energized from the 2014 Summer Meeting in Minneapolis, next year’s meeting will be here before you know it, and we want you to save the date!
Are you running into challenges with your board of directors? Do you wonder how to recruit engaged and active leaders?
At this year’s Summer Meeting, we invited state leaders to take five minutes to share a big idea, talk through an innovative strategy, or offer up an exciting concept in a FEDtalk.These energetic and captivating presentations about the most innovative parts of our members’ work stood out, once again, as a major highlight of Summer Meeting.
We’re in the midst of a unique moment in the movement for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. As marriage wins continue in the courts, and national attention shifts to work in places where LGBT people aren’t protected from discrimination — strong leadership in the states is more important than ever.To guide the movement beyond the marriage milestone, we need adaptive leaders.
At Equality Federation, we believe the movement for equality is not done once the freedom to marry has been extended to same-sex couples nationwide. We know we have more work to do.
Protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations has been a priority for the movement since the 1980s. And still, the end goal of prohibiting discrimination nationwide eludes us.
In late January, South Dakota’s SB115, was withdrawn from the senate. The bill, which would have banned transgender students from fully participating in school programs and using the facilities that matched the gender they live every day, was pulled by its sponsor right before its hearing on January 31st.
Our pressure worked. Earlier today we held a press conference with Pride At Work and Wyoming Equality to raise concerns over Andrew Puzder’s lack of qualifications to be Labor Secretary.
Washington, DC: Equality Federation joined Representative Takano (D-Calif.) and leaders of Pride at Work and Wyoming Equality today to hold a press conference opposing Andrew Puzder for Labor Secretary.
Did you know that bisexual-identified people comprise more than half of the LGB community? In fact, recent polls suggest that one-third of young people don’t identify as straight or gay or lesbian. When communicating with your members, the public, law makers, or the media, a simple and powerful way to include this enormous, but often invisible, population is to add examples of how various policies impact the lives of bisexual people. Here are a few simple examples.
Federation members Equality Texas have launched a campaign backed by many big name creative artists who are calling upon Texas leaders not to enshrine discrimination targeting LGBTQ people into state law.
Within hours of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation, the Department of Justice put a wrench in the Department’s ongoing defense of President Obama’s guidance on fairness for transgender students, sending a troubling hint that the new Administration may be taking a different course.
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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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