Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling establishing nationwide marriage equality masks a stark and persistent reality: a patchwork of state and local non-discrimination laws continues to leave millions of LGBT Americans – including those who are legally married – without reliable protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, according to a report released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.
Equality Federation is currently tracking over 200 bills, at least 150 of which are anti-LGBTQ, throughout the country. Oklahoma leads the pack with 27 anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation up for consideration by lawmakers this session.
In the world of LGBT legislation, the biggest trends this season are marriage and bathrooms. Through our newly launched Legislative Action Center, the Federation is currently tracking an unprecedented 200 bills, including a slew of anti-transgender bills that focus on preventing public facility use in 11 states and religious exemption bills targeting marriage in over a dozen states.
The Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, and TD Garden have voiced their support for legislation that would ban discrimination against transgender people in public spaces such as shopping malls, restaurants, and other public accommodations.
The Program Associate will support the Equality Federation’s development and communications departments (60%), annual Leadership Conference (10%), board of directors (20%), and our day-to-day operations (10%). The Program Associate will work from a home office and travel 3-4 weeks a year. This position reports to the Executive Director with ongoing coordination with the Development, Communications and Leadership Program Directors.
With barely a moment to take a deep breath, the LGBTQ community is back in the trenches, ready to fight for equality and justice in a critical legislative year. Immediately following a historic victory on marriage, after the balloons and confetti, we faced a tide of anti-LGBTQ attacks.
On Monday, October 24, after nearly six hours of public testimony and dais debate, the Cheyenne City Council voted 7-3 to approve an anti-discrimination resolution that commits to equal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.
For nearly four years, the two of us have worked together to coordinate a grant from the State Equality Fund focused on developing campaign strategies that would advance nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. Our time at Equality Federation has been incredibly rewarding, but our project is now winding down, and we will be leaving the Federation at the end of December.
There is so much at stake for LGBT people in this year’s election, and Equality Pennsylvania is working to make sure that LGBT voices are being heard.
As part of their TransVisible project, Equality Texas launched their #TransTuesday campaign on Coming Out Day. Every Tuesday, via social media, they will share a personal story, a blog, or a video highlighting transgender Texans.
HRC Foundation in partnership with the Equality Federation Institute, announced that a record-setting 88 cities across the U.S. earned the highest possible score in the eighth annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI). The MEI is the only nationwide assessment of LGBTQ inclusion in municipal law, policy and services.
HUD announced that they have finalized their rule that ensures transgender people needing shelter will be provided housing in accordance to their gender identity.Equality Federation hails this as a vital clarification and we express our greatest thanks to all the advocates who worked on these policy changes.
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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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