Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
In early November, over 30 leaders representing Equality Illinois, OutFront Minnesota, Equality New Mexico, Equality Ohio, PROMO (Missouri), Equality Pennsylvania, and Equality Utah gathered in Chicago for Equality Federation’s West by Midwest Leadership Summit.
Equality Federation is concerned Indiana’s Senate Bill 100, introduced by Senate Republicans, would not cover many Hoosiers from discrimination. While the authors are framing the bill as nondiscrimination legislation, it includes broad exemptions allowing discrimination by a host of organizations and businesses.
The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund has released The Voting Rights Toolkit for LGBTQ Advocates ahead of upcoming November and presidential primary elections. The new toolkit, which contains information as diverse as voter assistance guides to an overview of restrictive voting practices, is available online at: http://thetaskforceactionfund.org/vra/
MTV’s True Life: I’m Genderqueer premiers tonight and features Jacob Tobias, who spoke at Equality Federation’s Summer Meeting this July, and other young leaders who are bravely sharing their stories.
We applaud President Obama for his support of the Equality Act, an important piece of legislation that would help ensure all Americans, including LGBTQ people and their families, are fully and clearly protected from discrimination. The announcement builds upon seven years of this administration’s support. They have extended hospital visitation to LGBTQ families, ended discrimination among federal employees and contractors, supported marriage equality, opposed conversion therapy, and so much more.
Strong and sustained leadership is an important part of building strong and effective state groups with the capacity to fend off the opposition and secure important wins for the LGBT community. We know that in the past year, states were able to withstand and defeat more than 100 anti-LGBT legislative attacks thanks to incredible state-based movement leaders.
The cornerstone of our Southern Leaders program is our Southern Leadership Summit, an annual gathering that brings together advocates from the region for two days of intensive workshops and discussion. Challenging legislative sessions in all the Southern states gave us a lot to talk about, and leaders shared what they’d learned so far, with many fights still going on.
On March 23, the North Carolina General Assembly held a special session to rush through—in less than 12 hours—legislation attacking the LGBTQ community. House Bill 2 abolished all local nondiscrimination laws that go beyond state law, leaving LGBTQ people unprotected across the state, and would force transgender people to use bathrooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates in government facilities, putting them at risk of harassment and violence.
Fresh on the heels of new anti-LGBTQ smears by outside groups trying to mislead people about pending nondiscrimination legislation, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf has signed executive orders providing non-discrimination protections for members of the LGBT community employed by or contracting with the Commonwealth.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed into law one of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523. The law allows discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
One of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523, is making its way through the Mississippi legislature and will reach Governor Phil Bryant’s desk within days. It would allow discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
On Friday, April 1st the Kentucky Senate unanimously approved a single marriage license form, a move in stark contrast to a divisive vote on the same issue several weeks ago. The Senate had previously approved Senate Bill 5, a measure introduced by Senator Stephen West (R-Paris) that would have created separate marriage license forms for gay and straight couples in Kentucky.
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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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