News & Resources

Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.

The Latest

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LGBTQ+ Communities Fight Back Against Coordinated Nationwide Assault

LGBTQ+ Communities Fight Back Against Coordinated Nationwide Assault State legislators have passed 28, proposed 460 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills‍ In 2023, state lawmakers have introduced 460 bills attacking LGBTQ+ people, with 356 bills specifically targeting transgender people. Recent reports indicate that the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills result from a coordinated, nationwide effort by far-right politicians with ties to extremist groups.‍So far in 2023, states have enacted 28 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including legislation or executive action banning or further restricting gender-affirming health care for adults or children in twelve states:, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, Idaho, and Arkansas. In 2022, Arizona and Alabama passed similar laws banning health care. Advocates expect as many as twenty states will ban gender-affirming health care this year. 

April 3, 2023
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How this Southern Team Defended Trans Rights

Trans people are the experts in their own lives and are not a monolith. We should listen to as many trans people as we are willing to share and trust that their lives will adequately supplement the data we have and are continuing to collect to create robust and effective policy.

March 28, 2023
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President Biden Signs the Respect for Marriage Act

December 14, 2022 - Yesterday, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that the federal government respects and protects all marriages equally.

December 14, 2022
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Equality Federation Institute Honored to be Recipient of Major Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott

Today, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced that she has made a major gift to Equality Federation Institute as part of her pledge to give away a majority of her wealth through the Giving Pledge. Equality Federation received a $2 million gift to support the organization’s work as an advocacy accelerator for the state-based LGBTQ+ movement.

November 14, 2022
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Report: Trans Defense Campaign

This year, in addition to our usual planning, coaching and other legislative support work, Equality Federation launched the Trans Defense Campaign to demonstrate the unified power of the state-based movement to defeat anti-transgender bills and win public support for transgender people. 

August 24, 2022
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Support our Members this Give OUT Day

June 27, 2022

Press Releases

Equality California & Transgender Law Center Seek Public Education Campaign Community Engagement Director

Transgender Law Center and Equality California Institute are jointly launching a statewide public education campaign to combat widespread public misunderstanding about transgender and gender nonconforming people and the issues they face. The campaign aims to introduce the public to transgender people in a number of settings and will consist of message research, community engagement and a robust communications plan.

October 12, 2015
OutFront Minnesota Seeks Community Access Coordinator

This position requires a combination of internal direct service and external outreach and education. The successful candidate must provide direct service to survivors of violence via a crisis line, peer counseling, court accompaniment, police accompaniment, and otherwise as needed.

October 12, 2015
New Report Calls for Expanding ID Card Access for LGBT Homeless Youth

Only 22 percent of states—including the District of Columbia—offer free or reduced-cost ID cards to young people who are homeless. With research that suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness, this is a problem.

October 12, 2015
Charges Dropped Against Fairness Campaign Executive Director [video]

Chris Hartman, Executive Director of Fairness Campaign, an Equality Federation member, was one of the activists arrested in August while peacefully demonstrating at the Kentucky Farm Bureau's annual Country Ham Breakfast due to the company's longstanding anti-LGBT lobbying. This week, Hartman and fellow activists Carla Wallace and Sonja De Vries had their charges (which should never have been pressed) dropped.

October 9, 2015
Meet the Heroes of LGBTQ History Month [SHORT VIDEOS]

2015 Icons

October 8, 2015
Updated: Floridians Facing Vote on Anti-LGBT "Pastor Protection" Act

A legislative hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th, on the “Pastor Protection” Act. Federation member Equality Florida calls the act a misleading masquerade for religious freedom when in reality it is simply a cynical, anti-LGBT political move.

October 6, 2015
A young man looking up, smilingA young man smiling straight at the camera
Confident young woman standing with crossed arms.

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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.