Salt Lake City voters elected Jackie Biskupski as Utah’s first openly gay mayor and only the second female top executive in the capital city, according to the unofficial election-night count. Those vote tallies had Biskupski with 52.19 percent to two-term Mayor Ralph Becker’s 47.81 percent — less than a 5 percentage-point spread.

CHICAGO – Leaders from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) state equality organizations meet next week in Chicago for a conference on how to tackle serious challenges that remain despite the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

On Tuesday, November 3rd voters in Houston repealed the city’s Equal Right Ordinance (HERO) which provided protections from discrimination based on 15 classes including race, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Throughout the campaign, opposition used fear, lies, and misinformation to confuse voters.

This October, I was honored to participate in an event that is a great model for transgender advocacy and community building: the Transgender Information and Empowerment Summit (TIES) organized by Federation member Equality Virginia. I’ve asked James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, some questions about this inspiring event to share the wealth of knowledge.

Here at the Equality Federation Institute, we know that local and incremental work matters. That’s why we began an investigation into the impact these campaigns have on our movement.

We have a unique role that is fundamentally the Finance and Administration Director, which plays a critical role in partnering with other members of the organization in strategic decision making and operations as OutFront Minnesota continues to live out its mission and vision.