Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
We are pleased to welcome our newest member organization, the Fairness Campaign in Kentucky! The Fairness Campaign has recently merged with Kentucky Fairness Alliance to create a more unified, stable, and successful LGBT equality movement in the Bluegrass State!
Members of the LGBT community are more likely than the general population to lack adequate, if any, health coverage. But as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), millions of LGBT people and their families will experience improvements in the quality of coverage they have—such as LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination protections—or will have access to health insurance coverage for the first time.
For too long, the LGBT community has been left out when it comes to health coverage. It has been too hard to find coverage that treats our families fairly, that covers the care we need, and that doesn't break the bank.
This is what progress looks like. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court quietly extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in five states.
Five years ago this week, Connecticut became the second state to secure the freedom to marry for loving, committed same-sex couples. A ruling in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health by the state Supreme Court on Oct. 10, 2008, said that same-sex couples could not be prevented from marrying.
Laws and ordinances that protect LGBT people, families, and communities are a patchwork in the USA. Our partners at the Movement Advancement Project have created a series of Equality Maps, which provide a quick snapshot of the current status of protections, state by state and issue by issue.
With incomplete nondiscrimination protections in 32 states and misleading religious exemption bills popping up across the country that would create loopholes allowing unfair treatment and discrimination against gay and transgender people, it is increasingly important that we raise awareness about the need for complete nondiscrimination protections for all people. Despite the momentous victories for the freedom to marry, many people remain unaware that there is still work to do to ensure full equality under the law.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Alabama Attorney General’s request for a stay on a judge’s ruling allowing same-sex marriage in Alabama. This should clear the way for same-sex marriage to begin next week unless the Supreme Court intervenes.
D.W. Trantham testified in support of a bill that would ensure LGBT citizens of Idaho were protected from discrimination in its statewide human rights law. Unfortunately, the bill was defeated. Idaho is one of the 32 states that urgently need to update their laws so that all people, including LGBT, people are protected from discrimination. Get involved in our #DiscriminationExists campaign to learn more about where your state stands and what you can do to help.
The entire Equality Federation team is looking forward to connecting with our members, partners and friends at The National LGBTQ Task Force's National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change!
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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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