Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Federation member PROMO Missouri is celebrating victory as anti-LGBTQ, religious exemption legislation, SJR 39, has failed to make it out of committee rendering it dead.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed discriminatory legislation that allows counselors and therapists to refuse treatment based on their religious objections or personal beliefs. The American Counseling Association has called the legislation an “unprecedented attack” on the counseling profession.
On Thursday, April 28th, the House Armed Services Committee voted to pass a discriminatory amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act introduced by Representative Steve Russell (R-OK). The amendment applies the private employer religious exemptions of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to religious organizations receiving any federal contract or grant – which could include universities and hospitals employing thousands of people.
President Obama called for the repeal of Anti-LGBTQ bills in North Carolina and Mississippi at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The British Government recently issued a travel warning to LGBTQ tourists visiting those states.
In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Virginia, a federal court of appeals ruled in favor of plaintiff Gavin Grimm, a transgender student at Gloucester High School who was not permitted to use the facilities and participate in the programs that match the gender he lives everyday. This is a historic victory for transgender students who, like all students, deserve a fair opportunity to fully participate and succeed in school as their authentic selves.
Equality Federation member Forum For Equality issued the following statement praising Governor John Bel Edwards for signing an executive order forbidding state government and government contractors from discriminating based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, while also repealing Gov. Bobby Jindal’s maligning Marriage and Conscience executive order.
Emmett Schelling, Executive Director of TENT: Being an immigrant born in South Korea always plays a factor in who I am and how I am treated in America. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the xenophobia that I am experiencing related to the pandemic is heartbreaking.
As we move further into population level interventions and continue to grapple with care shortages and economic harms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the undersigned LGBTQ+ and allied organizations call upon public health authorities, health care institutions, government agencies and policymakers to address the following concerns.
We can officially celebrate! Governor Northam's signature made Virginia the first state in the South and 21st in the nation to ensure LGBTQ people are explicitly protected from discrimination.
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed two bills that limit the rights of transgender people. HB500 effectively bans transgender women from playing sports and HB509 bans transgender people from amending their birth certificates.
Equality Federation published an evolving list of resources for LGBTQ rights organizations and community members in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every 10 years, the United States counts everyone living in the country on April 1, regardless of their nationality or sexual orientation. Our responses benefit the entire LGBTQ+ community and all personal information will be kept confidential by law.
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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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