Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Today is #GivingTuesday, a national day of charitable giving, and we need you to support the state-based LGBTQ resistance.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of people who were killed in acts of anti-transgender violence. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999.
In 2017, there have been multiple attacks, drive-by shootings, and episodes of vandalism targeting LGBTQ advocacy organizations and community centers in New Jersey, Florida, and Tulsa. Freedom Oklahoma appears to be the latest victim. When the cleaning crew arrived on Sunday morning they discovered bullet holes riddled across the glass wall which serves at the entrance to Freedom Oklahoma’s office.
Update: Raven Matherne won a seat on the Stamford Connecticut Board of Representatives and is believed to be the city's first openly transgender lawmaker.On Tuesday, November 7th EIGHT transgender candidates made history!
Equality Federation joined an amicus brief (see below) filed by Lambda Legal in what is shaping up to be one of the most significant LGBTQ equality cases of our time, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Don’t be fooled by the name or the right-wing’s arguments; This case is not just about cakes or one small business, it is about whether laws against discrimination can continue to be enforced without sweeping exemptions.
Last year Federation member Freedom Oklahoma led the defeat of 27 anti-LGBTQ bills, and this year they are ready to continue their winning streak on behalf of every Oklahoman who values fairness and equality for all. Earlier this week, they hosted 150 people interested in advocating for equality.
On Thursday last week, Wyoming’s state legislature withdrew House Bill 135. HB135 would have allowed businesses, state and local governments to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
438 civil and human rights organizations, including Equality Federation, have signed onto a letter from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to express our strong opposition to the confirmation of Senator Jefferson B. Sessions (R-AL) to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States.
Equality Federation stands in solidarity with immigrants, refugees, and their families today as the Trump Administration launches an attack on millions of people’s freedoms and civil liberties.
Today Lt. Governor Dan Patrick introduced a bill cosponsored by Senator Lois Kolkhorst, that would discriminate against transgender people under the guise of protecting women’s and students’ privacy. The bill would ban transgender people from using the restroom that matches the gender they live as every day and ban cities and towns from passing nondiscrimination ordinances that protect transgender people from discrimination.
Equality Federation is standing strong against any nominee put forth by the Trump Administration who wants to roll-back nondiscrimination protections and enshrine discrimination into law. People of all faiths, races, backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, and abilities are a part of the fabric that fills our country with the potential to be extraordinary. This is a country that believes in fairness and that all of us should have the opportunity to thrive and provide for ourselves and our families.
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.