Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
As part of our Raising the States resource development training program, Equality Federation is excited to team up with Network for Good to provide training opportunities open to all members!
Last week lawmakers in Georgia passed positive reforms to the state’s adoption and foster care code. HB 159 updates the state’s antiquated child welfare laws and does not include any discriminatory language.
Two additional bills targeting LGBTQ people have failed in the South Dakota Legislature. SB 160, which would have prohibited classroom instruction of gender expression or identity, and SB 202, which would have required all public restrooms to have a sign posted giving notice that a person of the “opposite sex” may be in the restroom, were both killed or voted down with bipartisan support.
The Education Department has said it will not investigate or take action on any complaints of discrimination filed by transgender students who are not permitted to use the facilities that match their gender identity.
Four bills that would have updated Virginia’s laws to include LGBTQ people in nondiscrimination protections were killed in a committee despite the broad support of fair-minded Virginians. Two of the bills had passed in the state’s Senate with 75% of the vote.
This is urgent. Trump’s extremist, anti-LGBTQ nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Stuart Kyle Duncan, could be confirmed as soon as Wednesday.
North Carolina Governor-Elect Roy Cooper and Governor Pat McCrory have announced a deal, along with the state legislature and city of Charlotte, to repeal HB 2, the state’s notorious anti-LGBTQ law. In exchange for Charlotte repealing its nondiscrimination ordinance, the state legislature is expected to repeal HB 2 on Tuesday.
Ohio is one of 28 states that leaves LGBTQ people out of laws that make discrimination illegal. However, some individual communities have enacted these protections themselves.
While more than 111 million people live in states where LGBTQ people lack clear state-level protections against discrimination in the workplace, the SEI points to a few encouraging signs -- particularly in areas related to LGBTQ youth, health and safety.
Since 2006, the State of the States report by Equality Federation has documented the strength and sustainability of state-based advocacy organizations that advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the communities they call home.
Donald Trump has named anti-LGBTQ crusader Ben Carson as secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and we’re responding with a special #SolidarityWednesday post highlighting organizations that serve homeless LGBTQ youth.
Today, the National Center for Transgender Equality released findings from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS), the largest survey ever conducted of transgender people. The USTS examined the experiences of transgender people across the United States, with an incredible 27,715 respondents.
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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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