It’s hard to be a queer or trans Texan right now, especially in deep-red rural areas. But Equality Texas has the answer: the Rainbow Rights Roadshow. This 15-stop tour of the state is a chance for LGBTQ+ Texans to connect, learn, advocate, and be in community.

Not just a lifeline, it is a master class in community organizing, mutual aid, and power-building.
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“Sometimes LGBTQ+ Texans in rural areas feel very lonely,” said Sofia Sepulveda, Field Director with Equality Texas. “They don’t have big community networks or the resources to get to the Capitol. The Rainbow Rights Roadshow is about providing a legislative update that is digestible to folks in rural areas, offering resources they don’t have, and beginning to create the community they crave, while also sharing our Civic Leadership Program (accessible via Zoom) to help organize locally and build power. That is how we can start gaining ground in Texas. The feedback we get is so heart-warming. Folks say they’ve never been in a room with so many people like them. Building community is powerful!”

The Rainbow Rights Roadshow stands out for its innovative and strategic approach in at least three ways.

Abortion Is An LGBTQ+ Issue

Bodily autonomy is a guiding principle in our interconnected movements for reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ liberation. And Texas is ground zero in the fight to make sure all of us are free to make deeply personal decisions about our own bodies, families, and futures. 

At every Roadshow stop, Equality Texas partners with Planned Parenthood to distribute Plan B, the emergency contraception pill. It’s meeting an urgent community need and strengthening our movements at the same time.

Mutual Aid Meets Real Needs

Queer and trans Texans who come out to the Rainbow Roadshow leave with hope and connection–and bags full of necessities. There’s a clothing swap, there’s health and wellness items, there’s personal items like binders, and there’s even a table of banned books donated by a generous publisher.  

Mutual aid is what solidarity looks like in the streets. And it’s especially key when so many people are struggling to make ends meet, and our community faces significant discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Equality Texas has a big job serving queer and trans Texans across 254 counties (yes, 254). They didn’t just throw darts at a map to pick the Rainbow Roadshow locations– they gathered data and crunched the numbers to focus on areas with the greatest need.

The team compiled intake and referral data from their helpline over several years and added data from partner organizations to identify 12 counties that are LGBTQ+ resource deserts. All of these counties are getting a stop on the Rainbow Roadshow. Staff plan each event with folks on the ground to make sure it is a catalyst for local organizing and leaves behind something lasting.

Spreading the Word

At Equality Federation, we feel honored to support and witness the power of our communities in every place we call home. And, a core part of our mission is to share learnings and wisdom across our movement to build us all up. 

The Rainbow Rights Roadshow shows what's possible when we meet our communities where they are—and build power together.

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