Investing in Our Network’s Organizing Capacity
For three decades, Equality Federation has powered the local and state fights for LGBTQ+ liberation.
Our Recent Impact
Our programs create an adaptive movement ecosystem that fights the attacks on our dignity and equips our leaders with the skills to organize for durable, long-lasting change.
Supporting State
Advocacy
95%
Of anti-LGBTQ+ bills defeated in 2025
Funding State
Organizing
43%
In combined direct cash grants to state partners
Coaching & Supporting Leaders
1.9K
Advocates and policymakers engaged through trainings and speaking engagements
Public Health
Advocacy
2K
Hours of direct support to state partners in 2024
Building Power in Our Network
Power is acting together to improve the conditions of our communities and futures.
We develop organized people and organized resources to shape our communities and our futures, while strengthening leaders and organizations that sustain this work long term.
Our Mission
Equality Federation Institute is an advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice, building power in our network of state-based lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) advocacy organizations.
Our Story
Nearly three decades (1997–present) of building a unified LGBTQ+ movement, state by state.
1997
Our story began in 1997, when a few leaders from state-based LGBTQ+ groups gathered together at the Highlander Center in Tennessee. Sitting in a circle of rocking chairs in the room where Rosa Parks was trained in civil disobedience, they envisioned coming together as a state-based movement to form the Federation of Statewide LGBT Political Organizations.
1998
The first Summer Meeting, now known as Leadership Conference, is held in Denver. This event has become a key time for LGBTQ+ advocates from across the United States to convene, strategize, and build relationships.
1999
Equality Federation and the National LGBTQ+ Task Force organize Equality Begins at Home, a week of action in all 50 states. Some new state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are formed for the event, and many state partners hold their first lobby days.
This same year, Leadership Conference is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, gathering partners from 45 states.
2002
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
2003
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down state laws criminalizing intimate relationships between people of the same sex in Lawrence v. Texas, achieving a longtime goal of state LGBTQ+ organizations.
2004
Facing a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ constitutional amendments and huge losses, state leaders encourage greater investment in state-based organizing and scale up Equality Federation, hiring Toni Broaddus as the first executive director.
2007
As Congress considers removing gender identity protections from the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, Equality Federation helps to coordinate state leaders' demands for full inclusion for transgender people.
2008
A surprising and upsetting loss comes in California as voters approve Proposition 8, amending the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
2010
During Leadership Conference in Baltimore, President Obama invites state leaders to the White House for a special briefing with senior officials.
2010
Equality Federation holds its first Executive Director Intensive with 11 state leaders in Raleigh, NC.
The Executive Director Intensive brings together executive directors who are new in their role to build connections with fellow leaders across state lines and cultivate healthy, sustainable leadership practices that drive long-term organizational health.
2011
Rebecca Isaacs becomes executive director, beginning what will be almost 10 years of leading Equality Federation.
2012
In 2012, state partners win marriage at the ballot for the first time in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, paving the way for the landmark Supreme Court ruling.
2014
Equality Federation makes an organizational commitment to incorporating racial equity into all of our work, launching ongoing work to center racial justice both internally and in our work with state partners.
2015
Same-sex marriage is legalized in all 50 states on June 26, 2015, in the Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges. While we celebrate this progress, we recognize that true marriage equality does not yet exist for people with disabilities, where systemic barriers still force a choice between legal marriage and life-sustaining healthcare.
2016
As anti-transgender political attacks proliferate, including HB2 in North Carolina, state partners lead the charge to defeat policies targeting transgender people, including defending trans rights at the ballot in Massachusetts.
2020
After years of pushing for nondiscrimination protections at the state and local levels, the U.S. Supreme Court affirms that LGBTQ+ people are protected from workplace discrimination under federal law in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia.
Virginia becomes the first state in the South to offer legal protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations to LGBTQ+ people.
2021
After serving in multiple roles for nine years, Fran
“Hutch” Hutchins becomes executive director of Equality Federation.
During this same year, lawmakers introduce the Equality Act, and all 40+ state partners sign on to support it.
2022
Equality Federation team members come together to launch Equality Federation's Black Caucus, a network of Black LGBTQ+ leaders across state partner organizations, where we collectively offer professional development, peer support, and community building.
By sharing resources and strategies, the Black Caucus aims to invest in Black LGBTQ+ leadership while advancing equality and equity for Black LGBTQ+ communities, both within the Equality Federation’s network and beyond.
2022
State partners organize against a slate of attacks on transgender and queer youth. Equality Federation lends support to partners through the worst anti-LGBTQ+ legislative session in many years.
Equality Federation launches the Trans Defense Campaign to help state partners defeat 87% of the 330 total anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Of the 110 anti-trans bills introduced, only 16 pass.
2023
In 2023, 27 states successfully pass and sign into law legislation benefiting LGBTQ+ communities.
This same year, 575 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are introduced across 49 states. Of these bills, 85% are defeated. 72% of the anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced explicitly target transgender and nonbinary communities, with 24 states enacting anti-trans legislation.
2024
Equality Federation deepens our commitment to public health, transitioning our expanding HIV advocacy work into a formally established Public Health Policy department.
2024
Equality Federation launches the Vanguard HIV Policy Change-Makers Fellowship, a new program for emerging leaders passionate about fighting for policies that will end HIV in the states.
This transformative 12-month fellowship equips future public health champions and leaders with the tools and connections to revolutionize HIV policy in their state as a paid team member within an Equality Federation partner organization. This fellowship is made possible by funding from ViiV Healthcare.
2024-2025
Our 27th annual Leadership Conference in Portland, Oregon, becomes our largest yet, with over 360 attendees from across the country. The next Leadership Conference in 2025 is held in Madison, Wisconsin.
2025
Iowa becomes the only state to pass a repeal of 18-year-old nondiscrimination protections for transgender people.
2026
Over the past decade, we’ve continued to build the infrastructure of Equality Federation to better serve our state partners. In 2025, Equality Federation grows to a team of 23 staff.
