WASHINGTON, D.C. – The HRC has announced “On the Road to Equality,” a nationwide bus tour to spread the message of equality by educating the American public and empowering LGBT people to become advocates for themselves and their families. The 12 week tour will travel to 17 cities in 11 states and D.C., with particular emphasis on the Midwest and South where there are limited legal protections for LGBT people and living openly and honestly can be difficult. Events will include everything from educational seminars on legal documents for families to community forums about family acceptance to participating in the University of Nebraska’s “Big Red Welcome.”
Talking about the tour HRC President Joe Solmonese said, “We are in the midst of a cultural tipping point on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and our job is to push the scale as far and as fast as we can toward fairness. The tour will serve as a powerful visibility tool and support the work of creating real and lasting change in these communities.”
The tour will start Aug. 12 in Salt Lake City, Utah and will take in Nebraska, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Washington, D.C., Georgia, Alabama and Florida. There is no stop scheduled for San Diego.
Among the 11 states the “On the Road to Equality” tour will visit, none has a state-wide non-discrimination law including sexual orientation or gender identity. Additionally, none has any form of state relationship recognition and all have passed discriminatory constitutional amendments to ban marriage for same-sex couples. Many have laws prohibiting the positive discussion of gays and lesbians in schools and few have safe-schools laws that include LGBT students.
