NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) has announced that Michael Silverman plans to step down as Executive Director of the organization. Silverman will be leaving the organization he founded in 2003. Under Silverman’s leadership, TLDEF has been at the forefront of transgender legal advocacy. The organization is known for…
JACKSON, Miss, – Monday, the Mississippi State Legislature voted to approve the anti-LGBT bill H.B. 1523, a measure opposed by some of the state’s largest employers. Major corporations are among those urging Gov. Phil Bryant, House Speaker Philip A. Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to stop to this discriminatory measure that would put the…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) today called on Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to respect the will of the voters and bipartisan members of his own committee by holding hearings on the Carers Act. The Carers Act is bipartisan legislation, originally introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),…
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a new federal policy that aims to eliminate housing discrimination against people with a criminal history, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people with a criminal record. The new policy clarifies that using criminal history to justify a negative housing decision,…
As the University of North Carolina (UNC) men’s basketball team heads to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship game tonight, its hard work and success are being overshadowed by the reckless actions of North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and state lawmakers. Jason Collins, the first active NBA player to come out as gay,…
JACKSON, Miss. – U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III in Mississippi has declared unconstitutional the state’s ban on adoption by same sex couples, citing the Supreme Court of the United States’ 2015 marriage equality ruling in the historic case Obergefell v. Hodges. The federal lawsuit, Campaign for Southern Equality v. Mississippi Department of…
WASHINGTON – Friday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality NC announced that executives from Hyatt, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Northrop Grumman, American Apparel, Qualcomm, Twilio, Udacity, Pandora Media, and EMC Corporation have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 120 leading CEOs and business leaders calling on Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This week, clergy from across the state added their voice to the growing outcry over Tennessee House Bill 1840, also known as Hate Bill 1840. Hate Bill 1840 would permit counselors to deny services and refer clients based on the provider’s “strongly held religious beliefs.” Not only is the proposed legislation discriminatory in nature, but…
WASHINGTON – More than one-third of Americans say they personally know or work with someone who is transgender, according to a new survey commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. Research shows that this historic level of visibility is accompanied by increasing acceptance of transgender people. Released to mark the International Transgender Day of Visibility, the survey data show…
Today, Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed an anti-LGBT bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people based on their religious opposition to same-sex marriage. The Advocate reported that the bill would have prevented the state from penalizing businesses and individuals who cite faith-based grounds for discriminating against same-sex couples, transgender people, and…
