The new census deadline is quickly approaching, 
leaving us just one month to secure an accurate count of our community. Every 10 years, the federal government tries to count every person living in the United States. This count directly affects you and our democracy. But many marginalized communities go under counted or not counted at all . Transgender and queer folx, LGB communities, black people and other people of color, people in rural areas, immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, people who have low incomes, renters, people with young children, and people with limited English proficiency , have been historically under counted, shifting federal resources away from the communities that rely on them the most. Continue reading
Author: Wes Sanders
Georgia Equality partners to offer LGBTQ Law & Policy Series
On August 20, 2020, the LGBTQ Law & Policy Series
launched. The series is hosted by Equal Footing LLC and Transformation Journeys Worldwide along with Georgia Equality and Lambda Legal, and focuses on laws and policies currently impacting companies, their
LGBTQ employees (and their families) and their communities. Leaders and employees from a wide range of industries around the nation attended.
Sponsored by UPS, the first event’s discussion was held by Georgia Equality’s Deputy Director Eric Paulk and Lambda Legal’s Michael Shutt unpacking the local and national impact of the June SCOTUS decision regarding gender identity and sexual orientation under Title VII. Sandy Mollett, of Equal Footing LLC, hosted along with Gabrielle Claiborne and Linda Herzer of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, navigating the discussion to cover important take-aways for each organization: Continue reading
LGBTQ Organizations Urge Supreme Court Not to Upend Settled and Vital Nondiscrimination Protections
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, joined by 
Georgia Equality and 26 other national, regional and state LGBTQ advocacy organizations, filed a friend-of-the-court brief August 20 urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to create a broad Constitutional exemption to nondiscrimination laws that would undermine equal protection guarantees and introduce a dangerous and unworkable scheme into local, state and federal lawmaking.
The brief was filed in support of the City of Philadelphia in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In 2018, the city suspended a contract with Catholic Social Services (“CSS”) to provide foster care placement services because the agency refused to work with married same-sex couples and unmarried couples in violation of Philadelphia’s nondiscrimination ordinance. CSS filed suit, asserting that the requirement to comply with the nondiscrimination law violated its religious liberty rights and seeking an injunction ordering the city to grant CSS a contract in accordance with the terms CSS desired. Lower courts denied the request for an injunction, ruling that the city was within its rights to require any agency with which it contracts to comply with the law. Continue reading
ELECTION UPDATE: Runoff Edition
Early Voting has begun across Georgia for the upcoming August 11th primary runoff election. LGBTQ Equality voters from all over the state helped 77% of Georgia Equality’s endorsed candidates win their races or advanced to THIS runoff. From the state legislature to county commission and judicial seats, we elected pro-LGBTQ candidates because of you!
AND NOW WE HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!
CLICK HERE to find your early voting location, or information on voting by mail.
Whether you are LGBTQ or an ally, the stakes in Georgia are too high to sit this one out! With voter turnout expected to be extremely low in runoff elections, this is an opportunity for LGBTQ voters and our allies to have a major impact on who serves in elected office.
Important Dates for this election:
Early voting: NOW – August 7, 2020
Election Day: August 11, 2020
For more information on early and absentee voting visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
The following candidates have been endorsed by the Board of Directors of Georgia Equality in the primary runoff elections on August 11th:
State House of Representatives:
House District 35: Kyle Rinaudo (D)
House District 83: Michele Henson, i (D)
House District 163: Anne Allen Westbrook (D)
Municipal Candidates:
Cobb County Board of Commissioners, District 4: Monique Sheffield
DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, District 1: Robert Patrick
DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, District 6: Edward “Ted” Terry
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, District 3: Derrick Wilson
Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners, District 5: Seth Clark
Judicial Candidates:
Fulton County Superior Court Judge (seat being vacated by Judge Russell): Melynee Leftridge Harris
Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge: Kathy Schrader, i
For more information on Georgia Equality’s Endorsed Candidates, please visit our website at: https://georgiaequalitypac.org/home/2020endorsements/
Savannah Passes LGBTQ Inclusive Nondiscrimination Ordinance
Last night Savannah became the ninth city in Georgia to enact a local nondiscrimination ordinance that ensures no one can be denied a job, a home, or a service in a public place because they’re LGBTQ.
Thanks to the effort of local advocates and city leaders like Mayor Van Johnson and Alderman Kurtis Purtee, LGBTQ Georgians who live and work in Savannah will now have immediate protections against discrimination. Continue reading