Author: Wes Sanders

by Wes Sanders

grateful & thankful

Friend–

As we come nearer to the end of another year in this fight together, we have yet to take our foot off the gas pedal. Our staff and volunteers have been educating and informing voters of upcoming elections for what seems like the entire year – and we won’t stop until after the December 6th runoff for US Senator from Georgia.

While you’ll be seeing plenty of messages from us on that front in the coming weeks, I want to pause today to say THANK YOU – because of you, your continued commitment to this work, and our amazing staff and volunteers, we’ve seen unprecedented successes this year!

 

Here are just a few of those accomplishments: Continue reading →

by Wes Sanders

Press Release: GE responds to GHSA vote to change policy on gender

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 GEORGIA EQUALITY RESPONDS TO GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOLASSOCIATION VOTE TO CHANGE POLICY ON GENDER

May 4, 2022 (Atlanta, GA) — This morning the Georgia High School Association Executive Committee voted to change their policy regarding the gender of participants in school sports being restricted only to the sex listed on a birth certificate.

Jeff Graham (he/him), executive director of Georgia Equality, Georgia’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, released the following statement in response:

“Quite frankly, the secretive and hasty process by which this was done is despicable. All Georgia students should have equal access to school sports, and efforts to change policies that facilitate that should be done in a transparent and open way. Today’s actions of the GHSA Executive Committee will do real harm to trans kids in Georgia that just want to be themselves and fit in. 

“At no point during the general assembly’s debate of bills that would have had a similarly devastating impact, were the supporters of this change able to present a single example of how allowing transgender students to participate in athletes harmed other students in Georgia. In fact, the legislation that did pass called for a commission to study this issue and recommend action if appropriate.  It is disturbing that this body would act in a rash manner without careful consideration of the implications of this policy change on the well-being of all students or without the thoughtful study that such a complicated and sensitive issue warrants. 

Chanel Haley (she/her), Gender Policy Manager at Georgia Equality said this:

“Unfortunately the GHSA has decided to ignore case precedent by favoring certain students and parents over others.  The decision is discriminatory and divisive. Now because our state policymakers have failed ALL students, we need to look to our federal policymakers to intervene in securing protections and inclusion for ALL student athletes.”

Founded in 1995, Georgia Equality is the state’s largest advocacy organization working to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for Georgia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and our allies. 

by Wes Sanders

Release: GEORGIA EQUALITY RESPONDS TO GOV. KEMP SIGNING HB 1084

April 29, 2022 (Atlanta, GA) — Jeff Graham (he/him), executive director of Georgia Equality, Georgia’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, released the following statement in response Gov. Kemp’s signing of HB 1084:

 

“Yesterday, Gov. Kemp continued efforts to rally his political base by signing into law a bill that is both harmful and ill conceived. HB 1084 aims to keep ‘divisive concepts’ out of Georgia classrooms by restricting discussions of race from kindergarten through 12th grade and creates additional state bureaucracy to oversee school sports.

 

“All students in Georgia, without exception, should have access to the highest quality education and extracurricular activities, and that should be the Governor’s priority. His actions today to insert himself in classrooms across the state and to stifle teaching will degrade the quality of a Georgia education for years to come. By limiting training on diversity and inclusion for school personnel, students who come from marginalized communities, including those from minority religious backgrounds, will face additional barriers to a quality education. The great diversity of those who call Georgia home should be seen as a strength to be embraced.  This new law stifles that concept and could set the state back depending upon how it is implemented.

 

“The legislation also reinforces the status quo that the Georgia High School Association has the authority to determine eligibility for participation in high school sports in our state and creates an athletics oversight committee that could consider eligibility for transgender athletes. Our own Speaker of the House, David Ralston, has said he hopes trans kids won’t be targeted or singled out, and we’re committed to working with the association and committee to ensure all Georgia students have the opportunity to participate in school sports. I don’t know what impact his actions today will have on his future political ambitions, but his work to garner votes will have harmful, lasting effects on all Georgia’s students. 

 

Founded in 1995, Georgia Equality is the state’s largest advocacy organization working to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for Georgia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and our allies.

 

by Wes Sanders

Endorsement Rescission: DeKalb County District Two race

Georgia Equality members and supporters in DeKalb County, 

On April 14th, our board voted to endorse Michelle Long Spears in the Dekalb County District Two Commissioner race, and subsequently released that endorsement decision publicly on April 22.  In the intervening days, on April 19th at a candidate forum, Ms. Spears chose to refer to the civil rights and civil liberties demonstrations that rocked and educated the nation and the world in 2020 by using the words “racial uprising” several times. Ms. Spears, in reference to those statements, apologized after being confronted. 

As a board, we agree with our colleagues at Georgia Conservation Voters in their statement to rescinded their endorsement of Ms. Spears. “We believe that demands for justice and equity should never be demeaned. Language matters, and Ms. Spears’ statements regarding the BLM movement and the racial inequality in our communities is insensitive and damaging to the work we do…” 

We aim to endorse candidates who share our commitment to acknowledging our LGBTQIA community as a valuable component of an inclusive and equitable Georgia, which necessarily includes a commitment to racial equity. Ms. Spears’ words do not demonstrate that commitment, and as a result, the board has voted to rescind our endorsement of Ms. Spears in the DeKalb County District Two Commissioner race. 

 

Patricia Lassiter, Board Chair
Georgia Equality