Equality News

by Jessica Douglas

We did it! All anti-LGBTQ bills in Georgia DEFEATED!

After many late nights at the State Capitol to finish out the 2024 legislative session, we could not be more excited to share that WE DID IT! We successfully defeated ALL anti-LGBTQ legislation! Out of nearly 20 anti-LGBTQ bills that we fought against this session, we stopped every one!!

Despite underhanded and anti-democratic tactics being employed in these last couple weeks, over 5,000 of us contacted our legislators and hundreds came out to the Capitol to make their voices heard in-person. Continue reading →

by Jessica Douglas

More than 300 Medical Providers Opposing Bans on Care for Trans Youth in Georgia

Dear Legislators, 

Earlier this week, the Georgia Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill that would prohibit medical providers, like us, from providing medical care to transgender and gender-expansive youth in our state. In an orchestrated effort to prevent public testimony, the chairman of the committee added language to an unrelated bill, HB 1170, that would ban puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy, even for patients who are currently receiving these treatments. This motion was undertaken without prior notice to the public or medical community, thus preventing any opposing testimony from qualified, board-certified endocrinologists, pediatric and adolescent gynecologists, adolescent medicine specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical providers who treat patients with gender dysphoria.  Continue reading →

by Wes Sanders

Apply Now: HIV Policy Manager

HIV Policy Manager

Under the direction of the Deputy Director, the HIV Policy Organizer will continue to develop and advance GE’s comprehensive HIV policy agenda. The policy agenda will include a primary focus on state level administrative policies and legislation and the budget. The HIV Policy Manager will work from an intersectional lens, focusing heavily on the experiences of individuals living with HIV, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), gay and bisexual men especially young Black men and transgender and non-binary (TGNB) people living with HIV and empowering them to use their voices to drive structural change.  To center those most impacted by these policies, the HIV Policy Manager will empower people living with HIV with the tools they need to engage with state agencies and elected officials, produce policy reports and fact sheets, and build cross-organizational relationships by actively engaging with HIV advocacy coalitions.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Under the direction of the Deputy Director, refine, develop and advance an HIV state policy agenda.

  • Engage people living with HIV, especially BIPOC and TGNB people living with HIV, to inform the development of the HIV policy agendas.

  • Create an advocacy strategy to advance the HIV state policy agenda, utilizing the Georgia HIV Advocacy Network.

  • Empower people living with HIV, especially BIPOC and trans people living with HIV, with the tools to advocate directly with elected officials and state agencies to advance the state HIV policy agenda. This includes targeted in-person and/or virtual advocacy days; meetings with agency staff; legislative briefings; similar initiatives and strategies; and the YHPA program.

  • Represent GE at and engage with HIV coalitions and other broader health-related coalitions, including the ProGeorgia Healthcare Workgroup and the Cover Georgia Coalition; and marshal support from these coalitions and individual organizations for GE’s HIV policy agenda.

  • Establish, steward, nurture, and maintain positive working relationships with community partners, policy advocates, and coalitions, while demonstrating a commitment to representing GE, its goals, and its mission, with integrity.

  • Partner closely with GE’s communications team to maintain and develop content for GE around HIV both online and in print.

  • Coordinate the production of reports, policy agendas, and other materials, as needed, to make the case for our policy agenda.

  • Attend and present at conferences, symposia, and panel discussions across the state that focus on issues related to HIV, LGBTQ+ issues, and Geography.

  • Meet funder requirements, track outcomes, and prepare necessary reports and updates for funders.

  • Perform other duties as assigned.

 

Qualifications:

  • 3 to 5 years work experience in HIV or policy advocacy fields.

  • Understanding of state and local HIV, AIDS, and LGBTQ policy and experience and/or interest in HIV and/or LGBTQ+ issues.

  • Deep professional and personal experience of working with or advocating for people living with HIV, HIV+ communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities,; a deep commitment to all required.

  • Strong interpersonal skills and experience working with and in coalitions.

  • Strong organizational skills with an ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks.

  • Ability to work independently while being part of a team and representing an organization.

  •  Demonstrated commitment to GE’s values of diversity and equity.

  •  Willingness and ability to travel as the role requires.

  •  Excellent written and oral presentation skills.

  •  Experience managing and meeting grant-funded deliverables.

 

Compensation & Benefits:

  • The salary target for this position is $55,000 annually. 

  • Excellent benefits including cell phone and mileage reimbursement, generous time off, subsidized health insurance, and 401k.

  • Equality Foundation of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

 

To Apply:

  • Please submit a cover letter and resume to email hidden; JavaScript is required and include HIV Policy Manager in the subject line.

  • Applications for this position will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Incomplete applications or applications not submitted through the email address listed above will not be considered. No calls, please.

by Jessica Douglas

A small, but vocal, minority of faith leaders are pushing discrimination against LGBTQ+ Georgians. The vast majority of us don’t agree.

To our fellow Georgians,

Today, a handful of politicians will host faith leaders who are outliers in our community at the Capitol, giving a platform to anti-transgender activists, dangerous rhetoric, and misinformation. They will exploit a small, but vocal, minority within the faith community and misconstrue our religious texts and faith traditions in attempts to lay the groundwork for a hostile legislative session.

As faith leaders from all across the state, we are appalled that this group is promoting such a hateful and divisive agenda; one that directly contradicts the central tenets of our religions, as well as the majority views of both Georgians and people of faith. Many of us see not condemnation, but celebration of LGBTQ+ people in our sacred texts, and reject these homophobic and transphobic readings of those texts.  Continue reading →

by Jessica Douglas

TEXAS AG DEMANDS PRIVATE MEDICAL RECORDS FROM LOCAL GEORGIA CLINIC ALREADY TARGETED BY ARSON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECATUR, GA (January 29, 2024) – QueerMed, a local gender-affirming care clinic in downtown Decatur, received a recent request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to release patient records for transgender youth. Paxton specifically sought private information about Texas residents who received telehealth care from the Georgia clinic before Texas instituted a ban on medical care for trans youth.

“The actions of the Texas Attorney General puts politics between pediatricians and parents in an egregious act of government interference which violates the most fundamental rights of parents and children,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. Continue reading →