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 →

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 →

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA, GA (August 21, 2023) – On Sunday night, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction halting provisions of Senate Bill 140, Georgia’s restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, from taking effect while a legal case challenging the legislation proceeds.

“The federal Judge confirms what so many families and transgender youth have been saying all along: that bans against healthcare are harmful, dangerous, discriminatory, and illegal,” said Georgia Equality’s executive director Jeff Graham. “It is our hope that this loss, and its echoes all over the country, along with overwhelming public opposition, will discourage any further legislative action targeting trans folks when the General Assembly convenes again in January.” 

Continue reading →

On July 29, 2023 in Statesboro, Georgia Equality was proud to honor Dr. Fred Richter with the Champion for Equality Award due to his hard work to advance fairness, safety, and opportunity for LGBTQ+ people in Statesboro and across Georgia. This is Dr. Richter’s acceptance speech: