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.
Equality News
APPLY NOW: Civic Engagement Canvasser
Position Title: Civic Engagement Canvasser
Reports To: Southern Organizer
Pay Rate: $20 per hour
Hours: This position ranges from 10-30 hours/week, per the Canvasser’s availability
The Civic Engagement Canvasser will engage in nonpartisan voter registration, community education, get-out-the-vote (GOTV), and voter protection activities leading up to the November 2022 Georgia General Election.
APPLY NOW: Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Community Organizer
Job Description Position Title: Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Community Organizer
Reports To: Southern Organizer
Pay Rate: $25 per hour
Type: Temporary Full-Time, September 12th, 2022 through November 15th, 2022
The GOTV Organizer will lead the charge on volunteer recruitment and mobilization, while building relationships with volunteers and developing volunteer leaders. Our ideal candidate is a person who takes the initiative, is highly organized, builds relationships easily, and is comfortable working with diverse and underrepresented communities. A candidate who is a good fit is one who has the energy and determination to reach ambitious goals, the commitment to support young leaders learning to do this work and has a positive outlook and contagious personality. The person selected for this position will be trained, supported, and should be open to direction on how to perform the GOTV duties.
ACLU of Georgia Announces Settlement with Georgia to Include Gender-Affirming Surgery in State’s Medicaid Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2022
Media Contacts:
ACLU: Gillian Branstetter, email hidden; JavaScript is required
ACLU of Georgia: Dorrie Toney, email hidden; JavaScript is required
King & Spalding: Michelle Tang, email hidden; JavaScript is required
ATLANTA – The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Georgia, and the law firm of King & Spalding has settled a lawsuit with the Georgia Department of Community Health over its categorical exclusion of coverage for gender-affirming surgery in the State of Georgia’s Medicaid program. The settlement in Thomas et al. v. Georgia Department of Community Health et al. means that transgender Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries living with gender dysphoria can now access lifesaving, gender-affirming surgical care.
As part of the settlement, the Georgia Department of Community Health agreed to remove the exclusion for gender-affirming surgery from Georgia Medicaid and, like all other medical care provided in the program, provide the care when it is medically necessary for an individual. It further agreed to adopt benefits and clinical guidelines for the treatment of gender dysphoria, including benefits for gender-affirming surgical care.
“Gender-affirming surgeries are safe, effective, and medically necessary,” said Taylor Brown, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project. “The ability to obtain gender-affirming surgical care, regardless of socioeconomic status, is an important factor in eliminating systemic health disparities and inequities that many transgender people face. This settlement brings the state of Georgia’s Medicaid program in line with the accepted standards of care and the law. The removal of the exclusion of benefits, that are already available for cisgender beneficiaries, for transgender Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries in need of gender-affirming care will save lives.”
“Denying necessary health care because an individual is transgender is discriminatory and unconstitutional,” said Nneka Ewulonu, staff attorney with the ACLU of Georgia. “This settlement will give low-income transgender Georgians on Medicaid—who are disproportionately likely to be Black—access to gender-affirming care for the first time in over 20 years. We are thrilled for our clients and the transgender community in Georgia.”
The lawsuit was filed June 24, 2021 on behalf of Delshone Thomas and Gwendolyn Cheney, transgender women and Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries who were denied gender-affirming surgical care for the treatment of gender dysphoria. The lawsuit challenged Georgia’s ban on gender-affirming surgeries as being in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Affordable Care Act, and the federal Medicaid Act. The lawsuit was settled April 26, 2022 following court-facilitated mediation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
“LGBTQ people face immense difficulties accessing affordable health care,” said Eric Paulk, deputy director of Georgia Equality, a nonprofit that advances fairness, safety and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. “This is especially true for Black transgender and gender-diverse individuals. By expanding access to gender-affirming surgery and other treatments for people who rely on healthcare coverage through Medicaid, we begin to chip away barriers to care. We know that gender-affirming care is medically necessary care. This settlement moves us closer to more equitably delivered health care in Georgia.”
While the actual removal of the exclusion from the Georgia Medicaid State Health Plan will take a few months, transgender Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries should now be able to apply for coverage of gender-affirming surgical care through their providers. It is important that either Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries or their providers obtain the clinical guidelines for the treatment of gender dysphoria from Georgia Medicaid to ensure eligibility criteria has been met and all required documentation is submitted.
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Join our Equality and Fairness for All Americans Coalition
On Friday, June 24, 2022, with a 6-3 vote, the United States Supreme Court did what to so many was unimaginable. SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of federal abortion rights. The window to pass federal LGBTQ inclusive, nondiscrimination policy is closing, and an opinion from the court leads many of us to believe that marriage equality could be next.
In their next term, SCOTUS will hear a case concerning whether or not religious beliefs allow someone to discriminate against people who identify as LGBTQ. The Equality and Fairness for All Americans (EQFFAA) framework will bring federal protections to LGBTQ Americans in employment, housing, public accommodations and more. Our framework will also codify the Obergefell decision which brought marriage equality to the United States. It will also repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
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