Our Pledge to Support Equality and Fairness for All Americans

Today, Georgia Equality joined the Equality and Fairness for All Americans Coalition (EQFFAA) as a founding member to advance federal protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, housing, credit, education, jury service, and public accommodations.  The nationwide coalition is composed of bipartisan and diverse stakeholders from the LGBTQ, faith and business communities.

The Coalition aims to end the partisan gridlock that has stalled equality efforts in Congress. The Coalition’s goal is to gain bipartisan support for federal legislation that can unite all Americans around our nation’s core values of freedom, fairness, and opportunity to make lasting and impactful change.

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Representation of LGBTQ Georgians Expands

Representation of LGBTQ Georgians continues to expand and strengthen as a record number of out elected officials take office this month.  

In Atlanta, the number of open elected officials reached an all-time high with four open LGBTQ council members being sworn into office yesterday.  Joining recently elected members Liliana BakhtiariAlex Wan and Keisha Waites, is Matt Westmoreland.  Over the weekend, returning councilman Westmoreland came out as gay on social media.  Georgia Equality applauds his courage to live his authentic self and congratulates all four of these individuals for taking office.  We are hopeful that with this level of representation on City Council, along with the leadership of Council President Doug Shipman and Mayor Andre Dickens, that Atlanta leaders will prioritize engaging with People with HIV/AIDS and the agencies that serve the to make the necessary changes to the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program that will ensure the millions owed to nonprofit agencies is reimbursed and the currently waiting list of nearly 1,500 individuals throughout a 29 county area is eliminated.

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Together We Made History

From Augusta to Atlanta, this month was BIG. 

Hopefully you saw the news out of Augusta on November 16th — our state’s second largest city passed a comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinance that explicitly protects LGBTQ people and other historically marginalized groups! BUT. You may not know about a historic hearing held at the state capitol on the need to make those protections STATEWIDE.

We made huge gains this month, and if we keep it up, we WILL achieve statewide protections for every LGBTQ Georgian. Help us make that a reality with a contribution today!

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Ending the Epidemic: “Equitable Access, Every One’s Voice”

In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2021, Georgia Equality, in partnership with other local and statewide organizations, hosted multiple events, bringing attention to the HIV epidemic, working to increase awareness and knowledge around HIV, and to call for an increased response to move toward ending the HIV epidemic.

 

VIRTUAL

On Wednesday, December 1st, Georgia Equality’s Youth HIV Policy Advisor cohort along with our Ending the Epidemic Fellows, conducted a Virtual Youth HIV Policy Summit, focusing on equitable access in rural, non-metropolitan areas of Georgia on The discussion was centered around how you, your fellow elected officials, and other civic leaders can help end the epidemic in this state. 

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Georgia Equality endorses Waites and Dozier for Atlanta City Council

The Board of Directors of Georgia Equality, the state’s largest political advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Georgians and our allies, is proud to announce two additional endorsements in the upcoming runoff elections for Atlanta City Council — Keisha Waites for Post 3, at-large and Jason Dozier for District 4.

Atlantans should visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page for more information on where to vote and make a plan to vote on election day — November 30, 2021. 

 

Key Election Dates:

Early voting happening now until November 24, 2021. 

Runoff Election Day: November 30, 2021

 


 

City of Atlanta

City Council, Post 3, at-large

Keisha Waites

I am the only candidate in the race that has successfully served 3-terms in a legislative capacity. It is my belief given the challenges we are facing are facing citywide, we must have a representative that has the experience and relationship to navigate the current volatile political current. Secondly, given the adversarial role between the state of Georgia and the City of Atlanta, I have the capacity to serve as an olive branch and conduit to improving relations.

 

To volunteer or donate, please visit Keisha’s website at https://www.keishawaites.com


City Council, District 4

Jason Dozier

I believe that District 4 should be welcoming to everyone, regardless of race, class, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity. Same sex marriage was recognized as a legal right just six short years ago, and many across the country celebrated the recognition of that right. But I also believe our work is not yet done. Our LGBTQ community members are victimized by discrimination and violence every single day and I will work to ensure that Atlanta strives to foster a community that uplifts our LGBTQ community members

Our nation becomes stronger in the midst of great challenges, and many of these challenges continue to exist in our neighborhoods today. Atlanta must continue its commitment towards addressing the needs of our LGBTQ citizens, and I am personally committed to ensuring that that happens. I stand ready to serve as an ally and advocate in the march towards equality and justice for all Atlantans.

 

To volunteer or donate, please visit Jason’s website at https://votedozier.com


In a period in which many people seeking elected office are supportive of the LGBTQ community, the Georgia Equality Board of Directors will issue an endorsement for a candidate who we feel is best placed to advance our policy agenda.  The lack of an endorsement should not necessarily be viewed as a negative reflection of a particular candidate’s views on LGBTQ issues in general.