by Wes Sanders

Early Voting Happening Now Across Georgia!

ELECTION UPDATE

Early Voting has begun across the state for the upcoming May 22nd primary election. CLICK HERE to find your early voting location and take your pride to the polls!! #Pride2Polls

Whether you are LGBTQ or an ally, the stakes in Georgia are too high to sit this one out! Join the growing number of voices voting for equality in our state!

Important Dates for this election:

Early voting: April 30 – May 18, 2018,
Mandatory Saturday voting: May 12, 2018.
Absentee voting: May 10 – 18.
For more information on early and early/absentee voting visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.

After you’ve voted, post a selfie on your social media accounts using #Pride2Polls so everyone knows you’ve voted, and they should too!

Click here to view Georgia Equality’s endorsed candidates.

by Wes Sanders

Out of Darkness: Two Remain performed by The Atlanta Opera

Join The Atlanta Opera for the world premiere of Out of Darkness: Two Remain. Composer Jake Heggie‘s and librettist Gene Scheer‘s moving two-act opera centers on Holocaust survivors visited by ghosts of their past. In Act I, Krystyna shares her gripping story of survival with a journalist, and is helped by the ghosts of Auschwitz inspired by her written lyrics. In Act II, Gad Beck is visited by his first true love, the poet Manfred Lewin, who perished in Auschwitz. As Manfred implores Gad to remember and celebrate their love, the painful truth of their stories and fates emerges. Based in part on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors: the Polish dissident Krystyna Zywulska (1914-1993) and the gay German Jew, Gad Beck (1923-2012).

Georgia Equality members can get $10 off the regular ticket price of $50 by using promo code EQUAL. Be sure to enter the promo code BEFORE selecting dates and seats. Valid for all performances of Out of Darkness: Two Remain.

by Wes Sanders

Coming Soon: Apply to be a Youth HIV Policy Advisor

We created the Youth HIV Policy Advisor Program (YHPA) program because “all laws and policies related to HIV should be informed by the experiences of people living with HIV.” To that end, we felt it was critical to train young people living with HIV in Metro Atlanta on policy and advocacy, providing them tools and resources to go forward and educate state, city, and county-level policymakers on HIV-related policy issues. Continue reading →

by Wes Sanders

Georgia HIV/AIDS Advocates travel to Washington, DC to lobby Congress

Last month, almost 550 people living with HIV and their allies converged upon the offices of more than 200 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives as part of the 25th anniversary gathering of AIDS Watch, the largest constituent-based annual HIV advocacy event in the nation. Georgia was well represented, with over 40 individuals making the trek to the nation’s capital. Among those participating in this year’s AIDS Watch, were our Joan P. Garner Scholarship Fund Receipt, Jennifer Barnes and Thrive SS/Georgia Equality Fellow, Mahlon Randolph.

Special shout out to local Atlanta all-trans band, Exquisite Gender who  raised $1,700 to support the Joan P. Garner AIDS Watch Scholarship fund that is used to send a local young person living with HIV to Washington, DC to speak directly with members of Congress and their staffs about the needs of young people living with HIV in Georgia! To make a donation to the Joan P. Garner Scholarship Fund, click here. Continue reading →

by Wes Sanders

Our hard work is paying off and this is only the beginning. Join us.

Another legislative session is over in Georgia and because of supporters like you we were able to stop all attempts at passing discriminatory legislation for the 5th year in a row!

So, to you we say thank you! While we celebrate our success though, we’re not resting at Georgia Equality. We know that bills like this will be back next year and we’re already ramping-up our efforts to educate Georgians that we need comprehensive non-discrimination measures rather than limited legislation that creates a license to discriminate.
Continue reading →