Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their interests, numerous LGBTQ rights organizations are active worldwide. The first organization to promote LGBTQ rights was the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, founded in 1897 in Berlin.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGBTQ individuals, including advocating for same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation, and HIV/AIDS advocacy. The organization has a number of legislative initiatives as well as supporting resources for LGBTQ individuals.
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11 to support anyone "coming out of the closet". First celebrated in the United States in 1988, the initial idea was grounded in the feminist and gay liberation spirit of the personal being political, and the emphasis on the most basic form of activism being coming out to family, friends, and colleagues, and living life as an openly LGBTQIA+ person. The founders believed that homophobia thrives in an atmosphere of silence and ignorance and that once people know that they have loved ones who are LGBTQIA+, they are far less likely to maintain homophobic or oppressive views.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender identity, by employers with at least 15 employees.
The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which works to educate the LGBT+ community and Republicans about each other.
Kenneth Brian Mehlman is an American social entrepreneur and businessman. He serves as a member, global head of public affairs, and co-head of KKR global impact at investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. He oversees the firm's responsible investment efforts, leading the firm's Environmental Social Governance programs. Prior to joining KKR, Mehlman spent a year as an attorney and partner at law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. In January 2017, Mehlman announced that he would act as chairman of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Policy Advisory Board.
Evan Wolfson is an attorney and gay rights advocate. He is the founder of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States, serving as president until its 2015 victory and subsequent wind-down. Wolfson authored the book Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, which Time Out New York magazine called, "Perhaps the most important gay-marriage primer ever written". He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, Rutgers Law School, and Whittier Law School and argued before the Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. He now teaches law and social change at Georgetown Law School and at Yale University; serves as a senior counsel at Dentons, the world's largest law firm; and primarily provides advice and assistance to other organizations and causes, in the United States and globally, that are seeking to adapt the lessons on "how to win" from the same-sex marriage movement.
Frank Anthony Bruni is an American journalist writing for The New York Times since 1995. Following a wide range of assignments, including a stint as chief restaurant critic, he was named an op-ed columnist in June 2011. Bruni joined Duke University in June 2021 as Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Since joining Duke, he continues writing a Times newsletter and remains a contributing opinion writer for the newspaper. Bruni will receive the North Carolina Award, the highest civilian honor in the state, from governor Roy Cooper.
Join the Impact was an American LGBTQ political organization started in reaction to the passage of Proposition 8 in California which rapidly developed into a national coalition of local LGBT rights groups. The website for the group was established November 7, 2008, after founders Amy Balliett and Willow Witte decided to utilize a website to try to galvanize attention for the cause. The level of success the two women had orchestrating a nationwide protest only a week later may have benefited from the recent historical success the Obama campaign had with the medium.
The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) was a statewide political advocacy organization in New York that advocated for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights, including same-sex marriage. ESPA has since disbanded after an executive order was passed by Governor Andrew Cuomo which protects the rights of transgender citizens as long as future governors uphold the law. ESPA was founded in 1990 through the merger of the New York State Gay and Lesbian Lobby and the Friends and Advocates for Individual Rights. ESPA was considered the leading gay political organization in the State of New York before it disbanded. As of 2005, ESPA was the largest statewide lesbian and gay political advocacy and civil rights organization in the United States.
Brian Kendall Sims is an American politician, activist and attorney. A Democrat, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 182nd district from 2013 until 2022. Sims is also a lawyer and advocate for LGBT civil rights. Sims became the first openly gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history. He won re-election on November 6, 2018. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, finishing in second place behind Austin Davis with 25% of the vote. Since leaving public office in 2022, Sims served as the Managing Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Out Leadership, on the Board of Trustees of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, and as CEO of Agenda PAC.
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
Equality Pennsylvania is an organization which advocates throughout the state of Pennsylvania for LGBT rights. Equality Pennsylvania also attempts to "advance LGBT-friendly policy and legislative initiatives". The organization is a member of the Equality Federation.
Athlete Ally is a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group based in the United States. The group aims to make athletic communities more inclusive and less discriminatory and helping athletes to advocate for LGBTQ equality.
Marc Solomon is a gay rights advocate. He was the national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, a group advocating same-sex marriage in the United States. Solomon is author of the book Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits—and Won. As executive director of MassEquality from 2006 through 2009, he led the campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment that would have reversed Massachusetts' same-sex marriage court ruling. Politico describes Solomon as "warm and embracing" and "a born consensus builder—patient, adept at making personal connections, preternaturally gifted at politics without seeming at all like a politician."
Christopher Michael Sgro is an American politician and political strategist best known for his work advocating for LGBT rights in North Carolina. He is a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and former executive director of Equality North Carolina. In 2017, Sgro became Communications Director of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT rights organization in the United States, where he later served as Senior Vice President of Communications. He currently works as spokesperson for Meta.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Kerala face legal and social difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT persons. However, Kerala has been at the forefront of LGBT issues in India after Tamil Nadu. It became one of the first states in India to establish a welfare policy for the transgender community and in 2016, proposed implementing free gender affirmation surgery through government hospitals. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2018, following the Supreme Court ruling in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. In addition, numerous LGBT-related events have been held across Kerala, including in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. However, there is also increasing opposition to LGBT rights recently as evidenced by the anti-LGBT campaigns spearheaded by meninist groups and Muslim organisations like Indian Union Muslim League, Samastha and Jamaat-e-Islami.
