 | |
 | |
| Formation | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| 03-0442512 | |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama |
Area served | Alabama |
| Website | Official website |
Equality Alabama (EA) was a statewide non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBTQ people in Alabama.
Equality Alabama was formed by the 2002 merger of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama and Equality Begins at Home of Central Alabama. [1] The organization began to increase its activity prior to the 2005 referendum that banned same-sex marriage in the state. Representatives for the organization have stated that the additional visibility was in reaction to increasingly anti-gay legislation being brought forth in the state government. Proposed, but thus far not enacted, state legislation has included banning the adoption of children by LGBT people and prohibiting libraries from purchasing literature that portrays homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. [2]
Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, Ken Baker of Equality Alabama told The New York Times : "Some people in our organization are very concerned about a backlash. We'll deal with it if it happens." [3]
In 2014, Equality Alabama received public criticism for lacking diversity in its leadership and programs — particularly women, racial minorities, and transgender people. [4] A former board member described a situation that arose after discussions about diversity that "turned sour." In the op-ed in The Birmingham News , Michael Hansen wrote, "The conversation ended with a white man explicating that he was perfectly capable of doing the work on behalf of minorities, women and transgender people."
In 2005, when the state legislature voted to hold a public referendum on the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, Equality Alabama's chair Howard Bayless said the legislators were "meddling into the lives of families. The government is deciding what our families are and what families are made of, and to me that's unconscionable." [5] Before the referendum, Equality Alabama opened offices in Montgomery and Birmingham and sponsored programs to increase LGBT visibility and attempt to sway voters. [2] The amendment passed, however, by an 81% margin in favor of forbidding recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions. [6]
Equality Alabama partners with other human rights organizations. It is a member of the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition, a coalition dedicated to making Alabama schools into learning environments that are free from discrimination, harassment, and violence. [7] Equality Alabama is also a member of the Equality Federation. [8]
The organization cosponsors the annual Vigil for Victims of Hate and Violence. The event is held to heighten awareness of the lack of hate crime legislation in Alabama that includes crimes based upon the perception of a person's sexual orientation or their gender. [9] It is usually held on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. [10] [11] Other cosponsors of the event include the Alabama chapter of the National Organization for Women, Alabama Safe Schools Coalition, Immanuel Presbyterian Church of Montgomery, the New Hope Metropolitan Community Church, the Montgomery chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Montgomery. [11]
The event was first organized after the brutal Sylacauga murder of Billy Jack Gaither, a gay man, in 1999. [12] Gaither had his throat cut, was bludgeoned with an axe, and then his body was burned on a pile of tires. [11] The Billy Jack Gaither Humanitarian Award recognizes "an individual or organization that has shown extraordinary courage in the struggle against hatred and contributed to the creation of a just society." [13] This award is presented each year at the vigil. The 13th annual event was held on February 20, 2011. [10] [14] The 14th annual event was held on February 19, 2012, at the Montgomery Union Station Train Shed, rather than the usual venue of the Capitol steps, due to stormy weather. The first Stephen Light Youth Advocacy Award was awarded during the event. The award is named in honor of Stephen Light, an Alabama LGBT advocate who died in 2011 at age 25. [9] [11]
In 2011 it partnered with the Human Rights Campaign, Auburn University at Montgomery's Gay–Straight Alliance, and PFLAG-Montgomery in sponsoring a "Road To Equality" bus tour that visited various cities around the state. It carried media presentations focusing on equal rights for LGBT people. [15] [16]
Equality Alabama filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the lawsuit brought by the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama against Alabama's 2011 anti-illegal immigration law, the Hammon-Beason Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act. [17] [18]
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.
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Atticus Circle was a non-profit organization whose mission was to educate and mobilize straight people to advance equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender partners, parents, and their children. With the national office located in Austin, Texas, Atticus Circle focused on straight allies of the LGBT social movements. The organization was founded and was run mostly by straight people and works to empower straight and other allies to give them a sense of ownership in this civil rights struggle.
Jeffrey Montgomery was an American LGBTQ activist and public relations executive. In 1984, his partner, Michael, was shot to death outside a Detroit gay bar, prompting Montgomery to engage in LGBT advocacy. He started work on LGBT anti-violence issues upon learning that the police were not spending many resources on solving the murder, "just another gay killing". In 1991 Montgomery became the founding executive director of the Triangle Foundation, and served until September 2007. Initially engaging in victim advocacy around LGBT violence, and to improve handling of LGBT related cases, the foundation's work expanded to LGBT civil rights and advocacy, with projects for anti-violence, media activism, and legislative education on LGBT civil rights. He became nationally known for his work and served at numerous organizations.
Equality Maryland (EQMD) was a non-profit organization formerly headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, now based in Baltimore. It was at the time, the largest organization in Maryland whose activities focused on advocacy and education with regard to LGBT social and political movements. Its mission included: the passage of laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity; the expansion of Maryland's hate-crimes statute; the increase of domestic partner benefits; the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Maryland and laws banning the practice of conversion therapy on minors. In 2016, the organization merged with FreeState Legal Project, to form FreeState Justice.
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.
EqualityMaine is Maine's oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political advocacy organization. Their mission, outlined on the organization's website is to "secure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Maine through political action, community organizing, education, and collaboration."
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 Michigan is an American civil rights, advocacy and anti-violence organization serving Michigan's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community. Equality Michigan serves Michigan's LGBT community through victims services, lobbying on behalf of the LGBT community, public education on LGBT issues, and organizing Michigan's largest LGBT events such as Motor City Pride. The organization is a founding member of the Equality Federation.
The Tennessee Equality Project is an LGBTQ organization in the United States state of Tennessee.
Washington United for Marriage was a coalition of secular and religious organizations in Washington State involved in lobbying the State Legislature to provide marriage for same-sex couples. The organization was founded in 2011, and formed to secure passage of a bill in the Washington legislature calling for same-sex marriage, and to then defend such a measure should a statewide referendum be launched to challenge it. Members of the coalition include Equal Rights Washington, the Human Rights Campaign, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Within 24 hours of having been publicly launched, the coalition had secured an endorsement for same-sex marriage in Washington from the editorial board of the Seattle Times.
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The murder of Billy Jack Gaither took place in Alabama on February 19, 1999. Two acquaintances, Steven Eric Mullins and Charles Monroe Butler, beat Gaither to death, slashed his throat, and burned his body. Both admitted that they murdered Gaither because of his sexual orientation, as Gaither, who was 39 at the time of his murder, was a gay man.
