Historically, being lesbian gay bisexual, or transgender has
come with plenty of hardship and oppression. One
of the most crushing aspects of this reality
is how much of it happens invisibly, unseen
by most others Fortunately, there are many who
work to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are represented,
and that things change for the better. In
no particular order, here are some organizations illuminating
supporting, and empowering America's queer communities.
# 1 in our overview is the Equal
Rights Center. This organization identifies and seeks to
eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing employment,
and public accommodations, in both the Greater Washington,
DC area and nationwide. The ERC's core strategy
for identifying discrimination is what it calls civil
rights testing
An example of this strategy in action is
when the ERC investigates bias against LGBTQ job
applicants at various companies. Using matched pair testing,
the group compares the experiences of straight and
gay or cis and trans people applying for
a job. The ERC used a similar approach
when it looked at racial discrimination affecting housing
voucher holders in Washington DC.
At # 2 is Equality Michigan, a statewide
anti-violence and LGBTQ political advocacy organization based in
Detroit. The group strives to serve as a
nexus for activism, providing a way to connect
victims of individual incidents of bias harassment, and
violence to the support referral, and navigational services
they need to achieve justice.
Equality Michigan uses its web presence to link
people with opportunities to advocate on issues they
care about, such as removing barriers for gay
blood donors, banning homophobic discrimination and conversion therapy,
and encouraging voter registration. The group also provides
support in filing complaints of discrimination with governmental
agencies.
Our # 3 is the National Center for
Lesbian Rights. A non-profit, public interest law firm,
it litigates cases at the trial and appellate
court levels, and advocates for equitable public policies
affecting the LGBTQ community Additionally, it provides free
legal assistance to LGBTQ people, and conducts community
education programs.
NCLR works to broaden public support for LGBTQ
equality using a variety of tactics, including hosting
virtual town halls to push for protecting the
Affordable Care Act and preventing multiple forms of
discrimination. Other projects have included litigation and advocacy
on behalf of young trans and non-binary athletes.
Coming in at # 4 is Freedom for
All Americans. This bipartisan campaign aims to secure
full nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people nationwide. FFAA
is comprised of individuals from both major political
parties, businesses large and small, people of faith,
and allies from all walks of life.
The group seeks out fair and equal treatment
for all Americans by advocating for statutory protections
at the federal state, and local levels. It
fights against discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity and expression, and works
to prevent overly broad and harmful religious exemptions
that could encourage employers, business owners, or others
to choose to disregard those laws.
Rounding out the list at # 5 is
the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, an initiative
of the Partner Program of the Fund for
the City of New York. The Project's mission
is to make an often-ignored history visible by
documenting notable places connected to New York City's
lesbian gay bisexual, and transgender communities. These sites
are grouped by themes such as Activism Before
Stonewall The Harlem Renaissance and Arts & Architecture
The organization's website includes a number of curated
themes, virtual tours, an index, and an interactive
map, all of which are tools visitors can
use to learn about LGBT sites of note.
The Project's work preserving and documenting history can
also be seen on its social media pages,
which depict how the LGBT community has influenced
the story of New York City and the
United States as a whole.