"Love Conquers Hate!"

Hey everyone!

Yesterday history was made when President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law!

Finally, after more than ten years since Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student who was brutally murdered in an act of hate violence in 1998, and James Byrd, an African-American man who was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas an inclusive hate crimes bill has been passed. According to the HRC website, "the new law gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability."

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese commented, “Today’s signing of the first major piece of civil rights legislation to protect LGBT Americans represents a historic milestone in the inevitable march towards equality. Although this is a major step in fighting the scourge of hate violence, it is not the end of the road. As a community, we will continue to dedicate ourselves to changing not only laws but also hearts and minds."

Let's remember folks, our work is not yet done, so let's keep on making history!

Hello Bloggers

Just wanted to post a short introduction of myself.

I'm Mer Holman, an intern here at Equality Advocates. I work in the policy department on things like outreach, research, policy, volunteer organizing and coalition work.

I am usually very busy here at Equality Advocates working on projects like developing and expanding the Value All Families Coalition and organizing form letters to be sent out to your state representatives and senators on issues like Hate Crimes legislation, House Bill 300 and opposing the Marriage Protection Amendment.

I am looking forward to getting involved with volunteers and working towards progressive and inclusive legislation!

Real Good Week!

Happy Friday, everyone! This has been a pretty good week for LGBTers across America.

First, HUD announced widespread policy changes to include LGBT Americans and end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in HUD programs.

Then, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to establish a national resource center to assist communities in providing much-needed resources to older LGBT Americans.

And now, the Senate has voted 68-29 to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act! All the bill needs is President Obama's signature and IT IS LAW!

HOO to the RAY! Progress is marching on! One of our over 1,400 fans on our facebook fan page said it best: "the baby steps are getting a little bigger."

Let's keep this momentum going, we've got more work to do!

Letter from the Executive Director

Friends,

I want to let all of you know about an exciting new development at Equality Advocates Pennsylvania (“EAP”). In the course of restructuring EAP, about which Board President Brian Sims has written to you before, EAP’s Board determined it was necessary to make some fundamental decisions and changes.

The first decision was to expand the Board into a truly state-wide and diversified Board, an ongoing process that has so far added members from Pittsburgh, Lackawanna County and Bloomsburg and anticipates doubling in size over the next three months. The second decision was to bring this organization into alignment with other states’ equality organizations that have as their missions education, advocacy, and policy reform to achieve state equality goals. That means focusing EAP on education and creating Equality Pennsylvania as the advocacy and legislative lobbying entity in Pennsylvania. That also means establishing offices in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg to do the state-wide work with field officers and lobbying efforts. Equality Pennsylvania has been formed and an announcement about new offices will be made shortly.

The third decision and the reason for this letter is that EAP’s Board decided it is time for the direct legal services that EAP has delivered to the LGBT population to be housed at and delivered by a another organization. After much exploration, it became clear that Mazzoni Center, which serves the health needs of the LGBT population, is the logical place to offer legal services to the population it already serves. Mazzoni Center has agreed to expand its services and mission to include a Legal Services Department, utilizing the same personnel as now utilized by EAP, thereby ensuring the continuous availability to the LGBT community of the highest quality legal services that has always characterized EAP’s Legal Services Department. Legal service needs outside of the greater Philadelphia area will be handled by the Mazzoni Center in the same manner as EAP did, mostly by utilizing its referral base of cooperating attorneys.

Both organizations will work toward a smooth transition over the next several months.

In speaking with local foundations and funders and national funding sources, I have been heartened by their favorable reception of the decision to relocate legal services delivery as well as the other organizational changes being made here.

Naturally, expansion and contraction of organizations present both challenges and opportunities. It is an exciting time to be immersed in equality work in Pennsylvania and I am honored to be entrusted with operating the preeminent Pennsylvania equality organization as we move into its next phase. We need your moral, financial and volunteer support as never before and be assured that we will be contacting you for all three in the near future.


Sincerely yours,

Lynn G. Zeitlin, Esq.

Executive Director
Equality Advocates Pennsylvania

Dead Heat in Maine!

There appears to be some good news about the Maine Peoples' Veto--a ballot initiative attempting to overturn the marriage equality law that passed earlier this year. According to a poll reported in Bay Windows, New Englands' largest LGBT newspaper, 51.8% of "likely" voters say they will vote "No" on measure 1, with just under 43% saying they will vote "Yes." Great news for those of us following the "No on 1" campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine!

With general polls in Maine opening on November 3 (early voting begins October 26), however, blogger "Joe. My. God." cites a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling that shows a 48-48% tie with 4% undecided.

Regardless of which poll is accurate, the only poll that matters is the one taken on Nov. 3. So if you live in Maine and aren't already, get involved, get out the vote, and help support marriage equality!

In more local news, if you live or will be in Philly tomorrow night at 6:00pm, don't forget to come by EQPA's October Philadelphia Volunteer Night, Part 2! at our offices in Center City at 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 605. As usual, FREE food, great company, and bumpin' music will be provided! Hope to see you there!

"Out in the Silence" to be screened at PLGFF!

Last month, EQPA partnered with filmmaker Joe Wilson to help stage screenings of his ground-breaking documentary "Out in the Silence", which tells the story of a Pennsylvania teen's struggle to come out and fight bigotry and prejudice in his small, rural PA town.

The film was screened at the first-ever Pennsylvania Equality Summit in State College, PA on September 26. And with the opening of the 24th Annual Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival today, "Out in the Silence" will have another opportunity to share this poignant and emotional story of strength and courage.



"Out in the Silence" will be shown this Tuesday, October 20th at CMU in the McConomy Auditorium. Admission is FREE!

Hello!

Hey, I'm Mason, the Eastern PA Field Organizer for Equality PA and I, along with some of the other staff members in the EQPA office will be regularly blogging about the goings-on in the LGBT-rights scene in PA.

With state legislators finally passing a budget and returning to work, EQPA will be working tirelessly to bring full equality to LGBT Pennsylvanians. In Pennsylvania it is STILL LEGAL to be fired from one's job simply because of one's sexual orientation or gender identity! That's why we are still fighting to pass HB300, which would end discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, among others.

Check back for regular updates as the legislative session progresses.

Support Equality at Our October Philadelphia Volunteer Night!

Did you know that in Pennsylvania it is STILL LEGAL to be fired from your job simply because of your sexual orientation or gender identity?

Join us tomorrow on Thursday night from 6:00-8:00pm at our Philadelphia offices (1211 Chestnut St., Suite 605) for our October Philadelphia Volunteer Night!

OUTfest was a huge success this past Sunday! We collected over 1,000 form letters urging our PA legislators to deliver full equality to LGBT Pennsylvanians. Join fellow activists and community members for a night of FREE food, great company, and tireless ADVOCACY!

Click HERE to RSVP. Or send an e-mail to Mason at mlane@equalitypa.org

If you've already RSVP'd, we'll see you then, and if you're on the fence, we need your support more than ever as we are still fighting to pass House Bill 300, which would finally expand non-discrimination coverage to Pennsylvanians on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and we are working to make sure that our legislators don't write discrimination into our state constitution with an amendment banning same-sex marriage.

So join us tomorrow night, 6:00pm at the Equality Pennsylvania offices at 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 605 in Center City, Philadelphia!

Get INVOLVED! Get ENGAGED! ADVOCATE for EQUALITY!

Volunteer for Equality PA at Philly OUTfest!

For those not attending the National Equality March, come join us at OutFest, this Sunday, October 11, as we work toward equality for the LGBT community! We need volunteers to staff our table throughout the day to collect petition letters in support of LGBT-friendly legislation.

We need volunteers for four 2-hour shifts throughout the day: 10:00am-12:00pm, 12:00-2:00pm, 2:00-4:00pm and 4:00-6:00pm.

If you can volunteer at our table, please contact Mason at PolicyEA@gmail.com or at (215) 731-1447 ext. 18 to sign up for a shift. Please be sure to include your full name, phone number, and the shift that you are interested in working.

For more information, click HERE.

Welcome to the Equality Pennsylvania Blog!

Welcome to the Equality PA Blog! Check back here for regular updates about what's going on at Equality Pennsylvania and how YOU can get involved and support LGBT rights across the Commonwealth!

In the meantime, check out our Facebook Fan Page and become a fan to support LGBT equality!

And for more information about Equality Pennsylvania, visit: http://www.equalitypa.org