Sunday, May 1 is the annual celebration of International Workers’ Day – also known as May Day – which honors the struggle of workers all around the world. While the LGBTQ movement typically focuses on nondiscrimination and healthcare insurance as issues in the workplace, the concerns of LGBTQ workers also include those not related to their sexuality or gender identity. In fact, the Black Futures Lab found that low wages are the biggest concern facing Black LGB people, and many trans...
During Lesbian Visibility Week, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund honor the lives and experiences of transgender and non-binary lesbians. We affirm that trans women are women and that trans and non-binary lesbians are a valued part of the LGBTQ community. As politicians and policymakers seek to strip LGBTQ people, especially transgender people, of their freedoms, it is important for us to stand...
Today is Lesbian Day of Visibility, a day when we celebrate and uplift every lesbian, no matter where they live or how they identify. Today is a day of joy, yes, but this celebration goes much deeper. We are celebrating being out, proud, and seen – things that often don’t come without pain and sacrifice. To me, being out and visibly queer is a way to continue towards progress, as representation of the complex identities within the LGBTQ community is vital to the well-being of queer...
Today, April 22, marks Earth Day, a day when we celebrate the Earth and also rally around finding solutions to climate change and environmental injustice. Started in the 1970s partly in response to Silent Spring, a book written by lesbian author and marine biologist Rachel Carson, the day has been part of a movement that has grown more aptly in tune with today’s intersectional movements. At first glance, environmental injustice may not seem like an LGBTQ issue, but in fact, queer folks have a...
When Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed last week as the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, many of us rejoiced as we saw yet another crack in the symbolic glass ceiling that has historically kept women, especially Black women and women of color, from reaching our full potential. This week is Black Maternal Health Week, and while I am still elated for what Judge Jackson represents, I can’t help but feel disheartened by the barriers and inequities that still...
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. We’re changing Florida through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building — so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Come Out With Pride
The mission of Come Out With Pride Orlando is to cultivate visibility, authenticity, and acceptance by curating inclusive experiences that celebrate and embody the spirit of queer resilience.
Orlando Youth Alliance
Since 1990, the Orlando Youth Alliance (OYA) has been providing safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in Central Florida. Their coverage area includes metro Orlando, but also spans out to include the rural counties surrounding Orlando. In 2008, they created a chapter in Lakeland, Florida (Polk County). OYA oversees the highly successful Polk Pride Festival which attracts over 6,000 people annually.
Southern Legal Counsel
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC developed its Transgender Rights Initiative to fill a gap in access to justice for Florida’s transgender community, including in areas such as access to legal authenticity, access to safe and affirming school and work environments, access to medically necessary healthcare, and more. SLC’s Trans Rights Initiative protects the rights of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community utilizing federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and individual representation. SLC has litigated many of the recent federal cases against the state of Florida, and has successfully overturned the Medicaid Ban on gender-affirming care (Dekker v. Weida); permanently enjoined the medical care bans for minors and restrictions for adults created by SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules (Doe v. Ladapo); preliminarily enjoined the pronoun ban for transgender teachers in Florida’s public schools; and more.
Joy Metropolitan Community Church
Joy MCC is the spiritual home to a multi-cultural, inclusive, and diverse community of faith. We are rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. We experience a vibrant spirituality that is positive, practical, and progressive. We’ve always been a totally open and affirming church. We welcome the full participation of people of allraces, cultures, ages, abilities, spiritual backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We share a deep sense of community where our diversity is celebrated, not merely tolerated.
ACLU of Florida
The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity.
QLatinx
QLatinx is a grassroots community-led racial, social, and gender justice organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ Latinx community. QLatinx is committed to building a supportive infrastructure, addressing inequity, promoting inclusionary QLatinx aims to deepen the political consciousness of LGBTQ+ and Latinx individuals about intersections and complexities of institutional, interpersonal, and internalized forms of oppression. This work includes empowering local LGBTQ+ leadership to become cognizant of gender and racial inequities with the LGBTQ+ community and in relation to cisgender populations.
Community Spring
Community Spring is a grassroots organization dedicated to economic justice. The two pillars of our work are income and power: income to meet people’s needs and power to reshape the systems that keep them down.
Pride Community Center of North Central Florida
The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida offers safe spaces, resources, services and events to foster and enhance the well-being and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in North Central Florida. Visibility changes minds. Here in North Central Florida, LGBTQ+ people deserve access to safe spaces where they can not only express themselves, but where they can also be a part of a community. Come join us.