2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid aimed to improve health coverage for some of the most vulnerable in our society, including elders, and these programs were an important step towards the goal of securing coverage for all Americans. 60 years ago, 48% of Americans 65 and older lacked health insurance. Those who did have insurance often had inadequate and expensive policies with limited coverage. By 1968, three years after the Medicare...
Image courtesy of the National Parks Service Sixty years ago today, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) embarked upon a series of marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. These marches were meant to draw attention to the reality that Black people were not able to access their right to vote in the Jim Crow south. The first of...
In nine states, lawmakers have proposed resolutions or bills to roll back marriage equality protections in a direct challenge to Obergefell v. Hodges. While states like Michigan, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota urge the Supreme Court to revisit its historic 2015 decision, others such as Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have introduced bills recognizing a new category of marriages solely between heterosexual couples. We know this is frightening for many people in...
January 20, 2025 Back in 2016, when Trump first won, I spiraled. I remember tense meetings with other policy advocates, trying to figure out how to navigate the next four years. I was glued to the news, checking constantly like I used to do growing up in the Midwest during tornado watches, hoping that more information would make me feel safer. After two years, I was exhausted. That’s when I realized my energy was better spent building something, rather than just fighting against a...
Yesterday’s Supreme Court argument about laws banning medical care for transgender minors was an unexpected bright spot. Over the past few months, millions of people in this country have been subjected to nonstop ads that demonize transgender people. In the wake of that hellish experience, it was a relief to hear our nations’ highest court taking very seriously the question of whether Tennessee’s transgender medical ban discriminates based on sex. Both Solicitor General Elizabeth...
Back in 2016, after Donald Trump was elected President, we wrote an update for the community responding to people’s fears that their marriages were under threat. Today, we’re seeing the same concerns again. So here’s a short update on our original post. The short answer is that there is still no realistic reason to fear that existing marriages of same-sex couples will be invalidated. The law remains as strong as it was in 2016 that if a marriage is valid when entered, it cannot be invalidated...
Proposition 314 is on Arizona’s ballot this year – what it is and why would it be detrimental for immigrants and broader communities in the state? What’s on the bill? Proposition 314 – more commonly known as, the “Secure the Border Act” – would make it a state crime for noncitizens to cross international borders in any way, other than the official ports of entry and allow for state and local enforcements to arrest noncitizens who cross the border unlawfully. Under this...
In 1994, the United States granted asylum to an individual on the basis of sexual orientation for the first time. This opened the door for LGBTQ immigrants facing persecution in their countries of origin to seek protection as refugees and asylees. Thirty years later, immigration continues to be central to our political discourse and remains a focus in the presidential election. In response to the US allowing asylum claims from LGBTQ immigrants, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR)...
Overview: Over the past four years, attacks on hard-won LGBTQ rights have increased across the United States. From medical care, to education, to identity documents, there are few areas that have been untouched by legislative bans on constitutionally protected activity, especially for the transgender community. More than half of the states now ban healthcare and sports participation for transgender youth. The scale of these attacks has ensured that only some of the bans get challenged in court...
A Dark History At the turn of the 20th century, despite the German Criminal Code banning homosexuality, Germany had a thriving LGBTQ community. In Berlin alone, there were over one hundred queer bars, cafes, clubs, and organizations. Queer publications were plentiful and LGBTQ activists fought for a more equitable society. However, as the Nazis rose to power, hostility towards LGBTQ people – especially gay men – increased, as they considered homosexuals to be a detriment to their...
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.
