Dear John,

Last Monday began my first official week as executive director of Equality Federation. Despite the highs and lows of last week (from a win for equality in the Georgia Senate race to the siege of our Capitol by a mob of white supremacists in one day), I could not be more excited to lead this organization.

I started at the Federation in 2012 and have been a key part of its expansive growth in staff and programs ever since. An organizer at heart, I got connected to the Federation while working as regional field director for Mainers United for Marriage, the successful 2012 campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples in Maine. This campaign, as well as being a queer person who has lived in seven states, taught me the importance of state work and the unique needs of the places we call home.

Our local communities and home states impact our day-to-day lives, especially for LGBTQ people who face varying social climates and legal policies depending on where we live. I believe that strong leaders create effective organizations, and effective organizations create a thriving movement for LGBTQ equality.

The heart of Equality Federation’s work has always been building strong, resilient, adaptive leaders to achieve full lived equality for our community. I am honored to continue our work to build state-based people power, but I know this work must grow to truly reflect our entire community.

LGBTQ people of color—especially Black transgender women—are disproportionately affected by racism, transphobia, and the types of violent policing that sparked Black-led uprisings in 2020. As we celebrate the progress we have made, we must continue to fight for all of us, especially LGBTQ people of color, older adults, and transgender youth. Our work going forward must put their voices, stories, and lives at the forefront of our policy and advocacy agendas. As we continue our journey to become an anti-racist organization, this is a major priority for us.

With 2021 already off to a terrifying start, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

• In state legislatures, we are seeing anti-equality opponents restart attacks on transgender youth, targeting kids who want to simply play sports and live their lives as their true selves. We are working with state organizations to stop these attacks from becoming law.
• We’ll put pressure on the new federal administration to pass the Equality Act to provide federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.
• We’ll wait, and be ready, for a ruling from the Supreme Court in Fulton, which will decide whether or not qualified, loving same-sex families can foster children.
• We’ll continue our efforts to decriminalize HIV by partnering with state groups to update existing policies.
• We don’t just help pass good policy, we make sure it gets implemented. We will do just that with the Older Americans Act, which includes provisions that will help ensure that LGBTQ elders get the services and support they need to remain independent.

It’s going to be another challenging, exhilarating year. I am grateful to have you with us.

In solidarity,