Friend,

Happy Pride Month! Every day I am proud to celebrate our LGBTQ members and students, and their allies, but Pride is a special time for us to bring them front and center.

This year, the celebration of Pride could not be more important. While we’ve made strides in recent years with marriage equality, wider acceptance of LGBTQ people and more, our rights are still threatened. The issues that spurred the Stonewall rebellion more than 50 years ago––humiliation, discrimination and targeting by police––still ring true today. And these issues are even more pronounced in the very communities that led the rebellion itself: Transgender people of color are still being beaten and murdered, and more and more states are passing legislation targeting our trans youth.

We need federal protection for LGBTQ communities, and, thankfully, the House of Representatives has already taken the first step by passing the Equality Act. Call your senators and tell them to pass the Equality Act.

So far in 2021, more than 251 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced during state legislative sessions. Thirty-three states have introduced more than 100 anti-trans bills that curb protections and fundamental rights for trans people. There have been at least 11 bills introduced that legitimize hate crimes, six bills in support of dangerous conversion therapy, and others ranging from religious refusal to discriminatory adoption policies. In fact, during Pride Month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill barring trans girls from competing in girls’ sports. These bills put the entire LGBTQ community in danger and signal to them that they are not welcome or protected. The bills represent an imminent threat to the progress that generations of LGBTQ people have made in their fight to be seen, respected and valued in their schools, workplaces and communities.

The Equality Act would provide explicit protection for LGBTQ people against discrimination in all areas of life, including housing, education and employment. And it would expand existing anti-discrimination legislation to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This would be a crucial step forward for all Americans, but especially American workers. The Equality Act would ensure that LGBTQ people can work and live without fear or threat of discrimination.

The freedom to thrive is, at its core, the freedom to live safely and authentically. To do so, we must be able to live without fear and with the confidence that we will be protected if we are threatened. The Equality Act provides that protection. It provides LGBTQ people the safety and peace of mind we need to live our best, most authentic lives, just like anyone else.

Call your senators and tell them to pass the Equality Act, to guarantee all of their constituents not only the freedom to live without discrimination, but the freedom to thrive.

In Unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President