Friend,

Today is the anniversary of the historic Stonewall protest. Every June for more than 50 years, we have celebrated LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, to honor that protest and to celebrate how far we’ve come.

While we celebrate how much we’ve achieved, we know that attacks on LGBTQIA+ people have continued and that this year’s manufactured culture wars from the right have hurt our students and our schools. Moreover, in his concurrence in the Supreme Court’s shocking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested he hopes to overturn marriage equality next. From “don’t say gay” bills forcing school staff back into the closet, to parents being targeted for seeking gender-affirming healthcare for their children, LGBTQIA+ adults and families are under significant attack.

As we celebrate our rich history this Pride Month, let’s make sure that the people it celebrates and commemorates are protected. Tell your senators to pass the Equality Act now.

The Equality Act would provide critical protections for LGBTQIA+ 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 and long-overdue step forward for all Americans, but especially American workers who face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. The Equality Act would ensure that LGBTQIA+ people can work and live without fear or threat of discrimination, just like every other American should be able to do.

The lives and livelihood of LGBTQIA+ people are at stake. The Senate must act now.

Queer communities, like all people, deserve not just to live but to thrive. In the spirit of Pride, we must cling to our hope and joy as an act of spiritual resistance. As we continue to fight to preserve the progress we’ve made on civil rights, the rights of LGBTQIA+ people cannot be forgotten.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President