Family Equality Council and thousands of other
LGBT activists from across the country in Washington D.C. for the
historic National Equality March. The march from the White
House to the Capital raised awareness in the fight for full LGBT
equality.
Don’t let the momentum stop! The
march for full LGBT equality continues beyond this great
demonstration. Below are 3 things families can do right now to
advance the fight for full equality.
Pass
Hate Crimes Now
The federal Hate Crimes bill has
passed the House and is now with the Senate. This bill is attached
to the Department of Defense reauthorization bill. In order for the
Hate Crimes bill to be passed in the Senate, we must urge our
Senators to support the Defense bill now.Hate Crimes legislation
is the beachhead for other LGBT issues at the federal level, and it
is too important to ignore. Our safety and lives matter too much.
Contact your legislators by calling the Capitol switchboard at
202/224-3121 TODAY and tell
them to vote for the Defense bill to pass the Hate Crimes
legislation.
Pass ENDA in
2009
In September, Family Equality
Council submitted written testimony to the U.S. House Education and
Labor Committee supporting the prompt passage of the Employment
Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Click here to
read the full testimony. ENDA is a federal employment
nondiscrimination law that would ban workplace discrimination
against LGBT Americans. It is past time for Congress to pass
ENDA.
Congress has heard from
Family Equality Council, now they must hear from you! Please take
action now. To pass these protections in 2009, we must call
202/224-3121 and tell our
Representatives and Senators how important these protections are to
LGBT families.
Help Repeal DOMA – Pass the
Respect for Marriage Act!
In September, Jerrold Nadler
of New York introduced the Respect for Marriage Act in the United
States House of Representatives−with 91 original cosponsors! This
bill will repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
and ensure that legal marriages of all couples are recognized by
the federal government. Repealing DOMA is critical to ensuring that
ALL marriages are treated equally for the federal
government.
Did you
know?
DOMA:
- Prevents states from
recognizing valid civil marriages of same-sex
couples - Carves same-sex couples, even
those who have taken on the serious legal responsibilities of civil
marriage and are recognized as married under state law, out of all
federal statutes, regulations, and rulings applicable to all other
married people. - Prevents legally married
same-sex couples from filing their federal taxes
jointly. - Keeps families from receiving
spousal, mother’s and father’s, or surviving spouse benefits
under Social Security even though they pay into Social Security
their entire careers. - Prevents people from taking
unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured
spouse. - Keeps same-sex families from
receiving employer-provided family health benefits without paying
an additional tax. - Fails to provide families
with the safe harbor provisions in bankruptcy
law.
DOMA undermines the very
purposes of programs like Social Security and the Family and
Medical Leave Act by making it more difficult for families to
provide mutual support. Call your Representatives and Senators at
202/224-3121 and tell him or
her to co-sponsor and vote for the Respect for Marriage Act of
2009.