Give OUT Day 2024

The past two years have been a time of transformation for MassEquality. Following a community needs assessment that identified regional inequities as a critical issue, we pivoted to focusing on geographic equality as a core tenet of our activism. Now, we’re beginning to see the first fruits of this initiative. In the past year, MassEquality has been more active than ever trying to make the dream of equality a reality all across our state. But our work is far from finished – and we need your help to fight for LGBTQ rights in MA.

Two years ago, when we carried out our 2019 community needs assessment, regional inequality emerged as one of the main issues affecting LGBTQ Bay Staters. Time and time again, we heard what our own lived experiences in MA confirmed: that our community is plagued by geographic inequities, where the region you live in can determine everything from your access to affirming healthcare to the level of respect for your basic rights. Truly living up to our mission statement of “equal, safe, and free, from cradle to grave” required committing to equality for all, from the Berkshires to Bourne.

Looking back on the past year, we’re proud of all the work we’ve done to address regional inequality. This year, we officially opened our new headquarters in Worcester, moving to a more central location to reach communities across the Commonwealth while staying close enough to Boston for lobbying efforts. In addition to maintaining our presence on Beacon Hill, we’ve been active at all levels of government – from submitting testimony to school committees to speaking directly with local housing boards. In Worcester alone, our engagement with local sex ed activists has already had a real impact: just this May, after years of delays, the Worcester school committee finally moved forward on an LGBTQ-inclusive comprehensive sex ed curriculum.

We know we have further to go in meeting our community where you’re at – which is why this spring, we debuted our regional LGBTQ town hall series. For the past few months, we’ve been meeting virtually with communities across the Commonwealth, from Worcester to the Berkshires to the South Shore. The stories we’ve heard during those town halls have been crucial to shaping our agenda. We’re more committed than ever to understanding what issues matter most in each region and shaping our activism to support all your diverse needs.

We’ve also been dedicated to empowering our community directly by helping members take advantage of our past victories and developing political power. We’re proud of MassEquality’s past successes, like our two landmark trans anti-discrimination bills – but laws on the books are powerless if people can't use them. Through direct outreach calls, we’ve been help folks navigate these new laws to secure everything from healthcare to housing to equitable education. We’ve also worked hard to teach folks how to change these laws further. A particular highlight was our February Lobbying 101 panel, during which we started this current legislative session strong with a panel that provided activists with specific tools and advice on engaging legislators.

But our focus on local community issues hasn’t meant we’ve lost track of the broader movement or lowered our ambitions to make our state a worldwide leader on LGBTQ issues. Last fall, we partnered with the Canadian government to present a series of international LGBTQ activist panels, where we convened activists from across borders to discuss issues ranging from HIV/AIDS activism to transphobic violence. We’ve been actively involved in the national efforts to pass the Equality Act as part of the EqualityTime coalition. And our ambitious Massachusetts legislative agenda focuses on critical issues for our community, such as supporting LGBTQ parents’ legal rights, protecting incarcerated LGBTQ folks, and finally banning the gay/trans panic defense for once and for all. From expanding PrEP access to protecting LGBTQ seniors in long term care facilities, we’ve been advocating for bills that really matter to our community’s day-to-day lives.

In a year when anti-trans legislation has been filed across the country, MassEquality has been dedicated to ensuring that this tide of hate finds no place in Massachusetts. Even here in MA, we've had to fight against religious freedom bills in our own state house. We’re lobbying for legislation to recognize nonbinary gender identities and continue to use our voice to advocate for LGBTQ-inclusive and culturally-competent trans health care. We’re particularly dedicated to supporting trans youth, a frequent target for bigotry, and are spearheading efforts to access critical data on trans students in MA.

Now, we're turning to our community once again for support. From lobbying lawmakers on key issues, like LGBTQ parents' rights, to expanding our reach across Massachusetts, so equality isn't limited by geography, we can’t do it without you. Will you join us?