Equality Virginia

A nonprofit organization

0% complete

$10,000 Goal

Equality Virginia (EV) is the leading advocacy organization in Virginia seeking equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people.

Our Vision | Virginia is a state in which LGBTQ+ people – every demographic, race, ethnicity, zip code, and experience – are valued and thriving.

Our Mission | Equality Virginia confronts systemic inequities to liberate the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination and oppression.

Every dollar we raise throughout June for Give OUT Day allows us to keep up the momentum by educating and supporting Virginians. 

For our campaign, we are hoping to raise $15,000 to fund our 2024 LGBTQ+ Advocacy Days which provides LGBTQ+ Virginians, and their allies, an opportunity to travel to Richmond, receive trainings, and meet with their lawmakers to share their stories about legislation that's impacting their everyday lives.


Why help us reach our goal?  

This year, anti-equality legislators have launched an unprecedented legislative assault on LGBTQ+ people in state legislatures across the country– surpassing 2022 as the worst year on record for introducing and enacting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in statehouses across the country. Legislators have proposed 500+ anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the first five months of the year— a new record.  About 400 of these target trans rights, specifically trans kids - excluding them from sports, prohibiting them from using school bathrooms, and preventing them from accessing life-saving medical care.


Virginia was no exception. This year during our General Assembly session, lawmakers introduced 12 anti-trans bills (5 transgender athlete bans, 4 forced outing bills, and 3 healthcare bans). Advocates defeated all of them. While this is a resounding victory and sent a message that trans people belong in Virginia, it also meant that transgender and nonbinary people across the Commonwealth had to witness our humanity being debated in the halls of our state government. It meant that trans advocates had to decide whether to come to the General Assembly to give testimony and share our stories, or to stay home to protect and shield ourselves from transphobic language from lawmakers and other members of the public. We shouldn’t have to choose between joyful power and safety.

As many as 86% of trans youth say that they are watching these debates over their identity play out. The 12 bills debated in Virginia's General Assembly this year would have blocked students from things that we know are correlated with increased mental health and decreased suicide risk: participating on sports teams, seeing themselves represented in a classroom, accessing health care, and being accepted by teachers and administrators. This Pride, please join us as we continue to work to ensure all students in Virginia, including transgender and nonbinary youth, are able to live, learn, and thrive in a safe and affirming environment.


Equality Virginia is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.


Giving Activity

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Equality Virginia

Tax id (EIN)

54-1950205

Address

530 East Main St Suite 600
Richmond, VA 23219