THE EQUALITY PLEDGE NETWORK is a nationwide campaign alliance of LGBTQ groups and grassroots taking action to end homophobia and transphobia in America by demanding full and equal federal LGBT civil rights protections - in one comprehensive bill.
Organizing to win, our one-bill approach unites the many separate LGBT nondiscrimination bills for employment, housing, credit, etc. - each long-filed but never passed - in order to build a critical mass-movement for shared success. The strategy was initiated by eQualityGiving.org, a group of veteran movement donors who crafted the first comprehensive bill with Karen Doering, Esq., former Senior Council for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The Pledge for Full LGBT Equality is the current reflection of this strategy, and the Equality Pledge is now supported by over 240 groups from 44 states.
This diverse line-up represents a broad cross-section of our community from veterans to the vanguard, with Pride Organizations from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Hawaii, Community Centers from Palm Springs to Vermont, Democrat Clubs, PFLAG Chapters, People of Color groups, Faith groups including the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association, Media outlets, Student groups, Trans* groups from Tennessee to Maryland, Social groups from Seattle to New York, the LGBT Bar Association in Washington, and Human Rights Centers from Florida and California. (All listed here)
Building on this success, LGBTequalityNOW.org is a new veteran-led organization created specifically to build a nationwide action campaign to get a full equality bill filed and passed, via The Equality Pledge Network. The Board members, listed below, all have a deep commitment to grassroots empowerment and have been activists in the trenches and boardrooms for decades. Putting principles in activism, the By-Laws emphasize transparency, community empowerment, and mutual support.
LGBTequalityNOW.org will facilitateThe Pledge Network Campaign managed by J. Todd Fernandez, LLM, who has guided this project post its inception at eQualityGiving by popularizing the one-bill strategy as The American Equality Bill Project, and now the Equality Pledge, which was co-authored in community with Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, GetEQUAL, eQualityGiving, and other groups and grassroots activists.
Nationally united and volunteer driven, the Pledge Network Campaign is designed to empower local organizers and groups to take the lead to educate, agitate and liberate. The campaign will leverage a cadre of volunteer professional advisors to orchestrate media support, coordinated actions, and coalition building. And, importantly, a diversity of tactics, strategy and messaging is encouraged, working from a shared intention of one-bill and full equality.
All are welcomed.
Your commitment, passion and creativity is our real power.
TAKE THE PLEDGE &
VOLUNTEER NOW
Organizing to win, our one-bill approach unites the many separate LGBT nondiscrimination bills for employment, housing, credit, etc. - each long-filed but never passed - in order to build a critical mass-movement for shared success. The strategy was initiated by eQualityGiving.org, a group of veteran movement donors who crafted the first comprehensive bill with Karen Doering, Esq., former Senior Council for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The Pledge for Full LGBT Equality is the current reflection of this strategy, and the Equality Pledge is now supported by over 240 groups from 44 states.
This diverse line-up represents a broad cross-section of our community from veterans to the vanguard, with Pride Organizations from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Hawaii, Community Centers from Palm Springs to Vermont, Democrat Clubs, PFLAG Chapters, People of Color groups, Faith groups including the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association, Media outlets, Student groups, Trans* groups from Tennessee to Maryland, Social groups from Seattle to New York, the LGBT Bar Association in Washington, and Human Rights Centers from Florida and California. (All listed here)
Building on this success, LGBTequalityNOW.org is a new veteran-led organization created specifically to build a nationwide action campaign to get a full equality bill filed and passed, via The Equality Pledge Network. The Board members, listed below, all have a deep commitment to grassroots empowerment and have been activists in the trenches and boardrooms for decades. Putting principles in activism, the By-Laws emphasize transparency, community empowerment, and mutual support.
LGBTequalityNOW.org will facilitateThe Pledge Network Campaign managed by J. Todd Fernandez, LLM, who has guided this project post its inception at eQualityGiving by popularizing the one-bill strategy as The American Equality Bill Project, and now the Equality Pledge, which was co-authored in community with Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, GetEQUAL, eQualityGiving, and other groups and grassroots activists.
Nationally united and volunteer driven, the Pledge Network Campaign is designed to empower local organizers and groups to take the lead to educate, agitate and liberate. The campaign will leverage a cadre of volunteer professional advisors to orchestrate media support, coordinated actions, and coalition building. And, importantly, a diversity of tactics, strategy and messaging is encouraged, working from a shared intention of one-bill and full equality.
All are welcomed.
Your commitment, passion and creativity is our real power.
TAKE THE PLEDGE &
VOLUNTEER NOW
OUR ACTIVISTS & ACTIONS
CAMPAIGN TEAM & ROLES
Campaign Manager, J. Todd Fernandez, Esq
Entertainment Committee Lead: Marchino Savant
State Pledge Leads: See State-by-state List.
Core Media Team Lead: TBA
Grassroots Media Team: TBD
Fundraising Team Lead: Joey Pons
Allied Outreach Lead: Veronica Eady
Community Relations/Activist Support: Pablo Colon
Grassroots Committee Leads: TBA
Group Committee Leads: T BA
City Council Resolutions Lead: Tom Tierney
Join our Media Committee.
Join our Media List.
Join the Campaign.
Contact the Campaign.
LGBTequalityNOW.org By-Laws & Principles.
Entertainment Committee Lead: Marchino Savant
State Pledge Leads: See State-by-state List.
Core Media Team Lead: TBA
Grassroots Media Team: TBD
Fundraising Team Lead: Joey Pons
Allied Outreach Lead: Veronica Eady
Community Relations/Activist Support: Pablo Colon
Grassroots Committee Leads: TBA
Group Committee Leads: T BA
City Council Resolutions Lead: Tom Tierney
Join our Media Committee.
Join our Media List.
Join the Campaign.
Contact the Campaign.
LGBTequalityNOW.org By-Laws & Principles.
ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES BY-LAWS (ARTICLE VII)
Section 1. Principles. The Board of Directors and all employees, partners and associates undertake to adhere to these Principles while organizing together.
Section 2. Community Empowerment. A central tenant of EQUALITY NOW’s mission is to empower the LGBT community, both groups and individuals, to participate in and take action toward their own liberation from oppression and discrimination, as a core human right.
Section 3. Coalition Building. EQUALITY NOW’s core activity is develop a nationwide network, by facilitating state coalition building and grassroots teams in all 50 states, seeking public input and consultation with the LGBT community at all times.
Section 4. Autonomy. LGBT Equality NOW will support the right of every group and individual to organize and take autonomous action to secure their human rights consistent with the mission of the organization, as they deem appropriate, ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of speech and association.
Section 5. Strategic Diversity. LGBT Equality NOW will support a diversity of messages, strategies and tactics, and operate in an inclusive and open manner, geared toward encouraging maximum creativity and freedom of action.
Section 6. Transparency. LGBT Equality NOW will work to ensure transparency of organizational deliberations and decision-making process to the public, and appoint an ombudsperson to advise on and promote maximum transparency, consistent with the needs of confidentiality for pre-event and pre-action planning.
Section 7. Mutual Cooperation and Support. In order to maintain association with LGBT Equality NOW in good standing, the Coalition Groups and Coalition Partners (individuals) are requested to work in deference to, and cooperation with, others in their state, consistent with these principles, and in a positive spirit of mutual respect and support.
Section 8. Intersectionality of Oppressions. LGBT Equality NOW embraces as one the intersectionality of all oppressions and liberation causes, and acknowledges that “equality under the law” is only the first step toward true and full social justice for all.
Section 9. Scope of Agenda. The focus of this organizing is outlined in the Equality Pledge, which, due to the "all federal funds" provision (CRA Title VI), reaches deeply to all programs and social services, such as blood drives, adoption agencies, police departments and schools and bullying. This scope includes both repeal of any existing pro-actively discriminatory law, and securing equal civil rights protections against discrimination.
Section 2. Community Empowerment. A central tenant of EQUALITY NOW’s mission is to empower the LGBT community, both groups and individuals, to participate in and take action toward their own liberation from oppression and discrimination, as a core human right.
Section 3. Coalition Building. EQUALITY NOW’s core activity is develop a nationwide network, by facilitating state coalition building and grassroots teams in all 50 states, seeking public input and consultation with the LGBT community at all times.
Section 4. Autonomy. LGBT Equality NOW will support the right of every group and individual to organize and take autonomous action to secure their human rights consistent with the mission of the organization, as they deem appropriate, ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of speech and association.
Section 5. Strategic Diversity. LGBT Equality NOW will support a diversity of messages, strategies and tactics, and operate in an inclusive and open manner, geared toward encouraging maximum creativity and freedom of action.
Section 6. Transparency. LGBT Equality NOW will work to ensure transparency of organizational deliberations and decision-making process to the public, and appoint an ombudsperson to advise on and promote maximum transparency, consistent with the needs of confidentiality for pre-event and pre-action planning.
Section 7. Mutual Cooperation and Support. In order to maintain association with LGBT Equality NOW in good standing, the Coalition Groups and Coalition Partners (individuals) are requested to work in deference to, and cooperation with, others in their state, consistent with these principles, and in a positive spirit of mutual respect and support.
Section 8. Intersectionality of Oppressions. LGBT Equality NOW embraces as one the intersectionality of all oppressions and liberation causes, and acknowledges that “equality under the law” is only the first step toward true and full social justice for all.
Section 9. Scope of Agenda. The focus of this organizing is outlined in the Equality Pledge, which, due to the "all federal funds" provision (CRA Title VI), reaches deeply to all programs and social services, such as blood drives, adoption agencies, police departments and schools and bullying. This scope includes both repeal of any existing pro-actively discriminatory law, and securing equal civil rights protections against discrimination.
The LGBTequalityNOW.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Pablo Colon has 20+ years of experience working with the LGBT community managing HIV/AIDS health education and community relations programs. As a former Director of the Treatment Education and Advocacy Department at Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), Pablo enjoyed fostering collaborations between NGO's, private corporations and government agencies while advocating for LGBT civil rights. His grassroots work has included providing treatment counseling, medical case management, access to clinical trials and conducting qualitative research at St. Vincent's Hospital AIDS Center, NYU, NDRI and Beth Israel Hospital. Pablo was a community liaison and consultant helping to manage Glaxo SmithKline pharmaceuticals Community Relations, successfully increasing its HIV/AIDS product visibility and increasing community participation at major scientific meetings and community events. Pablo is also a spiritual counselor and an alternative healer. He is one of the Stewards of the NYC Gay Men's Shamanic Circle , a spiritual group that gathers to empower and create sacred space for men who identify as queer, gay, or men who love men. He is also a member of the Dance for all People, a Native American ceremony of renewal and healing, a ceremony that welcomes all under the tree of life. pablo787@gmail.com
J. Todd "Tif" Fernandez, LLM, (Board Chairperson, Executive Director) has long fought for LGBT justice beginning in Massachusetts in the early 1990s, when he chaired the grassroots Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Alliance, and initiated the "Circle of Friends" fundraising at AIDS Action Committee, Boston. In 2008, he lived abroad in South Africa and Ethiopia where he experienced first hand the struggle of gay life in Africa that sent him back to our cause single-mindedly. While there, he co-authored the first report to the African Commission on Human & Peoples' Rights on SO&GI rights under the African Charter, and represented the University of Pretoria, Center for Human Rights at the 43 Ordinary Session of the African Commission, working with various groups to draft the first recommendation on LGBT issues to the Commission from Civil Society. Returning to the United States, Mr. Fernandez dedicated all his attention to grassroots organizing, resulting in The American Equality Bill (AEB) Project, and now The Pledge for Full LGBT Equality. During that time, he led NYC organizing for the National Equality March, orchestrated the largest civil disobedience for LGBT civil rights in modern history - the Grand Central Die-In, and blogged extensively on movement strategy and politics with ActOnPrinciples.org and Huffington Post. In his former career, he was General Counsel and Legislative Director for the Executive Office of Economic Affairs, and later Ombudsman for the Governor of Massachusetts, leading work that was twice awarded by the National Governors Association for Best Practices, based on major legislative reform he helped orchestrate. For same-sex binational couples, he represented Out4Immigration with the New York Immigration Coalition resulting in principles that included same-sex couples for the first time. He has served on various state and private boards, and worked with major donors at eQualityGiving, and in the trenches with direct action groups from Queer Rising and Occupy Wall Street, to GetEQUAL and Marriage Equality NY. He has a BA cum laude from Boston University, a Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law, and a Master of Human Rights and Democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. At NYC Pride in June of 2013, he married his partner Giovanni Miranda, and earlier that year organized the sunrise service - A Prayer for Love & Justice - uniting many faiths together for equality in D.C. on the morning of the SCOTUS hearings. He has lectured at Harvard and MIT, and presented at NGLTF's Creating Change and the 2012 CLAGS Conference "Radically Gay: The Life and Visionary Legacy of Harry Hay," among many others. Like Harry Hay the founder of the Mattachine Society, he is a proud Radical Faerie, and is driven by spirit and sustained by the righteousness of our cause and the urgent need to liberate LGBT people worldwide. equalitypledge@gmail.com
Cathy Marino-Thomas lives with her wife, Sheila and daughter Jacqueline. (13 yrs old.) Sheila and Cathy have been together 18 years. They had a Union Ceremony in 1995, registered as domestic partners in the state of New York in 1996 and married in Massachusetts in 2004. Cathy has worked on the issue of marriage equality since 1998. She was Executive Director of Marriage Equality NY for 3 years (2005 - 2008) and Board President for 6 years. Cathy now serves as Co-President of Marriage Equality USA. She speaks all over the country about the rights, privileges and obligations that protect families only through the right to civil marriage. Prior to working with Marriage Equality New York, Cathy spent many years as a Buddy in the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) Buddy Program visiting countless people afflicted with HIV/AIDS and assisting them with daily chores, advocacy and information. Her family and love for her wife motivate her to continue to pursue a legal right to marry. cmthomas@marriageequality.org
Josef Pons de Jesús, M.A., P.Sc. Joey started his activism in New York City with Larry Kramer, when ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was getting started. As a member of ACT-UP New York, he became one of the founding members of ACT-UP Puerto Rico several years later. He was also a co-founder of Queer Nation, a direct action group for the advancement of Gay & Lesbian rights. His grass roots activism led him to get involved in political campaigns such as David Dinkins, who became the first African-American mayor of New York. As a result of this campaign, he established what would become an extremely productive political career across the U.S. working for numerous politicians in states like Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Jersey among many others. Aside from his professional development in politics, Joey was heavily involved in community organizations be it as a board member, collaborator and/or fundraiser. Among these are the Human Rights Campaign, National Victory Fund, National Minority AIDS Council, Log Cabin Republicans and the National Latino Lesbian & Gay Organization. Also he was the co-founder of the Puerto Rico Community Network for Clinical Research on AIDS, the Community Initiative, the Sabana Litigation and AIDS Civil Rights Project and Article II Foundation. Most recently, he was the Chief Lobbyist in defeating a constitutional amendment to define marriage between a man and a woman in Puerto Rico, as well as passing the first workplace anti-discrimination law based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and expanding the domestic violence act to include same sex couples. joeypons@gmail.com
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Veronica Eady, Esq. (Board Treasurer) is Vice President of Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice with the Conservation Law Foundation, Boston, MA, and a straight-ally. She joined CLF after spending nearly five years in Berlin, Germany working as a consultant specializing in environmental justice and human rights on global, national, and local levels. Prior to her move abroad, Veronica was Associate General Counsel and Director of Environmental Justice at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a non-profit civil rights law firm in New York City. Veronica has deep ties to New England, having served as Director of the Environmental Justice and Brownfields Programs for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, where she was the principal author of Massachusetts’ Environmental Justice Policy. Before that Veronica was the Executive Director of the Roxbury-based environmental justice advocacy organization, Alternatives for Community and Environment. She has held appointments on several faculties, including Europe-Viadriana University in Germany, Tufts University, in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Fordham Law School, and Stanford Law School. She is the former chair of EPA’s federal advisory committee for environmental justice, the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. ronisue@gmail.com
Erica Keppler (Board Vice-Chairperson) is a software engineer working in the aerospace industry. A resident of Phoenix, AZ, she has been deeply involved in LGBT politics and activism at a grassroots level since 2006, as well as other work in social and community support. She was a co-founder and is co-chair of Arizona Trans Alliance, a group that seeks to be a face and a voice for the Arizona transgender community. She has served as board chair for Arizona Stonewall Democrats. She has served on the board of Human and Equal Rights Organizers (HERO), a community activist organization. She currently serves as co-chair of the HERO Action Committee, which is responsible for mobilizing community and organizing protests on behalf of LGBT interests. In that capacity, she initiated and worked as one of the central organizers of a series of large protests at the Arizona Capitol in opposition to the anti-LGBT religious rights expansion bill, SB1062. She has been involved with GetEqual since 2010, participating in several GetEqual actions, and serves as the Arizona state coordinator for GetEqual. She has served as board chair for Transgender Harmony, a Phoenix based transgender support group, as well as served on the board of One Voice Community Center, the LGBT community center serving the Phoenix area.
Yetta G. Kurland, Esq. is the Founder and Senior Partner of The Kurland Group. She has been a leader in progressive politics and social justice for over two decades. Striving to empower those around her, Yetta’s long history of activism includes community based initiatives, as well as work through both judicial and legislative channels to advocate for civil rights, education, arts and culture, affordable housing, employment rights and health care issues. Yetta has strong roots in the community, and has been a leader in the field of education, becoming a teacher and founding a language arts school in her early twenties. As a tenant rights activist, she has worked on creating sustainable and affordable housing solutions for New Yorkers, and has defended tenants in eviction proceedings to protect their rent stabilized and rent controlled homes. As a civil rights attorney, Yetta has worked to provide legal services to underrepresented communities. She has fought tirelessly to protect workers, representing activists wrongly arrested with Occupy Wall Street protests, has recently won a major victory for several female FDNY EMS workers who alleged unfair promotional practices, and settled a suit against a City hospital for failure to provide proper medical care. Yetta Kurland has also worked at the city and state level to help legislate on important issues such as safety and education as well as constitutional issues including the rights to assemble, freedom of speech, and the right to due process. She recently mounted a formidable campaign for NYC City Council, and is a tireless and community-embraced activist, setting a remarkable example in determination and pride. kurland@kurlandassociates.com
Michael S. Miller (Board Secretary) is currently a PhD candidate in English and Queer Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His primary research interest is the development of a gay male literary culture in the U.S., and his dissertation focuses on what he is calling the "crisis of decadence" in early queer literature of the 1920s and 1930s. Research for this project was presented at the 2012 CLAGS Conference "Radically Gay: The Life and Visionary Legacy of Harry Hay." He holds an M.Ed. in Secondary English Education and a B.A. in Human Service Advocacy from the College of Public and Community Service at UMass Boston. In his previous career as a Human Service Advocate, Michael worked in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ youth services, with management positions at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, The Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and the Harvard AIDS Institute. At AIDS Action, he coordinated pioneering Rental Startup and Homelessness Prevention Programs for PWAs, managing funding from the federal HOPWA program, and also worked with their Public Policy Office. Earlier, he worked with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders doing client intake for LGBT discrimination complaints. And in 1998, Michael was the first Director of Programs for the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, where he coordinated funding and contracts for a network of community-based alliances, including the pioneering Boston Alliance of Gay & Lesbian Youth. At the Harvard AIDS Institute, Michael was Executive Coordinator of the Executive and Senior Research Office, handling communications for this international research institute based at the Harvard School of Public Health. mmiller3@gc.cuny.edu
OTHER BOARD POSITIONS: Two additional Board Positions are reserved for representatives of 1. a Group Advisory Committee & 2. a Grassroots Advisory Committee to be selected by State Group & District leads, respectively.
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