In the News:

Task Force Action Fund applauds Congress for historic hearing
      on transgender discrimination
Faith roundtable responds to new challenge
      put forth by Anglican conservatives
Del & Phyllis: A 21st-century lesbian’s history project
Check out media highlights in Task Force in the News

Task Force Action Fund applauds Congress for historic hearing on transgender discrimination

The Task Force Action Fund played an important role in the first-ever congressional hearing on transgender discrimination in the workplace. The Action Fund submitted written testimony documenting the urgent need for inclusion of gender identity in federal employment protections and worked closely with the National Center for Transgender Equality to prepare for the June 26 hearing.

“Discrimination against transgender people is pervasive and current laws and employer policies are insufficient to protect their rights. For far too long, transgender people have lived with the fear of losing their job simply because of who they are. Today’s hearing marks a critical step in addressing this travesty once and for all.”
— Task Force Action Fund Executive Director Rea Carey

Photo: Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey talks with National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter at last week’s historic congressional hearing on transgender discrimination.

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Faith roundtable responds to new challenge put forth by Anglican conservatives

Conservative Anglican bishops, who met at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem this past week, issued a statement announcing they would create a new movement that will defy historic lines of authority without breaking away from the Anglican Communion. They’ve had divisions with the U.S. Episcopal Church, including the consecration of the first openly gay bishop. The Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable issued the following statement calling for wider dialogue on diversity among Anglicans and a renewed vision of gospel hospitality.

“The Anglican Communion may not split decisively after all. This is good news, but only if lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people aren’t asked to pay for church unity with their silence or expulsion.”
— Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, Ph.D., National Religious Leadership Roundtable

[ Read the full statement ]

Del & Phyllis: A 21st-century lesbian’s history project

In our OutSpoken blog, Task Force intern Becca Harrington reflects on the important contributions of “courageous 20th-century lesbians such as Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon” and the lamentable (and all too common) void found in classroom history lessons.

“My ‘Twentieth-Century America’ class in high school skipped right over the LGBT rights movement, despite having covered every other rights movement imaginable. Not even a sentence on the topic, not one! The educational system, ironically, is responsible for my ignorance,” writes Harrington.

[ Read the full post ]

Check out media highlights in Task Force in the News

Read the latest media coverage about the work of the Task Force. This edition includes stories related to the appointment of Rea Carey as our new executive director, the transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination policies in the New York state juvenile detention system, the first-ever congressional hearing on transgender discrimination, the Task Force’s support of a homeless youth bill in Congress and a Spanish-language op-ed in El Diario/La Prensa about the power of love in the season of Pride. You can also watch a video clip of a TV interview with Task Force Institute for Welcoming Resources and Faith Work Director Rev. Rebecca Voelkel about same-sex marriage.

[ Read Task Force in the News ]

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