As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am getting pretty damn fed up with the seeming lack of our community standing up and fighting for our basic human rights as we watch them be stripped away in this country. Following is a list of legal resources to help the LGBTQ+ take a stand and fight for the rights we have left.
The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Foundation Mission Statement The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legal organizations. The LGBTQ+ Bar promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The mission of the ACLU LGBT Project is the creation of a society in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people enjoy the constitutional rights of equality, privacy and personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) www.glad.org
Founded in 1978, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation. Providing litigation, advocacy, and educational work in all areas of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights and the rights of people living with HIV, GLAD has a full-time legal staff and a network of cooperating attorneys across New England.
LGBTQ Victory Fund
www.victoryfund.org
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to change the face and voice of America’s politics and achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ officials at all levels of government. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped elect thousands of LGBTQ people to positions at all levels of government. These LGBTQ voices have made significant contributions to advancing equality for LGBTQ Americans – from passing non-discrimination laws to defeating amendments to ban marriage equality.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) www.hrc.org The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents a force of more than 3 million members and supporters nationwide. As the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. Founded in 1980, HRC lobbies Congress, provides campaign support to candidates for federal office, and works to educate the public on a wide array of topics affecting LGBTQ Americans, including workplace, family and discrimination issues.
Lambda Legal’s Help Desk
Lambda Legal’s Help desk is a resource for the community we serve in providing general legal information and resources relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and HIV status. Contact them
Is this an emergency? The Lambda Legal Help Desk is not able to assist with emergencies or immediate requests for legal assistance. Please contact a crisis hotline or any legal service provider that is equipped to provide emergency assistance—you’ll find contact information for several of our partner organizations here. Keep in mind these lines are not branches of Lambda Legal and are instead resources for crisis intervention.
Please feel free to add any additional resources you are aware of in the comments. We can stand together or fall together. There is no other choice now that the GOP and the conservative cult have declared war on our very existence.