In the News:

Task Force, Inc., rallies nationwide community to help
      save trans-inclusive ENDA
ENDA: All of us, every one of us
Victory on hate crimes bill!
Deadline extended to Oct. 12 to submit
      conference workshop proposals
Honoring a Pulitzer Prize winner

Task Force, Inc., rallies nationwide community to help save trans-inclusive ENDA

“In this defining and morally transformative moment, our community has come together in an unprecedented way and said once and for all that we will leave no part of it behind.”
— Matt Foreman, Executive Director, Task Force, Inc.

The Task Force, Inc., is leading a nationwide effort to ensure protections for transgender people are not stripped from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Rep. Barney Frank said last Thursday he was introducing new legislation that would only provide protections on the basis of sexual orientation. Since then, the Task Force, Inc., has been blasting out action alerts, visiting Capitol Hill and working with national and state partners to help keep ENDA transgender inclusive. The community is united, galvanized and expressing widespread objection to a stripped ENDA, in turn prompting House leadership to postpone today’s hearing on the non-trans-inclusive ENDA.

More than 90 national and state LGBT organizations, meanwhile, signed a letter that was hand-delivered yesterday to Congress urging lawmakers to reject non-inclusive substitute legislation. The list of signatories has since grown to more than 110.

[ Read our statement ]
[ Read the letter to Congress ]
[ Read media coverage: San Francisco Chronicle and 365gay.com ]

ENDA: All of us, every one of us

“The last five days have been a grueling and defining moment in our movement’s history. When we learned that protections for transgender people would be stripped from ENDA, an unprecedented groundswell of anger, energy and determination rose up to reverse that decision.”
— Matt Foreman, Executive Director, Task Force, Inc.

[ Read and respond to the full blog entry ]

Victory on hate crimes bill!

The Task Force, Inc., which has been a leader in efforts to secure an effective and full government response to hate crimes against LGBT people — beginning with the launch of our groundbreaking anti-violence project in 1982 — hailed last week’s landmark passage of an LGBT-inclusive federal hate crimes measure.

“At long last, Congress is putting a bill on the president’s desk to condemn and respond to violent crimes based on hatred of a person’s sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. ... This victory is all the more sweet given the right wing’s hysterical, defamatory and lying campaign against it.”
— Matt Foreman, Executive Director, Task Force, Inc.

[ Read our full statement ]
[ Learn more about our groundbreaking and longtime work on hate crimes protections ]

Deadline extended to Oct. 12 to submit conference workshop proposals

The deadline to submit a workshop proposal for The National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change has been extended to Oct. 12. The conference will be held in Detroit, Mich., on Feb. 6–10, 2008. It is the premier political, leadership and skills-building conference for the LGBT movement. Come teach your best practices in community organizing, campaigns, legislative lobbying, communications, research and policy analysis, organizational management and building a broad and inclusive movement to win full equality! Founding sponsor: Anita May Rosenstein Foundation

[ Find out how to submit a proposal ]

Honoring a Pulitzer Prize winner

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Leonard Pitts Jr. will be honored at the Miami Recognition Dinner on Nov. 3. Pitts joined The Miami Herald in 1991 as its pop music critic, and since 1994 has penned a syndicated column on pop culture, social issues and family life. Twice a week, millions of newspaper readers seek out Pitts’ rich and uncommonly resonant voice, where he speaks out for equality and his support of the LGBT community is consistent and affirming. Please join us as at the Miami Recognition Dinner as we honor Pitts with the 2007 Humanitarian Award.

[ Get details and purchase event tickets ]

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