(November 16, 2016, San Francisco, CA)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights responds to President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose news agency has been a vehicle for extreme views about racial and religious minorities, women, and LGBTQ people as his chief White House strategist and senior counselor. Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.: “Steve Bannon’s appointment as a senior presidential advisor is a betrayal of the American people and of our...
Our Voices
(San Francisco, Nov. 9, 2016)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) responds to the 2016 Presidential election results. Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.: “By a slim margin, this nation has elected a demagogue who trafficked in bigotry, stoked racist hatred and normalized misogyny. The election of Donald Trump as President threatens basic principles of human dignity and justice. Many of our most cherished values—inclusion, honoring difference, embracing equality,...
(Des Moines, Iowa, August 16, 2016)—On Thursday, August 18th, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver keynote remarks at Iowa’s first LGBTQ #RuralPride Summit hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), True Colors Fund, and One Iowa. Part of a groundbreaking national series, this free event will feature panels and workshops to address unique challenges faced by LGBTQ Iowans, including economic advancement, affordable housing, and...
For the past two years, NCLR has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the True Colors Fund on our #RuralPride campaign, in which we visit rural communities across the country and conduct day-long summits to identify the needs and lift up the voices of LGBTQ people living in rural America. We have visited towns across the South and Midwest, from coast to coast, working to connect federal officials and national LGBTQ organizations with rural LGBTQ advocates to increase...
(Visalia, CA, July 14, 2016)–The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) will host the 12th LGBTQ #RuralPride Summit at the Visalia Convention Center on July 21st. Co-hosted by the True Colors Fund, this free event will feature panels and workshops addressing challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals who live and work in Central California. LGBTQ people live in every town across the country, but those in rural...
(San Francisco, CA, June 24, 2016)—To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Ropes & Gray will make a $100,000 donation to the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Ropes & Gray’s co-counsel in Obergefell. Ropes & Gray’s donation to NCLR has been funded through legal fees awarded to the firm by a federal court in Tennessee as part of the resolution of the case, which also awarded fees to NCLR and other firms...
(Huntsville, AL, January 27, 2016)—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) will host the next #RuralPride summit in Huntsville, Alabama on February 4. The event, co-hosted by the True Colors Fund, will be held at the Alabama A&M University, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Building 0870, 4900 Meridian Street North, Huntsville, Alabama, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. #RuralPride is a partnership between NCLR and USDA that challenges the...
I turned 18 in 1978 and voted in my first presidential election in 1980. Jimmy Carter was on his way, sadly, to being a one-term president. It wasn’t until 1992 that the candidate I voted for won the White House. That was the year Bill Clinton won, and I still remember the raucous party held at the home of a friend in my hometown of Ogden, Utah. Going back to all those elections, I felt certain that my vote never really mattered in the national contest for president (and since I was in Utah...
(Washington, DC, August 5, 2015)—Today the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a discriminatory Texas voter ID law violated federal law. The Court ruled that the Texas law had a discriminatory effect and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is one of the remaining provisions of the landmark civil rights bill. “We welcome the 5th Circuit’s decision and we are confident the law will ultimately be struck down as unconstitutional. Fifty years after the passage of...
(Washington, DC, July 23, 2015)— Today Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wi.), Corey Booker (D-N.J.), and Representative David Cicilline (D-R.I.) introduced in Congress the Equality Act, a comprehensive federal civil rights bill that would protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination in seven critical sectors: credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, jury service, and public accommodations. Statement from National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Executive...