LGBTQIA+ Rights
NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, health services, child custody, and military policies. NOW is committed to educational efforts that combat the adverse effects of homophobia, promote positive images in the media, and ultimately ensure civil rights protection for all. NOW asserts the right of LGBTQIA individuals to live their lives with dignity and security, and marriage equality for all.
Watch the video below to understand why.
SPACE
SPACE
Blog
First Amendment Defense Act: A View on the “License to Discriminate” Hearing
By anonymous As a young queer person, two specific days stand out to me. Two major events in the last year have profoundly changed my life and how I live it. June 25, 2015 marked the day I was legally allowed to marry another person of the same gender Read more...Orlando Shooting: A Response
The day of: 10am – When I see it, I’m holding hands with my girlfriend. I’m checking Facebook over Cheerios on a Sunday morning and I see headlines. 20 dead, in a gay nightclub in Orlando. My blood runs cold. My girlfriend’s bus back to NYC leaves in t Read more...RFRA Laws Undermine Child Protection, DV and Civil Rights Laws
Indiana RFRA Law Inadequately Revised: You may have heard about the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act (IRFRA), that many believe attempts to weaken progress the country has made towards equality. Disguised as a law to protect the freedom to exe Read more...News
Faith-based adoption agencies can reject LGBT families under new rule proposed by Trump administration
This is “extremist policy-makers” using religion to justify hurtful and hateful policies says National Organization for Women President, Toni Van Pelt. “The HHS rule has nothing to do with religious freedom and everything to do with intolerance and right-wing politics.” Read more...NOW Celebrates Pride Month, Honors Stonewall Anniversary
WASHINGTON D.C. — This Pride Month marks the 50th anniversary of the 1969 June Stonewall Uprising in New York City. Three nights of resistance at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York’s Greenwich Village ignited the modern LGBTQIA+ movem Read more … Read more...LGBTQ Icons You Need to Know — And How to Find More
As another seemingly-hidden queer and feminist figure throughout the civil rights and women’s rights movements, Pauli Murray stands to receive more recognition for the work that she did. Born in 1910, Murray became a trailblazer in religious, academic, and legal spheres. While studying at Howard University, Pauli made a bet with her professor that Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 constitutional law that upheld legal segregation, would be overturned within 25 years. Read more...Resources
A Million Thanks to Organizers and Marchers – Women Made History!
Printable PDF A Million Thanks to Organizers and Marchers – Women Made History! January 24, 2017 NOW activists are still thrilled and energized by the overwhelming turnout – not only for the Women’s March on Washington – but the impressive marches that Read more …
ISSUE ADVISORY: Voter Suppression on Steroids for 2016 Elections
Mary Lou Miller was 7 years old when the 19th Amendment was passed. She made a promise to herself to take full advantage of her right to vote, and vote she did, from 1934 onward. Yet just last year, Miller, now 101 years old, was denied the right to vote because she lacked a government issued ID, a requirement under Texas’s new voting laws.
ISSUE ADVISORY: Legislative Fact Sheets for the 114th Congress (2015-2016)
This packet includes ten fact sheets about federal legislation that is important to NOW because they would have a significant impact on women’s lives.
ISSUE ADVISORY: Equality Act Would Ensure Equal Treatment for LGBTQIA Persons and Women
Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, the National Organization for Women and allies are re-directing our attention to a persistent and troublesome problem: widespread discrimination against LGBTQIA persons. Unfortunately, 31 states do not have fully-inclusive non-discrimination laws that address the many forms of discrimination encountered by LGBTQIA persons; 28 states permit employers to fire someone because they are gay or bisexual. NOW has campaigned for many years for passage of a comprehensive bill that would prohibit such unequal treatment