NOW’s History of LGBTQIA+ Advocacy - National Organization for Women

“True community is based upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together.”

– NOW Co-Founder Dr. Pauli Murray

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NOW Co-Founder Pauli Murray advocated for including the word “sex” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would make sex discrimination unconstitutional. On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of LGBTQ+ employees and ruled that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender is unconstitutional, with their opinion hinging on the word “sex” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

NOW has joined and led numerous marches supporting LGBTQIA+ rights for decades, including 1978’s Gay Freedom Day march and 2009’s National Equality March. Hundreds of thousands of marchers demanded that LGBTQIA+ people be able to serve openly in the military.

NOW was a leader in opposing efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as between only a man and a woman. In the mid-2000s, NOW launched a campaign of advocacy and litigation supporting full marriage equality before the general election.

NOW PAC regularly conducts voter education and get–out–the–vote efforts across the country to ensure that leaders who support LGBTQIA+ rights get elected to office.