Thank you for your steadfast support of the Human Rights Campaign — and thank you for checking out this special digital issue of Equality magazine, a benefit of your membership. We are glad to be on this journey with you, a journey toward full liberation for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. And your support of HRC could not come at a more critical time.

As this issue is being launched, HRC is fighting over 410 anti-equality bills in the states.

More than 150 of these bills are anti-trans, targeting transgender and non-binary youth in particular. Extremist politicians are seeking to ban children from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, playing sports with their friends, accessing age-appropriate, life-saving healthcare and more — just to rile up their radical base… It’s shameful and appalling.

These unscrupulous politicians and their radical enablers are attacking transgender and non-binary kids on social media, at political rallies, on reactionary news channels — and increasingly in mainstream outlets like the New York Times. In fact, for more than a year, the New York Times has been publishing irresponsible, biased and even dangerous anti-trans stories in its pages and on its platform. By repeatedly citing extremists who spread disinformation about transgender people, the New York Times is giving a megaphone to those who want to erase transgender and non-binary people out of existence.

And HRC is calling the Times out. In February, HRC joined GLAAD and over 100 coalition partners to demand that the Times listen to transgender and non-binary people and their families, hire more transgender and non-binary reporters and editors — and stop publishing anti-trans stories. As of this writing, nearly 6,700 members and supporters of HRC — from all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico — sent Letters to the Editors at the Times, demanding an end to its transphobic coverage.

HRC is also continuing the fight to end the discriminatory federal blood donation ban. For decades, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men have been stigmatized by a ban on their donating blood. The FDA has finally announced that it would no longer prohibit gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men from donating blood. This update is much-needed progress — and it comes after decades of advocacy by HRC and others. But it is only a first step. More than 2,850 members and supporters of HRC submitted comments to the FDA, urging them to end the blood donation ban against gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

As we examine in this issue, HRC is fighting for our community in the statehouses, in the media, at the federal level and in private industry. I hope you enjoy this issue of Equality as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together for you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you again for supporting HRC with your membership! We have so much good to do together.