Leadership Circle & Capitol Club Newsletter | Spring 2021

Capitol Club

Leadership Circle

EQUALITY CALIFORNIA’S QUARTERLY JOURNAL FOR LEADERSHIP CIRCLE AND CAPITOL CLUB MEMBERS

SPRING 2021

#StartSmall Last April, as the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and the payments platform Square, announced (via Tweet, of course) that he would be transferring $1B of his Square equity to a donor-advised fund called #StartSmall to fund COVID-19 relief to nonprofit organizations globally.

A Message from Our Executive Director-designate Dear Capitol Club and Leadership Circle members, I’m honored and humbled to be named Executive Directordesignate of Equality California. I want to thank you for your support and can’t wait to work with each of you as we continue the fight for full, lived LGBTQ+ equality. My chief objective as the next Executive Director will be to protect and expand upon the legacy of this organization.

I have spent my entire career advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community. I am also the son of Vietnam War refugees and a proud first-generation immigrant. Because of that history, I grew up understanding the marginalized intersections of sexual orientation, gender, race, class and immigration status.

It was these experiences that propelled me to begin my career at Equality California over a decade ago -- and I couldn’t be more proud of everything we have accomplished together in that time.

But over the last few months, we’ve seen a disturbing rise in violence against the Asian American community. The transgender community continues to face an epidemic of violence in this country. And last summer, we marched and protested demanding an end to anti-Black violence, white supremacy and the inhumane treatment of immigrants at our southern border.

As America faces a reckoning in the fight for racial justice, it is our duty to support and champion those in our community who live in the margins. Though our fights may be different, they are inherently interconnected. We must stand together as we continue to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people.

Dedicated Capitol Club and Leadership Circle members like you fuel our work and inspire me every day. As the next Executive Director of Equality California, I pledge to fight alongside you until the work is done. I’m confident and full of hope that together we can -- and will -- defeat the challenges ahead.

Tony Hoang Executive Director-designate

At the same time, Equality California quickly sprang into action, connecting LGBTQ+ Californians with the resources and support they need to navigate the COVID-19 crisis and launching the COVID-19 LGBTQ+ Help Center (covid19.eqca.org) and help line (323-448-0126). We are grateful to announce that, earlier this year, Equality California Institute received a grant of $250,000 from the #StartSmall philanthropic initiative in recognition of this work. This funding has already made a difference Equality California as we continue to Institute received a respond to the urgent and grant of $250,000 disproportionate impact from the #StartSmall the COVID-19 health crisis has had on LGBTQ+ people. philanthropic initiative in recognition of this The grant is fueling our critical work, such as our work. vaccine outreach and education programming; after-school mentorship programs for LGBTQ+ students in California’s Central Valley; and virtual LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion trainings, which empower direct service providers to understand the unique needs of LGBTQ+ people and provide culturally sensitive care.

This gift from #StartSmall is historic in scope for our organization and has provided critical funding to our organization during this crisis. It also represents Equality California Institute’s proven track record of serving the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community during the COVID-19 pandemic. We could not be more grateful to #StartSmall for their partnership as we strive to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people.

Upcoming Events Silver State Equality Virtual Pride Happy Hour Thursday, June 10, 2021 PROUD Together* - Thursday, June 17, 2021 Give OUT Day - Wednesday, June 30, 2021 Golden State Equality Awards - Our team is actively exploring in-person options for the 2021 Equality Awards. Stay tuned for announcements and dates at eqca.org/events.

Silver State Equality Awards* - Thursday, October 28, 2021 (tentative) Holiday Happy Hour - Tuesday, December 7, 2021 *currently scheduled as in-person event Stay tuned for more announcements and date confirmations at eqca.org/events.

Legislative Update Federal Legislation The first few months of the Biden-Harris Administration have brought a radical and welcome change – gone are the gratuitously cruel attacks on LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color and low-income communities. Instead, EQCA’s DC office has been working hard to advance long-thwarted progressive legislation and spending priorities. Even better, we no longer have to fight hostile regulation, as the Biden Administration has declined to defend the Trump ban on transgender servicemembers and a rollback of Section 1557, the ACA’s nondiscrimination protections. Equality California is grateful that most of the Congressional delegations from California and Nevada supported our priority legislation last year, as described in our 2020 federal scorecard: eqca.org/2020-federal-scorecard State Legislation In Sacramento, Equality California is currently sponsoring eleven bills that will advance the health and well-being of California’s LGBTQ+ communities, including youth; older adults; workers; people who have been denied inclusive and affirming health care; people living and aging with HIV; and transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Californians. We are proud to have successfully advocated for the inclusion of $3 million in the Governor’s May budget revision to advance LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for California public school teachers and staff and will be working to see the funding over the finish line in the Legislature.

Around the Web

February 25: To celebrate Black History Month and honor key Black LGBTQ+ figures throughout history and their contributions, Equality California hosted a Power Hour with Doctor Jon Paul, Ebony Ava Harper, Hon. Ron Oden, Jewel ThaisWilliams and André Wade.

March 16: Silver State Equality and the Nevada Equality Coalition convened LGBTQ+, allied and progressive partners for Equality Day, where attendees virtually participated in issue breakout sessions, heard from three openly LGBTQ+ state lawmakers and learned the basics of lobbying.

March 12: Equality California, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and the League of California Cities LGBTQ Caucus held a press conference featuring LGBTQ+ elected officials from across the state to support Governor Gavin Newsom and oppose the Republican Recall against him.

March 30: In response to the dramatic increase in anti-Asian violence, Equality California hosted a conversation on #StopAsianHate with Asian American leaders Congressman Mark Takano, Asm. Evan Low, Director Janice Li, Dr. Priya Shah, Tony Hoang and Josh Stickney.

April 6: At a first-of-its-kind California LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall, California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Tomás Aragón spoke with Tony Hoang and answered questions from the public on the importance of getting vaccinated.

Our Work, Our Impact Equality California launched the first OUT Against Big Tobacco program in May 2017. Since then, our program team has been organizing our community to combat the decades of tobacco-related health disparities faced by LGBTQ+ people and the diverse communities to which we belong. In the middle of a global pandemic, we were able to shift our program in Los Angeles County to a fully virtual platform and launch a similar program in California’s Central Valley.

Both programs have had great successes this last quarter, including: •

Through the hard work and dedication of our OUT Against Big Tobacco Los Angeles coalition, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously passed a policy to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products and to end the redemption of tobacco product coupons at the point of sale.

•

We launched a program with two full-time staff based in the Central Valley who, for the first time since the fight for marriage equality, will be the local face and presence of Equality California!

•

Our staff were able to bring many of the LGBTQ+ serving organizations across the Central Valley together to form the OUT Against Big Tobacco Central Valley coalition.

Moving forward, we plan to expand our community work to further break the ties between tobacco use and LGBTQ+ culture by working with Pride planning organizations to promote tobacco-free Pride -- because we believe our celebration-rich safe spaces should be safe for everyone.

An Evening To Remember On May 4, Equality California members and supporters gathered on our brand new virtual event platform Equality California LIVE to enjoy Evening for Equality, a night of exciting discussion and entertainment. Some highlights from the event include an important conversation on the Equality Act with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, an energetic performance of the classic hit “American Boy” by Grammy Award winner Estelle, a special message from our next Executive Director Tony Hoang and so much more! As we look at in-person event options for later in the year, we hope you’ll watch (or re-watch!) Evening for Equality at live.eqca.org.

Los Angeles Headquarters 3701 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 725 Los Angeles, CA 90010 Phone: (323) 848-9801 email: email@eqca.org