NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022
Welcome! Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Silver State Equality newsletter. Here, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ community, its allies and stakeholders can learn more about our goals and accomplishments and get information and resources as we work together to achieve full lived equality through the realization of LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice. In this issue, you will learn about our legislative priorities that will direct our work for the immediate future, our plans to establish an LGBTQ+ Student Advisory Council, and a $100,000 grant recently awarded to our organization to spearhead bilingual education and outreach campaigns to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations for LGBTQ+ Nevadans.
Silver State Equality In The News VACCINATED AND PROUD
Silver State Equality Receives Grant to Support COVID-19 Education and Vaccinations Silver State Equality received a $100,000 grant from the Southern Nevada Health District in January. The funds are being used for education and outreach campaigns to connect LGBTQ+ Nevadans with the resources and support they need to access COVID-19 information with a particular focus on Black and Hispanic communities. This includes testing and vaccinations, including working with temporary and mobile COVID-19/influenza vaccination sites. In addition, it covers the cost of forming a diverse group of community and faith leaders to share relevant messages, in English and Spanish, about the risks and health impacts of COVID-19.
Human Rights Campaign’s State Equality Index Praises Nevada, Former Senator David Parks The annual State Equality Index tells the story of how advocates on the ground achieve wins and battle tough opposition to fight for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. The 2021 report spotlights Nevada for its pro-equality laws. Also, catch the featured Success Story authored by our own State Director André C. Wade that thanks former State Senator David Parks for his years of work advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights and discusses the nearly 20 pro-equality bills signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak during 2021.
Silver State Equality Hosts National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Dinner
On Feb. 7, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Silver State Equality hosted a community dinner attended by approximately 60 community members, providers, advocates and stakeholders. The free event, sponsored by Aetna and co-hosted by Minority Health Consultants and Black Queer Men of Las Vegas, illuminated the fact that Black Americans make up the highest percentage of new HIV diagnoses in Clark County, despite making up a significantly lower percentage of the population. The goal of the event was to decrease the stigma of HIV by having a conversation over dinner and to provide resources and the latest advancement in HIV care. Attendees of the event received a care package that included a free at-home COVID-19 test kit and a free at-home HIV test kit.
Silver State Equality 2022 Goals
Legislative Agenda
Silver State Equality continues to pursue initiatives to secure and defend the equal and inclusive rights of LGBTQ+ Nevadans. Among our 2022 goals are:
∂ Non-discrimination and protections for transgender inmates.
Voting and Candidate Endorsements
LGBTQ+ Youth
∂ GOTV (Get Out The Vote): The freedom to vote underpins every other freedom we hold dear. Silver State Equality will continue its grassroots outreach efforts to both protect our state’s vote by mail and automatic voter options and to encourage all eligible Nevadans to vote with focus on marginalized and LGBTQ+ communities.
∂ To help create a culture of inclusion while countering the bullying, harassment, social isolation and bigotry that dramatically increase risk factors for LGBTQ+ students, Silver State Equality will form an LGBTQ+ Student Advisory Council whose members will assist in identifying issues and offer possible solutions to school officials. The LGBTQ+ Student Advisory Council is funded by NV Energy Foundation.
∂ 2022 Candidate Endorsements: Each election cycle, Silver State Equality evaluates candidates in local, state and national elections on their support and advocacy of issues and policies that ensure full lived equality for LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities in Nevada.
Silver State Equality’s priority bills for the 82nd legislative session, in 2023, include:
∂ Continued work in the area of HIV Modernization. ∂ Expansion of health insurance to cover gender dysphoria conditions for transgender individuals.
∂ The LGBTQ+ Youth in Out of Home Placement Work Group works to ensure legislation and policies pertaining to LGBTQ+ youth in foster care, juvenile justice, experiencing homelessness and survivors of trafficking are passed into law, are fully implemented and inclusive of LGBTQ+ youth.
A ROUNDUP OF RECENT LGBTQ+ NEWS
Gay Blood Donor Restrictions
Putting The B In LGBTQ
KNPR recently discussed the national blood shortage, and now, some members of Congress, the Red Cross and some scientists are calling for a change to current gay blood donor restrictions. Our own State Director, André Wade, weighed in on the discussion.
A Gallup Poll found that a growing number of adults are identifying as LGBTQ. So why is bi visibility such an issue? And what are the unique struggles of those who identify as bisexual? Read answers to these questions.
Republicans put trans youths in crosshairs of dangerous culture war
The pandemic’s toll on the LGBTQ community in Las Vegas
Nevada, thank goodness, isn’t among the states where lawmakers are dismantling the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Nevadans elected state leaders who reflect the core belief that our state’s rich diversity is one of our key strengths --and that applies across the board, including sexual orientation.
The new non-profit organization, Nevada Alliance for Student Diversity, is helping LGBTQ+ youth deal with the isolation they are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We Want to Hear From You! Do you want to hear more about a particular part of the work we do? Let us know! Please reach out to andre@silverstateequality.org to request topics or provide any feedback.
Support Our Work
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As Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, Silver State Equality brings the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies to institutions of power in Nevada and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people. Silver State Equality is a Nevada-based program affiliated with and supported by Equality California and Equality California Institute, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. Together, we’re fighting for full LGBTQ+ equality on multiple fronts: Electing pro-equality champions, up and down the ballot; Passing pro-equality legislation in Carson City, Sacramento and Washington DC; Advancing LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice in the courtroom; and reducing disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being through education and advocacy.
Nevada Headquarters 4780 West Ann Road #5357 North Las Vegas, NV 89031 Phone: (702) 755-6288 email: andre@silverstateequality.org