GetEQUAL marks fifth anniversary with launch of No Asterisks campaign for full federal LGBTQ equality

Five years after the launch of the network, GetEQUAL announced a LGBTQ Bill of Rights, as part of a new “No Asterisks” campaign for full LGBTQ equality.

The LGBTQ Bill of Rights is based on a year’s worth of listening sessions and surveys of LGBTQ individuals across the country to uncover what the community really needs in terms of legal equality and equal protection under the law. From access to healthcare, to the end of inhumane detention of undocumented LGBTQ people, GetEQUAL’s LGBTQ Bill of Rights demonstrates that the needs of the LGBTQ community extend far beyond than marriage equality and employment protections.

As we approach the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, this new Bill of Rights demands that this country live up to the values espoused in the nation’s founding documents, and make full federal equality for all people a reality.

“Without proactive, authentic proposals that reflect what our communities need to be equal and free, the LGBTQ movement will remain in a perpetual state of defense, leaving the most marginalized in our community to navigate a patchwork of protections and ever-growing attacks of their liberty,” said Angela Peoples, Co-Director of GetEQUAL.

The LGBTQ Bill of Rights is a comprehensive document designed to address the rights of all LGBTQ people around the country, including:

1. Equal access to public accommodations and public facilities

2. Employment protections

3. Flexibility in securing/changing forms of identification in public/private records

4. Fair and equal treatment within the justice system without police harassment, profiling or brutality

5. Affordable and inclusive access to healthcare access and service

6. Equal access to safe, affordable housing

7. Equal and humane treatment in immigration without detention or deportation, and with adequate asylum provisions

8. Equal access to family planning and formation

9. Safe schools with inclusive curriculum

10. Marriage equality in all states, districts, and territories

The full text of the preamble, Bill of Rights (including stories from the community that helped shape the document), and conclusion is available at www.NoAsterisks.org.