Local News

Because the road to enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was long and winding, with many votes in both chambers of Congress, there has been some confusion about which votes were the truest indication of support for the legislation.

When considering whether to thank your members of congress or express your disappointment in their votes, please use the following votes.

House of Representatives – the 4/29/09 vote on final passage of freestanding hate crimes legislation - Roll Call Vote 223 - 249 y/175 n/10 nv - http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll223.xml

Senate – the 7/16/09 vote to invoke cloture on including hate crimes legislation within the Department of Defense Authorization bill - Roll Call Vote 233 -  63 y/28 n/9 nv - http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...

We encourage you to send personal letters to your own members of congress.

Please encourage your friends, family members, colleagues and political contacts to visit http://www.LoveConquersHate.org for more on the hate crimes bill and what it took over these past many years to get to today’s signing. Read More »

HRC Arizona and One Voice Community Center are proud to host an evening of fun and fellowship at our monthly social. Come find out what HRC and 1VCC are doing to support the LGBT community.

Please join us after work Thursday November 19th between 6pm and 9pm for a mixer promoting equality. Every month at 7:30pm we hold a free raffle for a $25 Kobalt gift card.

Snacks will be served and special social drink prices all night long.

Need more information please email patrick@hrcarizona.org.

Kobalt Bar - 3110 N Central Ave. Suite 125 Phoenix, AZ 85012 602-264-5307 Read More »

Oct. 25th Event to feature HRC’s Welcoming Schools program
We are pleased to kick-off a series of HRC community events for LGBT families in Phoenix, Arizona. The first event, HRC Family Day at the Phoenix Children’s Museum will be on October 25th from noon to 4 PM.  Members of HRC’s national boards from Phoenix will talk about the HRC Family Project’s program, Welcoming Schools, and HRC’s legislative agenda affecting LGBT families in Arizona. Our goal to create awareness, encourage dialogue and provide educational opportunities to the community about Welcoming Schools and other important HRC programs.

HRC’s Welcoming Schools Program
HRC’s  “Welcoming Schools” program’s aim is to provide administrators, educators, parents and guardians with the resources necessary to create elementary learning environments in which all learners in schools are welcomed and respected. This program will work to empower parents to learn more about the LGBT community, so they can get involved in supporting equality for all families.

“As an LGBT parent, one of the important things for me is to find other LGBT families in the community that we as a family can interact with and share experiences,” said Kathy Young, a Member of HRC’s National Board of Governors from Phoenix and blogger on LGBT family issues. “It is vital for our kids to see other examples of families that have two moms or two dads and our hope is that HRC’s family-oriented events will enable us to build vital relationships with other LGBT families so our children won’t feel that they are different from their friends.”

Join Kathy and other LGBT parents and family members on October 25th for HRC’s Family Day at the Phoenix Children’s Museum.  Read More »

Casa Grande, AZ- Equality Arizona and Human Rights Campaign applaud Mayor Bob Jackson and the City of Casa Grande for issuing a Proclamation in support of National Coming Out Day October 11, 2009.

“We are proud to support the work of Equality Arizona’s Casa Grande Equality Team as they create a strong partnership with the City of Casa Grande,” said Barbara McCullough-Jones, Executive Director of Equality Arizona.  “By developing meaningful relationships with elected officials in their home town, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and allies from all walks are creating a safer Arizona for our community to live, work and visit.”

“We are thrilled that the City of Casa Grande, AZ is recognizing the importance of coming out.  The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is stronger when we can safely be open and honest about our lives, and when we are supported by our elected officials and neighbors. We encourage members the Casa Grande LGBT community and their allies to celebrate this Declaration by talking to your family and friends about the importance of equality and fairness for our community,” said HRC president Joe Solmonese.

The Proclamation states, “educating our community about the diversity of our City is essential to overcoming stigma and discrimination; …we recognize the value of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender people that live, work and play in our city as essential to sound economic growth."

“The City of Casa Grande realizes it is in the best interest of all of our citizens to celebrate the diversity of our city and is eager to continue working with the Casa Grande Equality Team.  The first step of this partnership is this Proclamation in support of National Coming Out Day, and we look forward to a long partnership,” said Deputy City Manager Larry Rains. Read More »