Treasurer, TEP; Board of Directors, TEP PAC

  • signed NO to Adoption Discrimination in Congress 2018-07-28 10:33:36 -0500

    NO to Adoption Discrimination in Congress

    A foster care and adoption license to discriminate measure was recently put into a health and human services funding bill in the House Appropriations Committee.

    The “Aderholt Amendment” allows foster care and adoption service providers across the country to discriminate against children and prospective parents based on sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and marital status.

    We need your help to tell Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker:  NO ADOPTION DISCRIMINATION in the 2019 Appropriations bill!  We will deliver hard copies to their offices.

    1,052 signatures

    Dear Senators Alexander and Corker:

    We urge you to act to oppose the Aderholt amendment allowing discrimination in foster care and adoption services in the FY19 House Labor-HHS appropriations bill and ensure that the measure is NOT included in any Senate or final appropriations bill.

    It would allow taxpayer-funded foster care and adoption service providers to discriminate against children in care and against prospective parents, based on sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and marital status.

    The measure breaks the cardinal rule of child welfare services: to act in the best interest of the child. This amendment would actually HARM CHILDREN.

    This amendment would greatly harm the 440,000 children in foster care, particularly the 117,000 who are waiting to be adopted into loving, forever homes.  There is a crisis in foster care due to the huge shortage of available families for children. Each year, over half the children waiting to be adopted do not find a loving home, and most devastatingly, over 17,000 foster youth age out of care without a forever family.  Those youth are at greater risk of involvement with the criminal justice system, homelessness, unemployment, and being trafficked.

    Speak out against this poison pill amendment,; let your leadership know you will not support a funding bill with the measure included, and vote against any appropriations measure that includes such discriminatory provisions.  Thank you for considering our views.

    Add signature

  • Urge Senators Alexander and Corker to speak up for LGBTQ people when the next Supreme Court justice is appointed

    Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring so the President will name a successor who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  Sign to urge Senator Alexander and Senator Corker to speak up for the LGBTQ community during the confirmation process.  TEP will deliver a hard copy of the signatures to their offices.

    1,069 signatures

    Senator Alexander and Senator Corker:

    When the President announces his choice to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, we urge you to speak up for the rights of LGBTQ people.  It is vitally important that members of the Supreme Court support the principle of "equal protection" and that Justice Kennedy's successor uphold the existing rights of LGBTQ people and oppose discrimination against LGBTQ people.  We respectfully ask you to raise these concerns publicly and not to vote for any nominee who supports discrimination.

    Add signature

  • posted about I asked Governor Haslam to veto HB1840, the counseling discrimination bill on Facebook 2016-04-12 07:30:16 -0500
    I contacted Governor Haslam and urged him to #VetoHB1840. Will you?

    I asked Governor Haslam to veto HB1840, the counseling discrimination bill

    haslamvetonew.JPG

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Take a minute to contact Governor Bill Haslam by phone message or on Twitter and then let us know you did it using this form.  Let's get to 500 or more!

    I called or Tweeted Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and urged him to veto HB1840, the counseling discrimination bill.  I'm asking you to do the same this week.

    Endorse

  • posted about VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill on Facebook 2016-04-07 10:49:07 -0500
    Sign the petition: VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill

    VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill

     

    Please, add your voice and urge Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto this discriminatory bill.

    4,242 signatures

    Dear Governor Haslam,

    We urge you to veto HB1840, which allows counselors to turn away clients based on the counselor's biases and values.  This bill puts the focus on the desires of counselors rather than on the needs of clients, damaging the counseling profession and putting clients at risk. 

    An anti-bullying amendment was stripped from the bill in the House Health Committee leaving youth vulnerable in areas where mental health services are not widely available.

    Thank you for considering our views.

    Add signature

  • posted about Governor Haslam, Fight for trans students and against SB2387/HB2414 on Facebook 2016-03-21 10:58:27 -0500
    Sign the petition: Governor Haslam, Fight for trans students and against SB2387/HB2414

    Governor Haslam, Fight for trans students and against SB2387/HB2414

    Please, join us in encouraging Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to fight against this attack on transgender students.

    984 signatures

    Dear Governor Haslam,

    We call on you to do everything in your power to lobby against passage of SB2387/HB2414, the anti-transgender student bathroom bill.  We also ask that you VETO the bill if it reaches your desk. 

    The bill endangers vulnerable students and it risks significant U.S. Department of Education funds to Tennessee.  If this bill became law, the enforcement would be a nightmare for school districts across the state. 

    Show the world that Tennessee is a welcoming state.  Thank you for considering our views.

    Add signature

  • wants to volunteer 2015-07-25 12:16:54 -0500

    Volunteer with TEP

    TEP needs volunteers throughout the year.  Please, fill out this form or contact us at [email protected] for more information.  Thank you!

    Become a volunteer

  • pledged $100.00 via 2014-11-22 16:17:05 -0600

    Pledge to Support TEP on Giving Tuesday

    Giving Tuesday takes place on December 2 starting at Midnight and runs through 11:59 p.m. that night.  It is a national day focused on giving.  You can make an impact for equality and inclusion in Tennessee by supporting the TEP Foundation with a tax deductible contribution of $10 or more  at this link. We are asking our friends to consider pledging today to support us on Giving Tuesday.  Thanks for your commitment to advancing equality in Tennessee. 

    $145.00 pledged
    $2,500.00
    Pledge now

  • wants to volunteer 2014-11-22 16:15:34 -0600

    Giving Tuesday Volunteer

    10686964_10204364469284822_8598273331818210634_n.jpg

    Giving Tuesday, a nationwide day of giving following Cyber Monday, is coming up on December 2.  TEP is asking our friends to give $10 or more on that day to engage new donors and encourage existing donors to support us with their year-end giving.  But we need VOLUNTEERS to help make it successful.  We specifically need volunteers to help spread the word about this link .  You can get the long form here:  http://givingtuesday.razoo.com/story/Giving-Tuesday-For-Equality-In-Tennessee .

     

    Become a volunteer

  • signed Urge Yoke Ministries to Stop Discriminating 2014-11-21 10:47:54 -0600

    Urge Yoke Ministries to Stop Discriminating

    61 signatures

    Cassie Hopkins, a young bisexual woman, had volunteered at Yoke Youth Ministries in Jefferson County.  The program is interdenominational and draws on the work of young adults to mentor middle-school students.  She had gone through the screening process and there were no complaints about her work as a volunteer.  After disclosing her sexual orientation on Facebook, her supervisor told her that she would no longer be allowed to volunteer, even though there is nothing in Yoke's written policies about sexual orientation.  Her supervisor compared bisexuality to alcoholism and drug addiction.

    Let's show support for Cassie and remind our fellow Tennesseans and especially Yoke that people can serve and contribute to enriching the lives of youth in our state regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  This is a message Yoke and many others need to hear.  Please, add your voice. 

    We are glad to partner with the LGBT Alumni of Carson-Newman on this project.  They first brought the case to our attention.

    Note:  We are not arguing about whether anyone has the legal ability to discriminate in Tennessee.  What we are contesting is whether it is right to exclude talented people from helping youth simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

     

    Add signature

  • donated 2021-12-21 06:18:46 -0600

    Monthly Support of Tennessee Equality Project. Make sure you really want to donate MONTHLY before proceeding with this link.

    Governor.jpgAs a monthly supporter of Tennessee Equality Project, your contribution funds the advancement of policies through direct and grass roots lobbying which protect the rights of LGBT people and their families here at home in Tennessee. Contributions to TEP (a 501(c)(4) organization) are not tax deductible.

    If you prefer to make a ONE-TIME donation to Tennessee Equality Project, click here.  

    If you would prefer to make a tax-deductible contribution to Tennessee Equality Project Foundation, click here.

     

    Other Giving Options

    Some supporters prefer to write a check or make monthly donations to Tennessee Equality Project through automatic bank drafts. Consider creating “Tennessee Equality Project” as a regular payee with your bank’s online service.

    Checks and automated bank drafts may be mailed to the following address:

    Tennessee Equality Project | P.O. Box 330875 | Nashville, TN 37203 

    Thank you for supporting Tennessee Equality Project.

    Donate

  • signed Issues: SBC 2014-10-29 10:12:49 -0500

    Urge Southern Baptist Leadership to rethink the impact of their teachings on LGBT people

    Learn more about the issue and consider signing the petition to add your voice to this call to action.

    87 signatures

    This week the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is holding a conference in Nashville on marriage, sexuality, and gender.  Add your voice to urge them to consider the impact of their teachings on violence against LGBT people and LGBT youth homelessness.  According to national estimates, up to 40% of the youth homeless population is LGBT.  Many of those youth were turned out of their homes because of certain kinds of religious bias.  We believe that rather than holding conferences on how to preserve marriage discrimination, the Southern Baptist Convention's leadership should begin to address the ways in which their teachings contribute to harms to LGBT people. 

    TEP joined OutCentral and Vanderbilt Divinity School in organizing a protest of the event outside the Opryland Hotel.  TTPC and PFLAG also participated.  Your voice can help highlight needed changes in the Southern Baptist Convention's approach.

     

     

    Add signature

Building software, lobbying, acting, drinking. Sometimes simultaneously.
Donate on behalf of Jeff Kirwan:
Donate Volunteer Find an Event

connect