Equality Hawaii at Honolulu Pride Parade - 2012 (7333244248)

Equality Hawaii was a statewide political advocacy organization in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

that advocated for

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, gay,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

(

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) rights, including

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

History

Equality Hawaii was founded as Family Equality Coalition on November 16, 2007, as a

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

nonprofit corporation. It was founded based on community and expert input at the organization's first meeting in September 2007 after a civil unions bill was attempted in February 2007. The organization made an early commitment to advocating for same-sex marriage in Hawaii. The first general membership meeting was held in partnership with UNITE HERE Local 5 and featured

Cleve Jones Cleve Jones (born October 11, 1954) is an American AIDS and LGBT rights activist. He conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which has become, at 54 tons, the world's largest piece of community folk art as of 2020. In 1983, at the onset ...

. In 2010, the board elected to change its name to Equality Hawaii to reflect its scope expanding beyond just same-sex marriage. Originally named Family Equality Foundation, Equality Hawaii Foundation (EHF) was founded on October 27, 2009 as a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit corporation. While its 501(c)(3) application was being approved by the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

(IRS), the organization was fiscally sponsored by the Equality Federation Institute. This allowed the organization to immediately pursue grant funding. The organization received its official designation from the IRS on June 5, 2011. Equality Hawaii Action Fund was founded August 13, 2010, as a

527 organization A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defea ...

. It was formed in response to

Governor of Hawaii , insignia = Logo of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii.png , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Gubernatorial logo , flag = Flag of the Governor of Hawaii.svg , flagborder = yes , flagcaption = Standard of the Governor , image ...

Linda Lingle vetoing a 2010 civil unions bill; opponents of legal recognition of same-sex relationships had made public pledges to remove from office any legislators who supported civil unions; and Gubernatorial candidates

Mufi Hannemann Muliufi Francis Hannemann (born July 16, 1954) is an American politician, businessman, and non-profit executive. He was elected twice as Mayor of Honolulu in 2004 and 2008. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C., with t ...

and

Duke Aiona James R. "Duke" Aiona Jr. (born June 8, 1955) is an American politician and jurist who served as the tenth lieutenant governor of Hawaii under Linda Lingle from 2002 to 2010. A Republican, he also served both as an attorney and a judge for the sta ...

were promising to not only veto any future civil unions legislation, but put the issue on the ballot. Equality Hawaii was a founding member and fiscal agent of Hawaii United for Marriage, a coalition of organizations that advocated for the

Hawaii Marriage Equality Act The Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013 is legislation passed by the Hawaii State Legislature as Senate Bill 1 (SB1) and signed by Governor Neil Abercrombie which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Prior to the bill's ena ...

, which was signed into law on November 13, 2013, by Governor Neil Abercrombie, and same-sex couples began marrying on December 2, 2013. From 2013 to 2016, Equality Hawaii worked to pass key legislation to empower and protect Hawaii’s LGBTQ community, enabling transgender people to change the gender identity maker on official documents and preventing health insurers from discriminating against them. In 2016 Equality Hawaii formed a strategic alliance to share networks and resources with the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation, an organization dedicated to unifying, facilitating and empowering Hawaii’s LGBTQ community. Equality Hawaii ceased operations in January 2017.

Structure

Equality Hawaii is often used to describe three separate organizations: * Equality Hawaii — a

501(c)(4) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

* Equality Hawaii Foundation — a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

* Equality Hawaii Action Fund — a

Activities

Equality Hawaii activities and programs included: * Hawaii Family Portraits * Community education * Media relations * Community outreach * Legislative lobbying * Voter outreach

References

External links

* {{LGBT in the United States LGBT law in the United States LGBT political advocacy groups in Hawaii Organizations established in 2007 Organizations established in 2009 Organizations established in 2010 2007 establishments in Hawaii 2009 establishments in Hawaii 2010 establishments in Hawaii Equality Federation Organizations based in Honolulu Charities based in Hawaii 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations 527 organizations

History

Structure

Activities

See also

References

External links