Grappling with an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ policies sweeping the country, state equality organizations stepped up to develop and test responses to local attacks in real time. Opponents of equality filed more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures, and although activists defeated over 90%, some unfortunately became law — which is where our litigation grantees stepped in.

When the Alabama legislature passed a law criminalizing parents who seek medical care for their trans children, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights worked together to block its enforcement while their larger legal challenge proceeds.

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund also secured important victories in cases arguing that employers can’t deny coverage for gender-affirming care – one in North Carolina that applies to health plans for state employees and their families, and one in Georgia that applies to all employer health plans – protecting more than 58,000 transgender people.

The barrage of anti-LGBTQ attacks in the states called new generations of advocates to action — perhaps best exemplified by trans youth and their parents.

When government officials in Texas cruelly mischaracterized healthcare for trans youth as "child abuse" and began investigating families who affirmed their children, those families stepped up and fought back.

Take the Briggle family, for example, who partnered with GLAAD to create a PSA that courageously shared their story with the country, opening with a simple invitation: "Do you want to meet a family with a transgender kid? Here we are." To date, the PSA has garnered more than 300 million views.

Community is never more important than in times of tragedy. After an armed assailant took five precious lives at Club Q, injured 25 more, and devastated an entire community, acts of kindness and generosity poured in from near and far.

Hours after the attack, the Colorado Healing Fund was activated and began making disbursements to victims and families the same day. The Gill Foundation’s donation to the fund was generously matched by our network of OutGivers, partners, and friends.

New challenges emerged as the system for victim assistance proved inaccessible for certain members of our community. To create more inclusive resources and support, the foundation helped form a Club Q Advisory Committee and launch a new “navigator” role through Community Health Partnership to guide victims through the administrative processes so they could focus on their path to healing.