Our work this year
As we begin 2026, our direction is clear. Now is the time for bold leadership, deep collaboration, and sustained action. Throughout the past year, we met a rapidly shifting landscape with focus and purpose — advocating for our families at every level of the government, connecting them to the resources they need to thrive, and educating community members to build a more inclusive future.
Looking ahead
We’re entering 2026 with a strong strategy build on a foundation decades in the making, an exceptional team, and a growing network of families, partners, donors, sponsors, allies, and advocates who believe in our mission. Family Equality is prepared to meet this moment by:
- Advocating at the local, state, and national level to combat the hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills our families face year-after-year and advance legislation that protects and supports our families. We plan to drill-down and identify key areas where our expert policy team can make an impact for communities, all while weathering threats to marriage equality by sharing stories, shoring up parentage protections, and educating community members.
- Educating the general public by empowering LGBTQ+ families to share their stories through our storytelling program, offering trainings to lawmakers and corporate partners, and more.
Providing support to all families
Our plan for 2026 is bold — but possible. We know this because of all that we were able to accomplish in 2025 alone!
At the federal, state, and local levels, Family Equality actively engaged with over 110 policy items in 2025, from educating the community about the impact of Supreme Court rulings to championing state and federal bills that advance equality for LGBTQ+ families.
- Our team passed critical protections for parents in Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, and Vermont, making it easier for all families to secure legal parent-child relationships.
- We launched a package of back-to-school advocacy tools for parents, provided support for Rhode Island‘s Freedom to Read Act and helped ensure that “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” laws failed in over a dozen states.
- We championed the re-introduction of the John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would end discrimination in child welfare and put a stop to the 14 states with an explicit license to discriminate in adoption and foster care.
Family Equality spent 2025 providing community, resources, and support to LGBTQ+ families across the country through virtual webinars, peer support spaces, resources, and events.
- Family Equality’s 31st annual Family Week in Provincetown brought in nearly 600 families from around the world.
- We hosted events across the country, including Family Weekend in the Midwest, Family Weekend in the South, and LGBTQ+ Families are Incredi-Bowl in New York city.
- Over 1,300 people registered for our virtual events and webinars, and more than 500 families registered to attend our biweekly peer support spaces for transgender/nonbinary parents and LGBTQ+ parents to be.
In addition to launching a new, state-of-the-art website, Family Equality found new and creative ways to share LGBTQ+ family stories, including…
- Out with It, a multimedia docuseries created by and for LGBTQ+ families, bringing together expert voices on intersectional justice, LGBTQ+ parents, and public policy education.
- Efforts to preserve LGBTQ+ family history through oral history collections and our first-ever digital exhibit, To Have and To Hold, showcasing the role that LGBTQ+ families played in the fight for marriage equality.
The road ahead
This work is only ramping up — no matter what the future holds. But we need your help.
From the statehouse to the school board, people in positions of power are threatening the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ youth and families. But, we know that if we come together, we can usher in an era of full lived and legal equality. By joining this movement, you can help us create a brighter future for families!
