EQCA Plans Data, Immigration Work for 2015

In its year-end report, released this week, the statewide LGBT advocacy group Equality California laid out rough outlines of its plans for 2015, which include more engagement in data collection, immigration reform, and health care.

In recent years, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit had been known mostly for its legislative work on marriage equality, bullying, and transgender issues. But with same-sex marriage finally legal in California and more protections in place for LGBT school students, the organization is feeling freer to expand its scope.

Not long after Rick Zbur, a gay Latino man, became EQCA's executive director in September, he told the Bay Area Reporter the group was updating its mission statement to include changes such as a focus on "full equality and acceptance" both inside and outside of California and "ensuring the health and well-being of LGBT Californians."

In an October interview with the B.A.R. , Zbur said, "I've acknowledged that we do have the most comprehensive civil rights legislation in the country." In his group's report, released Tuesday, he noted plenty of work remains to be done.

"The sad fact is that LGBT people continue to suffer from disproportionate rates of poverty, suicide, homelessness, lack of insurance, and violence," he said in the report. As an example, he said, "the percentage of transgender people living in poverty is almost four times the rate of the general population."

One area of focus next year will be the Fair Share for Equality program.

In the report, Zbur said it will identify the programs that are most important to LGBTs and need funding.

"We will host an annual summit and invite the leaders of LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations to solicit those leaders' views and recommendations as to the programs on which EQCA should focus," he said. "We will work closely in partnership with other community organizations to both set our goals and to achieve maximum statewide impact."

Zbur said the nonprofit would "insist" that government agencies "count" the state's LGBT population.

"Knowing the size of the LGBT population is a necessary starting point to determining whether our community receives its fair share of California's resources," he said.

EQCA will also do more work on immigration. Zbur said, "LGBT immigrants are doubly marginalized and among the most vulnerable members of both the LGBT community and immigrant community."

One of the organization's priorities next year will be to work with "allies and partners to call for comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the needs of LGBT immigrants along with all immigrants and their families," Zbur said. Additionally, he said, EQCA "will continue to educate and advocate ... about the health care needs of undocumented LGBT immigrants."

The San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights has worked with EQCA on several issues for many years.

In an emailed statement, NCLR legal director Shannon Minter said, "We applaud EQCA for committing to this critical work, which affects the lives of so many LGBT people and their families, and which goes to the heart of who we are as a nation. It is essential that LGBT organizations are a vital part of immigration reform and of standing up for the humanity of undocumented people."

Health care is another area where EQCA plans to expand its work.

Zbur said, "With a generous grant from the California Endowment, EQCA Institute," the group's educational branch, "will develop tools and trainings to educate health care providers about the health needs of undocumented LGBT people in the Central Valley." The organization will also educate people about their health care options, among other activities, he said.

The nonprofit, which has a budget of about $3 million, recently saw its 100th piece of legislation pass the state Legislature in the last session.

Among other efforts in the past year, the organization has been working with others to compel the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration to end the ban on gay and bi men donating blood.

EQCA is inviting community members to bring their questions and ideas to a town hall meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, January 22, at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 100 Diamond Street, San Francisco. The B.A.R. is moderating the meeting.