The LGBTQ+ Justice and Opportunity Network protects the health, dignity, and safety of Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ community through needs assessments,
grant funding, and policy advocacy.
The Network was established in 2019 by the Connecticut General Assembly as a subcommittee of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity (CWCSEO) and is funded by the State.
This year, the Network is seeking an increase in funding in support of the following initiatives:
- Community grants are the most efficient funding vehicle for State funds to reach the LGBTQ+ community and an increase in funding would significantly impact local and state organizations’ capacity.
- A needs assessment was conducted in 2021 and it is time to perform another. The community has changed post-pandemic and societal attitudes toward queer people – especially the transgender community – have taken a dark turn.
- Professional development grants are funds that will be distributed to public schools for training educators. The State Department of Education consistently recommends this training in the updated Guidance on Civil Rights Protections and Supports for Transgender or Gender-Diverse Students, yet allocates no funding for it. A coalition of LGBTQ+ and special education organizations endorses this and has trained facilitators ready to do the work.
- With this increase in capacity, the Network Administrator becomes a full-time role to assist with grants and policy management. Because the new federal administration has delivered on its promises to enforce binary, sex-assigned-at-birth identities, ban transgender athletes from participation in sports, criminalize health care for transgender people, roll back Title IX protections, and issue other dangerous executive orders targeting education and DEI, the LGBTQ+ community is the target du jour. Adding a full-time administrator establishes a much-needed direct line of communication between the LGBTQ+ community and the State, providing both the agility to respond to opportunities and emergencies quickly and efficiently.
