From 2013 onward, The Council for Human Rights began the process of changing its name from its previous legal name. The Council held a three year anniversary event, “It’s A Blue Party: Celebrating Cultural Empowerment” at The Pyramid Scheme. The event was attended by approximately 100 people. In 2014, The Council’s Board of Directors is planning future efforts, including ways to better position itself strategically and serve a larger population. The Council is inviting collaborative efforts from other groups, and it will begin proposing programming to foundations and other funders in the near future.
We have been successful in defending people who have experienced discrimination, bullying, and other violations of human rights. Notably, we have helped students at Comstock Park High School form a Gay-Straight Alliance. We closed our bank account at a financial institution (Chemical Bank) that did not adopt LGBTQ+ inclusive language in its nondiscrimination policy at our request. We advocated for the LGBTQ+ community all the way to the corporate leadership level. We are happy that Chemical Bank now has sexual orientation and gender identity in its nondiscrimination policy. We wish this bank well in its efforts to be an inclusive employer. We currently bank with Huntington National Bank, which has a strong history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community. They are rated 100 percent by the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.