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Equality Forum Kicks Off To Coincide With DNC

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The nation's oldest LGBT civil rights summit begins a series of events Monday to coincide with the Democratic National Convention.

"We wanted to provide the LGBT content," says Malcolm Lazin -- executive director of Equality Forum.

The non-partisan group, in partnership with 25 organizations, is bringing together lesbian, gay, transgender experts from across the country to educate delegates and the general public on the future of the LGBT movement.

"The big thing is the equality act," Lazin says. "Most Americans think LGBT Americans are protected from discrimination -- we are not protected at all - in any possible way, including employment, etc."

The four days of events include a legal panel, political panel and panel focused on the future.

There are also dedications of historical markers at the home of Barbara Gittings, the mother of the movement, and at the Friends House, where one of the first major LGBT march was planned in the 1970s.

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