The Human Rights Campaign will hit the road this Fall for a 12-week, 17 city bus tour that will see an Atlanta stop during Atlanta Pride October 7-9. The HRC are calling the tour “On the Road to Equality.”

The purpose of the tour, according to the HRC, is “educating the American public and empowering LGBT people to become advocates for themselves and their families.”

HRC's President Joe Solmonese said the time is right for the cross-country tour.

“We are in the midst of a cultural tipping point on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and our job is to push the scale as far and as fast as we can toward fairness,” said Solmonese. “The tour will serve as a powerful visibility tool and support the work of creating real and lasting change in these communities.”

The HRC is visiting 11 states in total, none of which have statewide laws covering non-discrimination for LGBT persons. Also, none of the states on the tour have any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples and all have constitution amendments banning same-sex marriage.

The tour bus will carry with it an exhibit featuring information on issues like family, health, religion and spirituality, and coming out. The HRC will also host seminars and community forums during the tour. No specific events have been announced for Atlanta.

Here's the tour schedule:

Aug 12-14 Salt Lake City, UT
Aug 19-21 Omaha & Lincoln, NE
Aug 26-28 Lawrence, KS & Kansas City, MO
Sept 1-5 New Orleans, LA
Sept 9-11 Austin & College Station, TX
Sept 16-18 Little Rock, AR
Sept 23-25 Louisville & Lexington, KY
Sept 30-Oct 3 Washington, DC
Oct 7-9 Atlanta, GA
Oct 14-16 Birmingham & Tuscaloosa, AL
Oct 21-23 Jacksonville, FL
Oct 28-30 Orlando, FL

For more information, please visit www.hrc.org.

Top photo: The Human Rights Campaign plans a cross-country bus tour to raise visibility of LGBT issues (via hrc.org)