Could Equality Voters Tip This Election?

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson on LGBTQ+ rights, this moment in history, and the electoral might of Equality Voters

I have the pleasure of serving on the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization protecting the freedoms and liberties of the LGBTQ+ community. We’re led by our president, the incomparable Kelley Robinson, and I’ve always wanted to get her in for an interview because she is just so damned knowledgeable and inspiring! 

With the election less than three months away, I wanted also to highlight what the Human Rights Campaign, under Kelley Robinson’s leadership, has been doing to help turn out what we call Equality Voters—the millions of people who believe that LGBTQ+ rights are human rights and will vote accordingly. Thanks to HRC’s work, this crucial bloc of voters is big enough and organized enough to make a real difference in November.

— Jay Kuo

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley J. Robinson Photo Credit: Human Rights Campaign

You’ve had quite the year, not only as President of the Human Rights Campaign, but also as a thought leader, named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Huge congrats! You’ve come into this role at a crucial time for the LGBTQ+ community, which is under assault across many states and in our courts. What would you like our readers, who perhaps aren’t as familiar with our community’s struggles, to know about this moment in history and what it means for the LGBTQ+ freedom and liberation movement?

It’s important that folks know how truly powerful we are as a community. Think about it. Forty years ago, HIV/AIDS was a death sentence. Now, we have the chance to end the epidemic in our lifetimes. Forty years ago, being out at work meant losing your job. Now, we are in more boardrooms than ever before. Forty years ago, marrying the person you love wasn’t something you could dream of, let alone plan for. Now, the Respect For Marriage Act is the law of the land. My own family! In just two generations, my family went from being enslaved in Mississippi to being the first free family in Muscatine, Iowa, to now—married to my beautiful wife, raising our beautiful son—I have the honor of serving as HRC’s first Black woman president. 

We did that. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams. All because of our tireless demand for nothing less than our freedom. Know that the backlash we are experiencing from MAGA bullies is a response to that power. And the best way to defeat them is to show up – boldly and unapologetically.

The trans community in particular has been the focus of a lot of attacks, with bans on gender-affirming medical care and erasure in our classrooms and libraries. The Human Rights Campaign even declared a State of Emergency for our community, in part because of these attacks. How would you describe what you’re seeing out there? Is there any good news to report or is it all just pretty horrible?

Make no mistake: people all over the country have been put into a state of crisis by cruel MAGA policies and rhetoric. I’ve met with trans folks who have had to flee their homes in search of health care. They are in a state of emergency. I’ve met families who are worried about whether their kids will be treated with respect in the classroom. They are in a state of emergency. We know too many stories of trans people, especially Black trans women, who face the threat of violence every time they step out the door. They are in a state of emergency. 

But I’ll tell you – when I’m in communities across the country, what I see is resilience, defiance, and a turning of the tide. In Arizona, it was trans youth and their families who put a stop to an anti-trans ballot initiative. In Georgia, it was LGBTQ+ and allied folks who defeated every piece of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation filed this year. And across the country, it’s Equality Voters who continue to defeat MAGA bigotry and the candidates who peddle anti-LGBTQ+ hate. We are certainly not out of the woods. Too many people are being harmed by anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in this country. But this community, no matter the attacks, continues to show up. Because we know that when we show up, we will win.

Recent rulings by the Supreme Court, including the Dobbs decision overturning the right to abortion under Roe v. Wade, have sent shockwaves through many communities. How have these decisions affected LGBTQ+ rights, including the right to marry, and what have organizations like the Human Rights Campaign been able to do about it?

Devastating decisions by the Supreme Court have upended freedoms for millions of people across this country. And the consequences are heartbreaking. We’ve all heard the stories. People being denied the abortion care they need, forced to cross state lines. Families waiting with bated breath for The Court to weigh in on access to health care for their trans kids. Nervous questions about civil liberties that could be targeted next. That’s why, at HRC, we have worked hard in support of needed legislation like The Respect for Marriage Act to help secure marriage equality. And we are supporting litigation on a number of fronts to defend equality in the courts. 

It’s why we are working tirelessly to help elect a pro-equality, pro-choice majority to the United States Congress and send the pro-equality, pro-choice Harris-Walz ticket to the White House. We all deserve leaders who will do what’s right: restore our rights, defend our freedoms, shore up our democracy, and advance us toward a society with equality and justice for all people. Our freedoms are on the ballot in November, and we are doing all we can to fight for them.

With the election less than 90 days away, and with a new candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket (Go Kamala Harris!), there’s a great deal of excitement as well as anxiety as the day draws near. What is the Human Rights Campaign doing to help get out the vote, especially with respect to millions of “Equality Voters” across the country, and could this have a real impact on the outcome?

Go Kamala is right! I gotta tell you, I have been criss-crossing this country, knocking doors and talking to voters. I spent time, cheese curds in hand, talking to Wisconsinites. I met with families in Arizona. I was in Minnesota the day that Governor Tim Walz’s addition to the ticket was announced. And y’all – the excitement and energy for the Harris-Walz ticket is real! People are ready to make history and send our first woman President to the Oval Office. People are excited to have joy and hope on the ballot. And people understand what’s at stake with Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Project 2025 on the other side. So our job is very clear: get those folks to the polls. 

In May, we announced the launch of our We Show Up: Equality Wins campaign, with an investment of $15 million to mobilize and energize voters in battleground states nationwide. We will be doing the work from now until November. Knocking doors. Making calls. Placing ads. Meeting people where they are. Because in an election that will come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states, the 75 million Equality Voters on our radar will decide the outcome. Time to harness that energy, roll up our sleeves, and do the work.

What message would you like LGBTQs and their allies to hear at this time? And what can ordinary folks who want to help do right away?

The story of America is a story of progress, progress fought and won in every generation. Our country is at a turning point and it’s important we remember that we are the difference makers. We can have a Congress that terrorizes LGBTQ+ people and rips away our basic rights. Or we can have a Congress that defends those rights and treats everyone with the dignity they deserve. We just have to show up. We can have a white nationalist dictatorship hellbent on rolling back our progress. Or a White House that looks like America and believes in the promise of our shared future. We can have a country in the grips of Donald Trump, JD Vance, and their Project 2025 brand of division and chaos. Or we can have a country that moves forward toward freedom and equality for all. We just have to show up. That’s it: we show up. If you’re ready to show up, head to hrc.org/weshowup and let’s go win this thing together.

Kelley J. Robinson is President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the U.S. Robinson brings over 15 years of experience, leading numerous successful campaigns for LGBTQ+, racial, and gender equity. Previously serving as the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, she advanced reproductive justice. Robinson is currently a Senior Fellow at the Kettering Foundation, where her leadership underscores the vital importance of centering LGBTQ+ rights in the struggle for democracy. As a further mark of her history-making influence, Robinson was named to the 2024 TIME100.