HRC charts course of action during Trump administration
In an email to supporters, organization outlines how it will advocate for LGBTQ rights moving forward
The Human Rights Campaign is plotting a course of action to ensure progress on LGBTQ rights even as it has largely set itself up as the chief voice of opposition to the Trump administration’s policies on LGBTQ-related issues.
In an email to supporters sent out Tuesday morning, hours before President Trump is set to give his first address to Congress, the national LGBTQ rights organization outlined several goals it hopes to achieve as long as Trump and his cadre of anti-LGBTQ advisers and cabinet members remain in office.
“Despite his empty rhetoric, Trump has pledged to undermine LGBTQ equality through federal legislation, Supreme Court appointments, and by backing laws like North Carolina’s hateful HB 2,” the email reads. “He has empowered anti-LGBTQ politicians in the mold of his vice president, Mike Pence, to run the government. Just last week, Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos began undermining crucial protections for transgender students.”
As one of its chief promises, HRC has vowed not only to oppose federal actions by the Trump administration, but to have a team of staffers on the ground in various states to push back against harmful anti-LGBTQ laws being proposed at the local and state level. The organization has also promised to support vulnerable LGBTQ community members who are the most likely to be targeted by violence, discrimination, or hostile legislation, such as those living with HIV/AIDS, members of the the transgender community or living in the Deep South.
HRC also promises to work to elect pro-equality candidates at various levels of government in 2018 and 2020, building on the type of work they did in North Carolina last year to ensure the defeat of Gov. Pat McCrory for signing HB 2 into law. The organization also sees filing amicus briefs in cases where LGBTQ rights are at issue, and pushing for local or statewide nondiscrimination ordinances, as part of its mission going forward.
Outside the realm of politics, the organization promises to further its relationships with employers, schools, hospitals and faith-based organizations to push for greater equality measures. HRC already issues various indexes, such as the Corporate Equality Index, which rate or measure businesses, states and medical providers based on how robust their pro-LGBTQ policies, such as nondiscrimination protections or spousal benefits, are.
Lastly, HRC promises to work in coalition with other communities or movements who have much to lose under a Trump administration, including advocates for the Affordable Care Act, immigrant communities, communities of color, and reproductive rights advocates. By partnering with these movements, HRC hopes to build a “grassroots army” that will be able to withstand any assault by the federal or state governments against LGBTQ progress.
“We have tough battles ahead, but with your help, we know we can win,” the email reads.
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