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Up Front, Fall 2024
Caring for Each Other
We know the road is tough, but please never forget: You are seen. You are valued. You are worthy. Your existence matters. Now, more than ever, we must care for each other.
To everyone in our LGBTQ+ community who is feeling disheartened or unsure if they have a place here, we want to remind you: You belong. Right here, right now and just as you are.
No matter what, you are worthy of love, respect and a future full of possibilities. Keep being who you are. Your voice, truth and existence make this world better every day. We are with you.
‘The Beauty of My Queerness’
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Just weeks before the highly anticipated “Wicked” movie hit theaters across the globe, we honored star Cynthia Erivo with the National Equality Award at the HRC National Dinner in Washington, D.C. Erivo was recognized for her incredible work expanding visibility for the LGBTQ+ community, using her powerful voice to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and inspire the next generation of LGBTQ+ stars on stage and screen.
“Being truly authentic in this industry can be hard: There are standards that I just simply do not fit into. But I have always believed, and believe, that there is such beauty in difference and individuality,” said Erivo while accepting the award. “But what lured me out of the proverbial closet was the urge to create as my fullest self. I have said before that when we spend energy hiding parts of ourself, we steal energy away from our purpose. And I had to claim the beauty of my queerness. I was no longer interested in shortchanging myself. And more importantly, I could no longer allow myself to shortchange you.”
Trans Week of Awareness
We marked Transgender Awareness Week from November 13-19, 2024 — a week where we thoughtfully and intentionally celebrate trans identities and raise visibility and awareness of the trans community. It is also a time to actively challenge hateful anti-trans rhetoric and continue the fight to advance justice and equality for trans individuals.
During TAW we hosted a talkback and book signing with Nico Lang, author of American Teenager: How Trans Kids are Surviving and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era, and Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Trans Justice Initiative, and hosted a Trans Talk on Instagram Live with activists Broadway Tré and Beautiful Fendi Devyne. We were also thrilled to highlight three trans-led and trans-supporting community organizations during TAW — New York Trans Advocacy Group (New York, New York); Ku Anuenue (Hilo, Hawaii); and the City of Atlanta LGBTQ+ Office (Atlanta, Georgia).
We were also proud to share our new short film, “Daniel Really Suits You.” This heartwarming 7-minute piece, which is an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of a trans teenager navigating new and very relatable day-to-day challenges.
Transgender Awareness Week leads into Transgender Day of Remembrance (see below). This is a time to honor those we have lost and advocate for a world where transgender and non-binary people are no longer targets of violence and hate.
The Epidemic of Violence
In November, we marked Transgender Day of Remembrance with heavy hearts, honoring those we've lost to anti-trans violence. The HRC Foundation's new report, The Epidemic of Violence Against the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community, documents this ongoing crisis while providing a roadmap for creating a safer world. Alongside our updated Dismantling a Culture of Violence report, we're not just memorializing lives — we're demanding action.
Of the 36 people we lost in the last year, an overwhelming number were young and people of color, with Black trans women disproportionately impacted. Many victims were killed by a friend, family member or romantic/sexual intimate partner, and guns were involved in the majority of cases.
“The epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people is another example of how society devalues a community just trying to live their lives,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. “In the last year, we’ve seen harmful legislation and dangerous rhetoric create unsafe spaces for those who exist outside the gender binary, and the tone set by these bills has emboldened hate on a terrifying scale. Now more than ever, we must continue to fight for our transgender and gender non-conforming siblings to ensure their voices are heard and their memory isn’t lost.”
A Powerful Statement of Progress
The HRC Foundation released its 13th annual Municipal Equality Index, a testament to local leadership and our ongoing fight for equality. The report’s numbers are a powerful statement of progress: 130 cities earned the highest possible score, representing approximately 49 million people. That's more than 25% of the cities we surveyed, a clear message that local communities are pushing forward despite relentless state-level attacks.
In 2012, our first MEI report showed only five cities offering critical transgender-inclusive health care benefits. Today, we've grown to more than 240 municipalities committed to true inclusivity. Despite this, state legislatures have enacted discriminatory laws that prevent transgender people from getting certain kinds of medically necessary health care. Cities that have worked to ensure that transgender-inclusive health benefits are covered by their insurance plans are in many cases no longer able to provide that coverage in a meaningful way as a result of discriminatory decisions made by state legislators. This is, unfortunately, reflected in the 2024 MEI report as a loss of points for about 35% of the cities that have attempted to offer this care but have been preempted from doing so.
