Election Day is 50 days away and the Human Rights Campaign has announced new organizers who will mobilize communities across Virginia to educate, empower and turn out voters. Sidrah Marotti, Taelor Logan and Grayson Lewis will build off HRC’s momentum of the 2018 midterm elections and 2019 victories to ensure we have pro-equality champions representing Virginia in 2021.

The 2020 election will provide voters a stark choice: Elect a pro-equality presidential candidate, or endure four more years of a Trump-Pence administration that relentlessly attacks women, people of color, religious minorities and LGBTQ people.

With in-person absentee voting beginning on September 19, Virginia’s 1.2 million Equality Voters (those who prioritize LGBTQ equality when voting), who represent 21% of all of Virginia’s registered voters, have the potential to put equality issues at the center of electoral decision-making this year.

Primarily focused in Virginia Beach, Charlottesville and Henrico, the organizers will be essential in HRC’s effort to:

• Turn out the Commonwealth’s Equality Voters
• Educate and empower voters to take action at the ballot box
• Educate local communities with trainings
• Recruit volunteers
• Help HRC advance equality for marginalized people

Sidrah Marotti (she/her): Sidrah is organizing and mobilizing Equality Voters in support of HRC-endorsed Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-2). Sidrah has been working on campaigns since she was 16, starting with Kay Hagan’s 2014 Senate race. In 2015-2016 she was a fellow on the Aim Higher Now NC campaign, encouraging year-round civic and political engagement; in 2016, she supported reproductive justice as a canvass team leader with Community Outreach Group. Aside from politics, Sidrah is a global studies and urban planning geek! She loves nothing more than a walkable, equitable city. She was president of Model UN at her university, studied Arabic for three years, and lived in Morocco for a year. Sidrah is thrilled to be organizing with HRC in this cycle because “this election does not only determine what the next few years look like. It determines what life is going to look like for the foreseeable future. It is up to us as citizens and organizers to rally folks for the largest voter turn out in history. Only then will be able to combat blatant voter suppression and secure the right to vote for years to come. I strongly believe that democracy does not end with voting yet voting is integral to democracy. Organizing with HRC gives me the space, tools, and training I need to protect vulnerable people and institutions.”

Taelor Logan (she/her): Taelor is organizing and mobilizing Equality Voters in support of HRC-endorsed candidate Dr. Cameron Webb (VA-5). Taelor has been in the political/civic world since 2015 where she worked on a variety of campaigns in North Carolina. In 2017, she co-founded the Mecklenburg Women’s Celebration event that annually honors women elected to office. Taelor spent her college years in Charlottesville doing her undergrad at the University of Virginia and feels a kinship with the community. “It felt like a gut punch to see Charlottesville on national news in 2017. I felt helpless to not be able to help the community that became another family to me. To bring better representation to VA-05 is something I couldn’t pass up and to do so as a member of HRC is double amazing! The people of VA-5 deserve a representative who will fight for all of them. This is the year true change comes to America. Let’s get to work!”

Grayson Lewis (he/him): Grayson is organizing and mobilizing Equality Voters in support of HRC-endorsed Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA-7). Grayson is a lifelong Virginian, born and raised in Midlothian. While he now lives in Arlington, he has always counted the 7th Congressional district as his home. He graduated from Monacan High School in 2013 before attending Virginia Tech, where he studied political science and history. During time at VT, Grayson interned for the Arlington County EEOC office, as well as the 2015 campaigns of Virginia State Senator John Edwards and House of Delegates candidate Laurie Buchwald. Upon graduation from college in 2017, he began a two year master’s program in Democracy and Governance at Georgetown University, which he completed in 2019. Here, Grayson learned about the importance of strong institutions and robust civil liberties for the functioning of a healthy democracy. “The very underpinnings of our democracy are under threat,” says Grayson, “and it is up to us to eliminate that threat by removing Donald Trump and his enablers in Congress this November!” When he is not on the job, Grayson enjoys biking, hiking, and playing video games with his college friends.