Today, the Human Rights Campaign celebrated the one year anniversary of Alphonso David being appointed president of the organization.

“I’m so proud of the work that we have done at the Human Rights Campaign over the past year – one of the most challenging, yet inspiring, years of my life,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “We have fought for LGBTQ rights in a myriad of venues — in state legislatures, Congress, courtrooms and around the world. We are reaffirming that Black Lives Matter. We are aggressively fighting for justice for transgender people, and for all those who are targeted because of who they are or whom they love. And, even though we are still stuck at home, we have built virtual communities and comforted each other while preparing for what’s next. Now, the most important thing we must focus on is defeating Donald Trump and Mike Pence this fall. As I look back on the past year, one thing is clear: nothing is certain. However, we must all work together to make certain that we deny this hateful administration four more years and continue our work, together.”

Since Alphonso took the helm at the Human Rights Campaign, the organization has:

• Deepened the organization’s commitment to racial justice, penning an op-ed late last year noting the organization’s – and the greater LGBTQ movement’s – failings in centering the experiences of people of color in the community.
• Hosted an unprecedented primetime, nationally televised LGBTQ-focused town hall in partnership with CNN, allowing the Democratic candidates for president to talk about their plans for LGBTQ equality.
• Endorsed Joseph R. Biden for president of the United States and worked alongside his campaign to educate and turn out LGBTQ and Equality Voters, a critical and powerful group of voters that could sway the election and oust Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s administration of hate.
• Partnered with Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight to ensure increased access to the ballot for all by fighting voter suppression and intimidation.
• Initiated a campaign, dubbed “Vote Equal, Vote Safe”, to educate and inform people about how they can cast their ballots in this year’s election – whether it’s by mail, in-person, through early voting options, or otherwise.
• Published research – in coordination with HIT Strategies, the Latino Victory Foundation, the NAACP, UnidosUS and Woke Vote – on voting by mail and how it affects marginalized groups at the ballot box.
• Passed comprehensive LGBTQ non-discrimination protections in Virginia, making it the first state in the South to have those protections.
• Defeated anti-LGBTQ bills at the state legislative level, including in some of the most politically challenging states in the country.
• Launched a new impact litigation initiative and filed HRC’s first federal civil rights lawsuit last month. The lawsuit challenges the Trump-Pence administration’s attempt to strip the protections of Section 1557 out of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1557 provides critical, LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination protections in the provision of health care services. The impact litigation practice will also be announcing additional domestic cases and its first international lawsuit in the coming months.
• Introduced an initiative aimed at justice for transgender people, including celebrating the lives and accomplishments of members of the trans community and ensuring that they have economic opportunities and can receive justice when they are targeted for crimes.
• Expanded protections for employees, hospital patients, and youth in foster care through growth in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, Healthcare Equality Index, and All Children-All Families Program.
• Engaged our members nationwide with campaigns that garnered hundreds of thousands of actions, such as a letter condemning racial violence, one condemning the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on blood plasma donations from gay and bi+ men, and a campaign asking Hallmark to include more LGBTQ representation on its channel following its removal of an ad featuring a same-sex couple.
• Transformed the Human Rights Campaign’s programming and events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including hosting voter town halls, local fundraising events, virtual concerts, interfaith services and more.
• Amplified the organization’s work through strategic partnerships with cultural leaders such as Billy Porter, Hank Willis Thomas, Jericho Brown, Lindsey Peoples Wagner and the Black in Fashion Council, Showtime and more.
• Conducted several rounds of research around the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ people in the United States.