This National Volunteer Appreciation Week, I want to express my deepest gratitude for you and our volunteers across the country. Over our forty-year history, HRC volunteers have built a legacy of defending progress and advancing equality at work, at school, in our communities, and across the globe. Our volunteers are the backbone of our organization and the leaders of our work on the ground. Whether lobbying our elected officials for safer, more equitable policies, raising funds for the political and Foundation work of the organization, or staffing a local Pride booth and helping people celebrate being their authentic selves, our volunteers dedicate their time and their talents to serving their communities.

Audre Lorde once wrote, “Without community, there is no liberation.” Her quote embodies the spirit of the Human Rights Campaign — the realization that together, we are stronger than hate and oppression. Lorde continues, “Community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” This encapsulates the driving force of this organization, a community that honors and embraces our diversity and strives for a world where we can all be our authentic selves. Our volunteers lead the equality movement with heart, passion, and commitment to building a better world, and I thank you for keeping us moving forward.

Without you, we could not have achieved marriage equality, secured hate crime protections, encouraged the business community to recognize our rights and needs, opposed the Trump-Pence administration’s discriminatory ban on transgender troops, or taken action to confront the horrific violence facing transgender women of color. Without our volunteers, we could not elevate and address the specific challenges facing LGBTQ immigrants, people of color, and people of faith.

Now, as we face an unprecedented public health crisis, I want to thank you for continuing to devote your time and energy to this work. You know that as challenging as the pandemic has and continues to be on all of us, the importance of our work continues. As we implement creative new ways for you to stay involved in the face of this pandemic, we know that — with your continued leadership and involvement — we will continue our journey toward full equality, both in the 2020 election and beyond.

You, our volunteers, are central to this fight for equality, and I am proud that I get to stand alongside you every day. Thank you for all that you do.

Join us at hrc.org/Volunteer.