“Dana Nessel is a proven leader who has spent her career fighting for equality and standing up for Michigan’s working families,” said HRC Michigan State Director Amritha Venkataraman. “She is the champion we need to move equality forward and advance protections for LGBTQ people, and we are proud to endorse her historic bid for Michigan Attorney General. We look forward to turning out this state’s 1.1 million Equality Voters for her and other pro-equality candidates this November.”

“I am absolutely humbled and honored to accept the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign,” said Dana Nessel. “Together we will march lockstep to ensure that LGBTQ Michiganders — like any Michigander — receive equal protection under the law."

A longtime LGBTQ advocate, Nessel has spent her career working to make Michigan a more equal, inclusive and welcoming state. She has litigated several high profile LGBTQ cases, including DeBoer v. Synder, which challenged Michigan’s ban on adoption by same-sex couples. Nessel currently serves as the president and founder of the Fair Michigan Foundation, where she runs a first of its kind anti-hate crime task force. She lives in southeast Michigan with her wife Alanna and their twin sons.

In the general election, Nessel will face Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard, who is no friend to the LGBTQ community. Leonard challenged the Michigan Civil Rights Commission’s vote to interpret discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a form of sex discrimination, and has been endorsed by the anti-LGBTQ organization the American Family Association of Michigan.

In Michigan, HRC has identified more than 1.1 million Michiganders as likely “Equality Voters” -- voters who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies. HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in Michigan in the 2018 cycle, and has staff and resources on the ground in the state as part of the largest grassroots expansion in the organization’s 38-year history.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community.

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