ATLANTA — Today the Human Rights Campaign PAC (HRC PAC) announced its endorsement of Stacey Abrams for Governor of Georgia. HRC PAC is committed to engaging our volunteers, members and supporters to mobilize the 1.5 million Equality Voters in Georgia in support of Abrams and other pro-equality candidates up and down the ballot.

Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison released the following statement:

“The Human Rights Campaign is proud and excited to endorse Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia. She is a proven leader and an inspirational figure, both nationally and among Georgians. Very few people predicted that the voter registration and outreach efforts she led in Georgia for the 2020 election would result in pro-equality victories for the presidential and U.S. Senate candidates — but she knew that the state was primed for a new direction. She has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community, as she fought against regressive, anti-equality legislation during her time in the Georgia House of Representatives and supported policies like nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Georgians and marriage equality. Stacey Abrams is the leader Georgia needs to continue moving toward a brighter, more inclusive future.”

Stacey Abrams released the following statement:

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, which has worked effectively and tirelessly for LGBTQ+ Americans for decades. As governor, I will work to ensure that Georgia is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community to live, work and visit. As a daughter of Methodist ministers, I was taught that my faith should be a shield to protect others. I am proud to be an ally who worked with Democrats, independents, Republicans and the business community to stop discriminatory legislation from being adopted in our state. My top priority as governor will be full Medicaid expansion, which will provide access to coverage for thousands of LGBTQ+ Georgians and provide critical tools to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in our state. My administration will seek to stop hate crimes, particularly among trans women of color, to expand mental health resources and to reduce bullying and suicide among trans youth. I am committed to building One Georgia — a state that welcomes and protects the LGBTQ+ community and gives every Georgian regardless of zip code or background the opportunity to thrive.”

Stacey Abrams is one of six children to a shipyard worker father and research librarian mother, both ordained United Methodist ministers. Abrams dedicated her life in service to others as a Yale-trained tax attorney, small business owner, voting rights advocate and political leader, serving for seven years as Democratic Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives. She helped Georgia small businesses have access to capital so they could grow and played a critical role in bringing economic opportunities to Georgia such as the film industry, the Atlanta Dream and numerous transportation projects. Her work to register and engage new voters and expand the electorate along with activists across the state was credited as a key factor in the election of President Joe Biden and Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. In the 2020 election, her voting rights organization partnered with HRC to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ voters nationwide. A Spelman College, University of Texas, and Yale Law School graduate, she is a best-selling fiction and non-fiction author.

Potential Opponents With Anti-Equality Records

• Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has demonstrated a history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions. Just this week, at his behest, the Georgia legislature passed a discriminatory bill that will create a committee empowered to bar trans youth in the state from playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity. In recent years, Kemp has claimed that LGBTQ+ people don’t need discrimination protections because “they’re already protected,” and he said he supported “religious freedom” legislation that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ people on religious grounds. Earlier in his career, as a state lawmaker, he supported a constitutional amendment that would have reinforced the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in Georgia.

• Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, also a Republican, spoke in 2020 at an anti-LGBTQ+ group’s conference alongside Vice President Mike Pence. He also spoke out against the Obama administration for supporting the right of transgender students to use the bathroom at school that conforms with their gender identity. And when President Trump banned transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, Perdue initially supported Trump’s ban before changing his mind but still opposed insurance coverage of transition-related medical care for transgender soldiers.

HRC’s Commitment to Georgia

Equality Voters, including the 1.5 million in Georgia, are a voting bloc of demographically and geographically diverse Americans who are united by the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality. Equality Voters are younger, more racially diverse, and more female than the general electorate, they recognize and trust the HRC brand, and they are more likely to identify with issue-specific organizations than candidates or political parties.

Across the country, HRC works every day to elect pro-equality leaders who support policies that will support the rights and lives of LGBTQ+ people. During the 2020 election cycle, HRC staff on the ground recruited 5,800 individual volunteers nationwide who completed 28,500 hours of voter contact in more than 2,650 volunteer events. HRC engaged in robust digital and online GOTV efforts, including sending over 2.7 million person-to-person text messages, a massive increase from 2018 when approximately 500,000 texts were sent. HRC sent over 2.5 million mail pieces, had over 930,000 phone conversations with voters, and engaged more than 200,000 voters through HRC’s voter dashboard at hrc.org/vote.