New York, NY – Saturday night, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, hosted its Greater New York Dinner. The event featured speeches from HRC’s interim president Joni Madison, who used her remarks to directly confront the right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation campaign and called the current moment – when a slate of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are passing in states across the country and misinformation is rampant-- – an “emergency.”

“These lawmakers are simply pouring gasoline on a wildfire,” Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison said in her remarks of anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers. “They’re going on Fox News and reclaiming vintage hand-me-down hate -- calling us predators and groomers. Marjorie Taylor Greene has called our community ‘pro-pedophile.’ But at the exact same time, one of her staunchest allies -- Matt Gaetz -- is under federal investigation for alleged sex crimes with a minor. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey went out of her way to attack trans kids under the guise of “protecting the children.” But she supported Roy Moore even after news came out that he engaged in sexual misconduct with 14-year-olds. It’s disgusting.

“It is clear that these leaders do not care at all about protecting children. Their hypocrisy is vile. Their actions are vile. Their rhetoric is vile. They are painting a target on our back -- and then telling folks it is okay to go ahead and shoot.”

View Joni’s full speech here and this clip here.

The event also featured remarks from New YorkGovernor Kathy Hochul and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Revered British Actress Golda Rosheuvel was honored with the HRC Equality Award and multi-platinum pop superstar Jessie J gave a show-stopping performance. Actors Tituss Burgess and Ian Alexander, actress and transgender rights activist Nicole Maines, and comedian Dana Goldberg also spoke at HRC’s event.

You can view photos from the Blue Carpet – featuring Golda Roschuevel, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Congressman Jerry Nadler, Ian Alexander, Nicole Maines, Telly Leung, Justin Mikita, Brita Filter, Aquaria, and Michael R. Jackson here. Photos from the event, which additionally feature Jessie J, Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Tituss Burgess, and HRC Interim President Joni Madison, can be found here.

Click here for videos of HRC Interim President Joni Madison, Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Golda Rosheuvel, Ian Alexander, and Nicole Maines. Excerpts from their speeches are below.

HRC Interim President Joni Madison on the state of emergency:

“I will say it again: we are at Code Red. This is an emergency.

“And we can’t just turn on the bat signal and wait to be rescued. We have to be our own damn superheroes. Like the damn superheroes who came before us.”

“Let me tell you, friends, there is no security in complacency. We have to name it.

There are people asking why they should get involved because they think they’re going to be OK -- because they are cis, because they are white, because they are well-to-do.

Many movements are guilty of this. HRC has been guilty of this. But we must change.

The safety of every single member of our community must be our priority. Because that’s what liberation requires. And because that’s the only way we save ourselves.”

Golda Rosheuvel on receiving advice not to come out publicly:

“I thought f*ck that. It’s more important for me to be authentic than to be in an industry that doesn’t accept me. I’ve always felt the need to be true to who I am no matter what.”

“I thought it was bad advice. Representation matters. Our lives exist. Our stories need to be told so we can all be included in the landscape of storytelling and imagination. You are empowered when you see yourself represented. You are no longer other.”

“Bridgerton has brought me, a queer woman of color, into the living rooms of 83 million viewers, and counting…It allowed this biracial cisgender lesbian to play the first Black Queen of England.”

Nicole Maines on anti-trans sports bills:

“People know what it means to be transgender now…People know that gender-affirming care saves lives. We know that transgender kids are not being groomed by their parents. And we know that allowing a trans girl to play soccer doesn’t give her team a game-breaking advantage because we know she’s a fourth grader and not the goddamn winter soldier.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on nti-trans state legislation and leaving a legacy for her new grandchild:

“I became a grandma two hours ago…I realized that whatever I do from this moment forward has an effect on my grandchild’s life…I thought about the world this baby is entering into. I wanted this baby to enter a world in 2022 that was filled with love, and compassion and tolerance, and embraces individuality and diversity and people’s individual human rights. And I want to make sure that even though I couldn’t welcome this baby into the world in that environment, I want to be sure when that baby grows up to be a teenager, and in her 20s and 30s, becomes an adult, I want her to know that the world changed. That we went from this place where there’s states like Florida that are so heartless that they’ll say you can’t even say gay in schools. I don’t want her to grow up in that kind of world. I want that banished, I want new leadership in Florida, let’s start with that, that will change people’s attitudes and make them feel full of love and not hate.”

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Equality Act:

“In 1999, as a newly elected senator, I was the first senator to march in the gay pride parade. In 2019, I was the first senator as the proud parent of a gay couple, to march with my daughter and her wife in the great pride parade. I will be the first senator as majority leader to pass the Equality Act!”

Ian Alexander on representation:

“Being one of the first two transgender and non-binary actors to star in a Star Trek series has been a dream come true. Every day I hear about families watching Star Trek discovery together and educating themselves about gender identity because of my work. My work as a transmasculine actor is to show the world you can be a successful, healthy, happy person who also happens to be trans.”

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.