| Human Rights Campaign | |
|---|---|
The HRC equal sign logo symbolizing equality. |
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| Motto | Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal Rights |
| Formation | 1980 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| President | Joe Solmonese |
| Website | HRC.org |
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization;[1] according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters.[2] Its mission statement is "HRC envisions an America where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are ensured equality and embraced as full members of the American family at home, at work and in every community."[2]
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HRC consists of two separate non-profit organizations and a political action committee: the HRC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on research, advocacy and education; the Human Rights Campaign, a 501(c)(4) organization that focuses on lobbying Congress and state and local officials for support of pro-LGBT bills, and mobilizing grassroots action amongst its members; and the HRC Political Action Committee, which invests strategically in the campaigns of political candidates who will support pro-equality legislation.
Local activities are carried out by local steering committees,[3] of which there are over 30 located throughout the United States.
The Human Rights Campaign’s leadership includes President Joe Solmonese and Managing Director Susanne Salkind. Their work is supported by three boards: the Board of Directors, which is the governing body for the organization; the HRC Foundation Board, which manages the foundation’s finances and establishes official policies governing the foundation; and the Board of Governors, which manages the organization’s local outreach nationwide. All three boards comprise volunteers from across the country.
The Human Rights Campaign's priorities include advancing community health and safety in the areas of hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and healthcare benefits; protecting and caring for families through marriage equality and relationship recognition, and promoting fairness for LGBT foster and adoptive parents; creating a fair and equal workplace, including passage of a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act so that employees cannot be fired based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression; combating gay bashing in schools; and building relationships with straight allies, communities of color, religious leaders and youth.
The HRC Foundation maintains resources and publications on coming out, transgender issues, LGBT-related healthcare topics and information about workplace issues faced by LGBT people, notably the Corporate Equality Index. It also provides resources on LGBT parenting and religion and faith issues.[4] An extensive archive of HRC and HRC Foundation publications is available on HRC’s website.
HRC supports its advocacy work through educational and outreach programs to members and the broader LGBT population. These programs address LGBT-related issues in areas such as aging, the "coming out" process, hate crimes, health care, immigration, youth, marriage and relationship recognition, military service, parenting, religion and faith, transgender rights, education, workplace discrimination and a program for LGBT people of color.
The HRC Foundation’s Coming Out Project provides information to people who are in the process of becoming more open about their sexual orientation or gender identity. The organization's website has coming-out guides that include "A Resource Guide to Coming Out", "Guía de Recursos Para Salir Del Clóset" (a Spanish-language version of the Resource Guide), "Living Openly in Your Place of Worship", "A Resource Guide to Coming Out for African-Americans", "Transgender Visibility: A Guide to Being You", as well as materials for straight allies of LGBT people.[5]
HRC advocates for protections against bias-motivated violent crimes (more commonly known as hate crimes) against LGBT people and played an instrumental role in the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009.[6][7] The new law gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.[8] Referring to the law as a “historic milestone,” HRC President Joe Solmonese noted that its passage represents “the first time that we as a nation have explicitly protected the LGBT community in the law.”[9]
The organization's work on health issues traditionally focused on responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In recent years, HRC has addressed discrimination in health care settings for LGBT employees, patients and their families. Since 2007, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation has published the "Healthcare Equality Index", which rates hospitals on issues such as patient and employee non-discrimination policies, employee cultural competency training, and hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients' families.[10] On April 15, 2010, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop policies that would extend hospital visitation rights to the same-sex partners of gay and lesbian people. Lobbyists from the Human Rights Campaign worked with administration officials to craft this policy change.[11]
In addition to advocating for the rights of LGBT people abroad, such as opposing the 2010 anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, HRC also attempts to expand immigration rights for LGBT people in the United States.
HRC lobbied extensively for the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" law, which bars gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States military. On December 22, 2010, President Barack Obama signed a law that allows for the repeal of this policy. Eric Alva, a gay Marine who was the first American wounded in combat in Iraq and has since been a spokesman on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign's efforts to repeal the law, was invited to stand behind the President at the signing ceremony.[12] According to the terms of the repeal law, the policy will remain in effect until the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that repeal will not harm military readiness, followed by a 60-day waiting period. HRC called on the Pentagon to expeditiously carry out the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal implementation plan.[13] President Obama followed these comments by saying that repeal of the policy should take "a matter of months... not years."[14]
Another key priority of HRC's legislative program has been the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would ban workplace discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The organization has mobilized its members and supporters to lobby their congressional representatives in their home districts and in Washington, D.C.
In 2004 it spent $3.5 million on lobbying, its largest one-year expenditure.[15] It typically spends over $1 million per year on for the services of lobbying firms and consultants, ranking among the biggest spenders on lobbying.[16]
Steve Endean established the Human Rights Campaign Fund in 1980 to raise money for gay-supportive congressional candidates. Within three months, the organization was registered with the Federal Election Commission as an independent political action committee (PAC). In 1983, Vic Basile, at the time one of the leading LGBT rights activists in Washington, D.C., was elected as the first executive director. In October 1986, the HRC Foundation (HRCF) was formed as a non-political, tax-exempt organization. Through research, educational efforts and outreach, the HRC Foundation continues to encourage LGBT people to live openly and to support their ability to do so.
In January 1989, Basile announced his departure, and HRC reorganized from serving mainly as a political action committee (PAC) to becoming a lobbying and political organization. HRC decided on a new Statement of Purpose:
| “ | For the promotion of the social welfare of the gay and lesbian community by drafting, supporting and influencing legislation and policy at the federal, state and local level. | ” |
Tim McFeeley, a Harvard Law School graduate, founder of the Boston Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance, and a co-chair of the New England HRC Committee, was elected the new executive director. Total membership was then approximately 25,000 members.
In 1990, following lobbying by HRCF and other groups, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which, among its other provisions, protects people with HIV and AIDS from discrimination.
In 1992, HRC endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time — Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. In March 1993, HRC began a new project, National Coming Out Day. From January 1995 until January 2004, Elizabeth Birch served as the executive director of the HRC. Under her leadership, the institution more than quadrupled its membership to 500,000 members and purchased an office building for its Washington, D.C. headquarters. In August 2000, Birch became the first leader of an LGBT organization to address the convention of a major political party when she spoke before the Democratic National Convention.
In 1995, the organization dropped the word “Fund” from its name, thus becoming the Human Rights Campaign. That same year, it underwent a complete reorganization. The HRC Foundation added new programs, such as the Workplace Project and the Family Project, while HRC itself broadly expanded its research, communications, and marketing/public relations functions. The organization also unveiled a new logo, a yellow equal sign inside of a blue square, which has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the LGBT community.
In 2002, HRC purchased its headquarters building from B'nai B'rith International, and, after extensive renovations, it opened in 2003.
As part of the festivities surrounding the Millennium March on Washington, the HRC Foundation sponsored a fundraising concert at Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium on April 29, 2000. Billed as a concert to end hate crimes, "Equality Rocks" honored hate crime victims and their families, such as featured speakers Dennis and Judy Shepard, the parents of Matthew Shepard. More than 45,000 people attended the event, which included Melissa Etheridge, Garth Brooks, Pet Shop Boys, k.d. lang, Nathan Lane, Rufus Wainwright, Albita Rodríguez, and Chaka Khan.
Elizabeth Birch's successor, Cheryl Jacques, resigned in November 2004 after only 11 months as executive director. In a statement released by HRC, Jacques said she had resigned over "a difference in management philosophy". Birch's partner, Hilary Rosen, was named the interim executive director.
In March 2005, HRC announced the appointment of Joe Solmonese as the president, describing him as one of the "nation's most accomplished and respected progressive leaders".
HRC launched its Religion and Faith Program in 2005 to mobilize people of faith to advocate for LGBT people. Staff members from this program helped to organize and support DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality. These faith leaders played a key role in building political support behind the ultimately successful effort to enact legislation allowing for same-sex marriage in Washington, DC.[17] On March 10, 2010, the first legally-recognized same-sex weddings in the District of Columbia were held at the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign.[18]
Following HRC’s policy work and lobbying, two key provisions in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 ensured financial protections for same-sex couples.
On August 9, 2007, six of the leading Democratic presidential candidates participated in the first-ever televised presidential forum devoted to LGBT issues. HRC and Logo TV co-hosted the event, "Visible Vote '08: A Presidential Forum".[19]
In 2008, HRC participated in the first congressional hearing focusing exclusively on the issue of workplace discrimination against transgender Americans. Joe Solmonese and HRC Business Council members Meghan Stabler and Diego Sanchez gave testimony.
During the 2008 election cycle, HRC engaged in the largest electoral campaign in the history of the organization. Called Year to Win, the organization spent over $7 million to mobilize LGBT and allied voters.[20]
In 2010, the United States' ban on HIV-positive people's entry into the country for travel or immigration was lifted. HRC had lobbied on Capitol Hill for the statutory repeal and for the change to the Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations.[21]
On January 4, 2010, Obama released a memorandum directing the secretary of Health and Human Services to develop new federal regulations to protect LGBT hospital visitation and healthcare decision-making rights. HRC worked with White House and Department of Health and Human Services staff in support of the memorandum.
Each year since 1997, HRC has hosted a national dinner that features high-profile speakers and serves as the organization’s single largest annual fundraiser. In 2009, President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of approximately 3,000 guests at HRC’s 13th Annual National Dinner. In his speech, President Obama reaffirmed his pledge to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), as well as his commitment to passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.[22] Other featured speakers at past dinners have included President Bill Clinton and Betty DeGeneres (1997); Maya Angelou (1998); Kweisi Mfume (1999); Sen. Joseph Lieberman (2000); Sen. Hillary Clinton (2001); Rep. Richard Gephardt (2002); Rep. John Lewis (2003); Rosie O’Donnell (2004); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Tim Gunn (2007); and Suze Orman (2008).
The historical records of the Human Rights Campaign are maintained in a collection at the Cornell University Library. Arriving at Cornell in 2004, the records include strategic planning documents, faxes, minutes, e-mails, press releases, posters, and campaign buttons. Taking up 84 cubic feet (2.4 m3), the archive is the second largest in the library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Human Sexuality Collection. In February 2007, the archive was opened to scholars at the library, and selected records were organized into an online exhibit called "25 Years of Political Influence: The Records of the Human Rights Campaign."[23][24]
Critics of the HRC have accused the organization of favoring the Democratic party. Andrew Sullivan, a conservative gay political columnist and blogger who endorsed George W. Bush in the 2000 election campaign,[25] has been critical of the HRC, calling it "a patronage wing of the Democratic party, designed primarily to get its members jobs in future Democratic administrations or with Democrats on the Hill".[26][27] The organization responded by saying, "There’s nobody happier about what Andrew Sullivan is doing than Tony Perkins and James Dobson", who are known for opposing LGBT rights.[28]
HRC's endorsement of New York Republican Al D'Amato in his 1998 campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate brought more criticism. HRC defended the endorsement because of D’Amato's support for an end to discrimination in the workplace and the right of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. However, many liberal LGBT people did not welcome D'Amato's many conservative stances, including his opposition to affirmative action and abortion rights.[29]
HRC has also been accused of overstating the number of its actual members in order to appear more influential in politics.[30][31] HRC responded that its membership totals include both donors and active supporters.[32]
Transgender people and allies have criticized the HRC for its stance on the 2007 version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which enumerated sexual orientation as a protected category but not gender identity and expression.[33] Once the legislation was submitted by U.S. Representative Barney Frank, HRC officially neither opposed nor supported it.[34] This followed a speech by HRC President Joe Solmonese at the transgender Southern Comfort Conference the previous month, where he said that HRC "oppose[d] any legislation that is not absolutely inclusive."[35] (He later claimed to have misspoken.) HRC later explained it could not actively support a non-inclusive bill, but did not oppose it because the legislation would strategically advance long-term efforts to pass a trans-inclusive ENDA. However, in letters to U.S. Representatives, HRC did in fact express support for the bill. [36][37] HRC's support for the bill was objected to by many in the LGBT community., and many objected to the symbolic value of excluding transgender people from the bill's protections. HRC's position was considered a betrayal of the transgender community by many, including HRC's first and only openly trans board member, Donna Rose, who resigned in protest.[38] It also separated HRC from other high-profile advocacy groups for LGBT people (e.g., PFLAG, Equality Federation, National Stonewall Democrats), who worked together under the banner of United ENDA to protest the bill.[39]
LGBT activists were stunned when HRC leaders announced that it would be softening demands for equal rights and consider making political bargains, such as supporting President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security partly in exchange for the right of same-sex partners to receive benefits under the program.[40][41]
In 2007, HRC and Logo sponsored the first presidential forum in history to discuss LGBT-related issues. Critics wondered why Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel had been excluded from the debate. Senator Gravel was later invited to the forum, where he and Dennis Kucinich were the only candidates to express unequivocal support for same-sex marriage.
HRC's undue involvement in the Catholic Gay Community has been criticized by the Rainbow Sash Movement according to GLTNEWSNOW.[42] Furthermore, the radical queer collective Against Equality is critical of the HRC's mainstream politics.
Public health researchers have been critical of HRC for giving a perfect score on the 2009 Corporate Equality Index to Reynolds American, parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.[43] Some of these researchers maintain that the large health disparities in tobacco use[44] caused by targeted marketing, including the company's marketing plan from the 1990s called Project SCUM (for "Subculture Urban Marketing"), undermine equality.
In 2002, the Human Rights Campaign, in collaboration with Centaur Entertainment, released an awareness album named Being Out Rocks. It was released on 11 October 2002 to celebrate National Coming Out Day that year. It features a cross-section of LGBT and LGBT-supportive straight artists. Its release was accompanied with signing events at the Times Square Virgin Megastore in New York City and at the HRC Action Center in Washington, D.C.
In February 2005 HRC released a second CD compilation with Centaur, a 2-disc set called Love Rocks.
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