Earlier today, NewNowNext exclusively reported that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized for his transphobic comments in two videos released over the course of the last month. Last week, HRC President Alphonso David called on Mayor Bloomberg to apologize for those statements and engage with community leaders to understand the impact of his words. In response to the Mayor’s apology, Alphonso David, HRC -- issued the following statement:

"The Human Rights Campaign called on Mayor Bloomberg to apologize, and we are glad that he did. He took the time to engage members of the transgender community and it is heartening that he has realized his comments were unacceptable.  It is our collective responsibility to ensure that all members of our community, particularly the most marginalized members, are treated with dignity and respect. Today, Mayor Bloomberg and his campaign rededicated themselves to pursuing a more inclusive future for the LGBTQ community, and for transgender people specifically. 

“Our focus, alongside all the pro-equality candidates, remains on mobilizing the 57 million Equality Voters around the country to defeat Donald Trump and Mike Pence and reverse their administration’s many attacks on our community.”