Spring 2025 • Zach Sener He/Him
Today’s political environment has brought devastating setbacks and obstacles in the fight for full LGBTQ+ equality. From school board meetings to statehouses to the halls of Congress, MAGA politicians have kept up their outrageous and cynical fixation on policing the lives and livelihoods of LGBTQ+ people. Over recent years, we have seen them take aim at our healthcare, our participation in public life, our access to facilities, our identity documents and so much more. Now with an anti-equality White House following the lead of extremist state lawmakers and far-right organizations, many communities across the country are rightfully fearful for what the future may hold.
We know that for many, the unrelenting nature of these attacks makes it difficult to see a positive path forward for ourselves and our communities. Still, we must envision and pave that path to full equality where no one is denied basic freedoms and equal opportunities simply because of who they are or whom they love. LGBTQ+ people everywhere are counting on pro-equality voices to stay strong and resilient in the face of these challenges and offer renewed hope for a brighter future for LGBTQ+ people.
In the first few months of this year alone, we have seen remarkable profiles in leadership and courage from the frontlines across the country — from student walkouts to fiery testimony at town halls to massive rallies and demonstrations at state capitols and public forums. People are fighting back, and it’s on us to make sure their courage is seen and repeated in every corner of the country.
That’s why HRC is stepping up our ground game and grassroots mobilization campaigns. HRC’s ability to make change is owed to the resilience and dedication of our nationwide system of volunteers, members and supporters. They are the backbone of our movement, and they bring their diversity of backgrounds, experiences, identities and skill sets to the forefront of the fight for equality.
Our greatest strength comes when we unite with purpose as a collective movement. Working together, HRC and our volunteers make sure the bravery of those standing up for our community is uplifted, replicated and amplified until every anti-LGBTQ+ politician receives the message loud and clear: We are here; we are powerful; and we aren’t going anywhere.
Now more than ever, we need your voice! Becoming a volunteer with HRC provides you the opportunity and training to change the lived experiences for LGBTQ+ people and make the world more fair and equitable. No matter how much time you are able to give, your contribution is essential to our fight.
HRC’s Campaigns team is growing our grassroots volunteer program to make sure that regardless of where a person lives, and regardless of whether their interest lies in workplaces, schools, policy or politics, they can find an inroad to actions via an HRC engagement channel that resonates with them that will help shift the national narrative.
We invest in our volunteers through leadership development and recognition programs, offering workshops, conferences, online resources and support from staff to ensure that our volunteers become the strongest and most effective advocates, leaders and fundraisers they can be. Together, we will bring the collective voices of the pro-equality movement to both state and national fights across the country.
These are difficult times, not only for LGBTQ+ people for millions of Americans being targeted by power hungry politicians seeking to sew division and mistrust. But it is in times like these that sources of light shine brightest. When we stand as a united front, we can change the narrative and put ourselves and our communities back on the path to full lived equality for all.
Right now, HRC is harnessing the power of our community to fight back against a profound injustice inflicted on Andry José Hernández Romero, a 32-year-old gay make-up artist and asylum seeker from Venezuela.
Despite seeking safety in the United States due to persecution, Andry was wrongfully disappeared to a notorious maximum security “terrorism confinement” prison in El Salvador — without due process of law. Andry has no criminal record and is legally seeking asylum in the United States due to credible threats of violence against him because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs.
Andry’s enforced disappearance in El Salvador is a profound injustice — a wound inflicted not only on him but on the entire LGBTQ+ community and anyone who believes in due process and the fundamental right to seek safety.
Visit HERE to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and urge them to work for the safe and immediate return of Andry and other disappeared people — and to ensure all Americans, asylum seekers and foreign nationals residing in the United States are afforded due process of law as required by the U.S. Constitution.