Let's Get Free

While Americans grapple with the crushing weight of rising costs brought on by economic instability, this administration has prioritized slashing funding for healthcare, kicking out transgender service members and unleashing masked agents onto our streets to terrorize our communities. At every turn, they’ve chosen insults over answers, distractions over solutions and chaos over competence. But as the 2026 midterms approach, their era of unchecked power is reaching its limit. It is finally time for them to face the voters.

Across the country, Americans are standing up to say enough is enough. We won’t stay silent as bigoted attempts to legislate LGBTQ+ people out of public life bubble up from state legislatures to the halls of Congress. We won’t accept narrow-minded politics that try to tell us there is only one way to raise a family, to express our identities or to show up within our communities. This year, the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, LGBTQ+ people are showing up in force to defend the most enduring of American ideals: freedom.

This November, we have a chance to let freedom ring once again — to reshape the makeup of Congress and elect candidates at all levels of government who will stand up against attacks on our communities and focus on the issues that matter most. To that end, HRC has launched a $15 million electoral program, “Let’s Get Free,” aimed at harnessing the electoral power of America’s 74 million Equality Voters, those who prioritize issues of equality when deciding who to vote for. The program will reach voters through staff-led mobilizations, events, paid advertising and grassroots engagement in key races focusing on achieving four main goals:

This year, the hostility and vitriol directed at our communities call on us to think beyond talking points and advertising placements, and to strive toward building a campaign that embraces the community-focused, people-powered ethos honed by generations of activists to push the needle toward justice. By leveraging new methods of distributed organizing and relational organizing in our campaign work, we will not only amplify our message for this November but foster enduring community, relationships and infrastructure that will strengthen the LGBTQ+ movement far into the future.

Our midterm strategy is rooted in decades of tactical experience and rigorous data collection. This includes new polling data from the HRC Foundation showing that amidst an ongoing tidal wave of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, policy attacks and electoral scapegoating, LGBTQ+ voters are not only positioned to be a crucial base of support for pro-equality candidates, but are themselves already mobilized and engaged. The report found that 92% of LGBTQ+ voters, who could comprise nearly 10% of the midterm electorate, say that they “definitely will vote” in November, compared to 68% of non-LGBTQ+ voters.

In an environment where gerrymandering, entrenched political machines and the influence of dark money stack the deck, control of Congress will likely be determined by a few thousand votes in a handful of competitive districts. With these razor-thin margins, the LGBTQ+ vote isn’t just part of a winning coalition, but is a decisive factor that will determine the balance of power in Washington. That’s why HRC’s election program is engaging early and often in communities across the country to maximize our impact on as many fronts as possible. We’re working across coalitions to train candidates to speak with authority on LGBTQ+ issues, register voters in the communities where they live and provide essential resources to build up the next generation of advocates.

From 1776 to 2026, freedom has been a paramount American value to enjoy and strive for. Today, LGBTQ+ people are ready to get free — free from hate, free from discrimination and free from the chaos and apathy coming from too many of our elected leaders.

Just like the right to vote, the right to live free from prejudice and bigotry has never been a guarantee — it is hard-won progress that requires all of us to fight for and defend. Amid this era of division and mistrust, LGBTQ+ people are called to stand together and speak as one immutable voice in defense of our rights.

This election is our opportunity to change the narrative. It’s our chance to show that no amount of misinformation, intimidation or attempts to invalidate our identities will stop us from participating in the democratic process. Together with our allies, LGBTQ+ voters can remind the country this November that we are a formidable, growing political force worthy of respect and reverence from anyone who seeks public office.

We have the data, the people power and the clarity of purpose to win. Now, for our futures, our families and our communities: Let’s Get Free.