Kelley’s Weekly Message: August

Dear Friends,

We know that when institutions fail us, as they so often do, people power becomes our superpower. With that truth in mind, I’m so proud that this week, the Human Rights Campaign  launched “The American Dreams Tour: Equality Across America” — a multi-city journey through mostly “red” and “purple” states to amplify LGBTQ+ stories, address HIV and healthcare realities for the community and chart a powerful path forward for equality. We announced the tour on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The tour is a bold, nationwide initiative, spotlighting LGBTQ+ resilience, resistance and joy at a time of rising political attacks and cultural erasure. Running through November, it will travel to cities and towns across the country to celebrate the communities pushing back against hate and fighting for a future of equality for all. The American Dreams Tour is our largest nationwide storytelling campaign in recent years.

Alongside the tour, we also kicked off One Million Voices for Equality — a nationwide campaign to engage one million LGBTQ+ people and allies and put a renewed focus on one of the most powerful tools we have for changing hearts, minds and policies: our personal stories. This initiative will be deeply embedded in the American Dreams Tour, each stop of which will feature training by HRC Foundation’s “Voices for Equality” storytelling program. These trainings help people harness their personal experiences as tools for change — whether speaking with their neighbors, engaging with lawmakers or posting content on their social media channels.

Watch the American Dreams Tour launch video here.

Our first stop was Columbus, Ohio, where we descended on Wednesday. We started in the Buckeye State, because it’s where harm and hope live side-by-side. The state has banned gender-affirming care for youth. Schools are under attack. DEI has been dismantled. And conversion therapy still exists. But Columbus is also where community shows up with power. Where people push back. Where Black queer leadership is making history. And we earned some excellent local news coverage, for example, on NPR and the Columbus Dispatch.

The American Dreams Tour comes as we are experiencing an unprecedented wave of attacks against LGBTQ+ people — from bans on gender-affirming care and curriculum censorship to anti-trans legislation and HIV funding cuts. These attacks aren’t happening in isolation. They’re part of a coordinated strategy by far-right extremists, from the White House to the courthouse, to silence our stories, undermine our health and erase us from public life — extremists who claim the American Dream only for themselves.

But the American Dream has never belonged to just one group or one kind of person. It’s been built by people who dared to demand more — by women who marched, workers who organized, Black folks who bled for freedom and LGBTQ+ people who refused to disappear. And every time this country tried to erase us, we rebuilt something stronger with our stories, our truth and our refusal to be silent.

For half a century, our movement has changed hearts and minds with our stories — Harvey Milk in the Castro, Pedro Zamora in the Real World, trans youth and parents coming forward in statehouses across the country. When people know who we really are, everything changes. This tour is about reclaiming that legacy. We’re traveling to the places where harm is happening — and where hope is rising. We’re showing up for communities who’ve been told they don’t belong and reminding them, and the country, that they are the American dream.

I also want to uplift the remarkable story of Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, also known as the two Dallas dads (@2_dallas_dads). They’re featured with their twin sons on the popular TV show, “Back to the Frontier,” on HBO Max, and their family adventure reflects the exemplary courage, resilience and joy of our community. Do yourself a favor, and check them out in our Instagram reel and learn more about our community’s history in the American frontier of the Old West.

Our community and our families have always been embedded in the fabric of our nation. We’ve always moved this country forward with our voices, our grace and our grit. Now, it’s your turn to share your story and reclaim your part of the American dream.

Talking Points & Actions:

American Dreams Tour: Our national tour launched in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday and will be anchored in six major cities, with rural and suburban activations throughout: Columbus, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Dallas, Atlanta and Nashville. Learn more about the tour and watch the launch video here.

One Million Voices for Equality: This week, HRC also launched One Million Voices for Equality, a nationwide campaign to engage one million LGBTQ+ people and allies and put a renewed focus on one of the most powerful tools we have for changing hearts, minds and policies — our personal stories. Share your story today.

HRC National Dinner: HRC’s largest fundraising event of the year will be held on Saturday, September 13th, in Washington, D.C. Our volunteer leaders work tirelessly to make it a powerful and inspiring evening of storytelling and activism. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. By showing up, lending your voice and standing with us, you help fuel the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. Get your tickets to the National Dinner before they sell out. And thank you for being part of this movement!

Dear Friends,

This week the American Dreams Tour made its way to Texas and reminded us exactly why this work matters.

In San Antonio, more than 100 members of the local community joined us for an Equality Town Hall, filling the room on a weeknight for an honest, candid, and powerful dialogue about the state of our LGBTQ+ movement.

We were joined by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones — the first openly LGBTQ+ mayor in the city’s history — whose presence underscored how deeply rooted our struggle is in the civic fabric of Texas. I then had the immense honor of sitting down for a fireside chat with Laura Terrill, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas. Together, we talked about what it means to lead in the face of relentless political attacks, and what resilience really looks like when our rights, bodies and futures are on the line.

Then came the Q&A and one question in particular has stayed with me.

An audience member stood and asked, “How do we find the space to love this country when it continues to attack us?”

There was a pause. A collective breath.

And then I answered the only way I know how — with the words of our ancestor James Baldwin: “I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

That room held so much truth. So much pain. Community members stepped forward to share their deepest concerns — from federal HIV funding cuts threatening vital programs to ICE raids tearing families apart, all while fighting for basic dignity in a system that often excludes us. But there was also so much pride. Our time in San Antonio was a declaration that our love for this country is not passive — it’s an act of courage. A choice we make every day. Not to accept the way things are, but to fight for the way they should be.

From there, we traveled to Austin, where I met with local leaders who are navigating the dual reality facing our community across Texas: the harm of systemic attacks, and the hope that lives in our resistance. In every conversation, I heard echoes of what we heard in San Antonio — people fighting to be seen, to be safe and to be free.

This tour is not just about visits and events. It’s about anchoring our movement in the power of storytelling, meeting people where they are and turning pain into power. And right now, that couldn’t be more urgent.

Because while we were on the road, the national headlines spoke volumes.

The State Department was caught removing references to anti-LGBTQ+ violence from its annual human rights report. A deliberate erasure of the truth. A signal to the world that the lives and safety of LGBTQ+ people are negotiable.

The FBI released new data showing that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain among the highest in the country. Attacks based on sexual orientation made up 17% of all hate crimes last year. Attacks based on gender identity made up 4%. Behind those numbers are real people — lives lost, families grieving and communities still under threat.

The Air Force announced that transgender service members between 15 and 18 years of service will now be denied retirement benefits, dignity and decades of earned respect. An institutional betrayal with real consequences.

And at the United Nations, the Trump administration is working to spread its anti-trans agenda globally — objecting to the word “gender” in international resolutions, removing protections for LGBTQ+ people and aligning with authoritarian regimes who deny our existence outright.

Let’s be clear: These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a coordinated campaign to erase our humanity and roll back decades of progress. And that is why the American Dreams Tour exists.

Because our stories have always been the engine of change in this country. It was storytelling that changed hearts during the AIDS epidemic. It was storytelling that built the case for marriage equality. And it is storytelling that will move us forward now.

With this tour, we are hitting the road across the country to shine a light on both the harm and the hope. From statehouses to barbershops, town halls to university campuses, we are uplifting the dreams, demands and voices of our people. And we are inviting the nation to listen — because when people hear who we really are, they show up. They vote. They fight with us. And equality wins.

This is the work. And it’s only just begun.

To everyone who showed up in Texas — thank you. To our partners, like Laura Terrill and our HRC team in Texas, thank you. And to every person reading this who feels the weight of this moment: We need you. Whether you're on the ground with us or watching from afar, this movement belongs to all of us.

The American Dream has always been a promise. We’re here to make sure it includes us all.

Talking Points & Actions:

One Million Voices for Equality: Thousands of HRC members and supporters have already shared their stories as part of our One Million Voices for Equality campaign. We are engaging one million LGBTQ+ people and allies to put a renewed focus on one of the most powerful tools we have for changing hearts, minds and policies — our personal stories. Take the pledge to share your story today.

The State Department. This week, the State Department was caught removing references to anti-LGBTQ+ violence from its annual human rights report. A deliberate erasure of the truth. A signal to the world that the lives and safety of LGBTQ+ people are negotiable. Read more here.

The FBI. The FBI also released new data showing that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain among the highest in the country. Attacks based on sexual orientation made up 17% of all hate crimes last year. Attacks based on gender identity made up 4%. Behind those numbers are real people — lives lost, families grieving and communities still under threat. Read more here.

The Air Force. And the Air Force announced that transgender service members between 15 and 18 years of service will now be denied retirement benefits, dignity and decades of earned respect. An institutional betrayal with real consequences. Read more here.

Dear Friends

What a summer it has been. This month, we’ve not only launched the American Dreams Tour, but we’re also bringing our stories to an even bigger stage with the debut of our new YouTube series, Our American Dreams. In this series, I’ll be sitting down with the who’s who of equality defenders: activists, leaders, artists and everyday people going deeper into the conversations that shape our fight for freedom.

Subscribe, share and follow along, because our stories don’t just deserve to be told — they deserve to be heard.

And already, in just two weeks on the road, the tour has taken us into communities where we are listening, sharing stories and building power together.

Because let’s be clear: this work is more important than ever.

This week, ten years after the Supreme Court extended marriage rights nationwide, the Court is being asked, explicitly, to overturn that decision. The case stems from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, who is now appealing damages and attorneys’ fees. Her lawyers are using that appeal as a vehicle to argue that Obergefell v. Hodges was “egregiously wrong” and should be overturned.

We know this is no accident. It’s part of a decades-long strategy from groups like Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Counsel, who are working piece by piece to dismantle our freedoms. They’ve never stopped… not at school boards, not in state legislatures and not in the highest courts of the land. Their goal is to make us afraid, invisible and silent.

But here’s what’s true: marriage equality remains the law of the land. A bipartisan supermajority of Americans support it. And while the Court hasn’t yet decided whether to take this case, HRC is ready for whatever comes next. That’s why we fought for and won the Respect for Marriage Act, ensuring federal protections for same-sex couples. And it’s why we will never stop fighting.

At the same time, Texas has once again become ground zero in the fight for democracy and equality. Governor Abbott and Trump’s allies have forced a second special session, pushing through a dangerous package that includes gerrymandered redistricting maps, a bathroom bill 2.0, an abortion ban and even using flood relief as a bargaining chip.

The stakes could not be higher. These moves are a direct attack on Black, Latine, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ Texans, and they set the stage for tactics that could spread nationwide. In response, Texas House Democrats have broken quorum to stall the GOP’s agenda, and we are standing shoulder to shoulder with them. This weekend, HRC is anchoring the Fight the Trump Takeover Rally in Austin. We’re also mobilizing supporters online, amplifying community voices, and calling out these power grabs for what they are.

Our message is clear: voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around. What happens in Texas won’t stay in Texas, and HRC is fighting to make sure this attempted takeover fails.

Here in Washington, D.C., we’re confronting dangerous tactics designed to intimidate and silence. This week, President Trump declared a so-called “crime emergency,” announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed the National Guard into our neighborhoods. But the truth is, crime is down across the district. Donald Trump’s authoritarian tirade isn’t about safety — it’s about control. And it’s a dog whistle aimed at Black, Brown and trans people.

As we grapple with this unprecedented crisis know this: we are keeping our teams safe, monitoring the situation closely and continuing our work without interruption. Because no matter what tactics are used, we will not be driven out of the fight.

All of this underscores why we launched the American Dreams Tour and why changing the narrative about our lives is so imperative. For decades, our movement has relied on litigation and elections to drive progress. And we’ve won extraordinary gains using those tools. But today, those levers alone are not enough. Courts can be stacked. Elections are won and lost. Policy wins can vanish with a single vote or ruling.

What cannot be so easily undone is our impact on culture. How people see us, value us and understand our humanity. Right now, the far-right is saturating the airwaves with lies about LGBTQ+ people, designed to sow fear and erase us. If we don’t fill that space with truth, authenticity and love, it will be filled by our opposition. It’s time to be vocal and visible.

This isn’t a theory, it’s history.

The Civil Rights Movement didn’t succeed on policy arguments alone; it shifted the narrative through stories and images that forced America to confront the cruelty of segregation. Marriage equality wasn’t just won in court; it was won when neighbors, colleagues and families came to truly know us. The same is true today. Stories move hearts, change minds and make anti-LGBTQ policies politically toxic. They build the cultural momentum that makes legal and political victories possible.

That’s exactly what the American Dreams Tour is designed to do. We’re showing up in big cities and small towns, in red states and blue states, amplifying the voices of people on the ground. We’re telling the truth about who we are, what we’ve endured and what we’re building. We are connecting our struggles to the broader American promise of freedom and belonging.

From Stonewall to Obergefell, it has always been our stories that paved the way for lasting change. And together, we’re writing the next chapter.

As we continue this tour and this fight, I want to leave you with this: our movement is strongest when we show up — together — without fear. That’s why I’m inviting you to join us at the HRC National Dinner this September in Washington, D.C. come, and bring others with you. We will safely celebrate our power, our community and our vision for the future. And we will remind our allies, our friends and our opposition alike: this is our damn country, too.

Talking Points & Actions:

Marriage under Threat: They’ve come for our passports, and now they’re coming for our marriage licenses… Our opponents are openly talking about rolling back our right to marry — and when they tell us what they are trying to do, we should believe them. But HRC was designed and built for the long fight. We’ve won critical protections to safeguard federal rights — and if the Court takes up this case, we will win this battle. Make an emergency donation to HRC to ensure we have the funding to protect our hard-won right to marry.

D.C. Takeover: President Trump’s decision to seize control of the police force in Washington, D.C., and flood the streets with National Guard troops has drawn urgent warnings of a dangerous escalation of presidential power. HRC communications director Laurel Powell said, “Deploying uniformed National Guard troops and federal agents into our neighborhoods is not about safety; it’s about intimidation. His actions endanger all families and threaten all our freedoms. We call on all D.C. residents, and all Americans, to stand united in rejecting this blatant abuse of power.” Read more here.

Book of the Month: This week, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation launched its first-ever Book of the Month series — an initiative designed to bring queer joy amid growing political attacks on books with LGBTQ+ characters and storylines. The series will highlight a book each month, aiming to inspire people in both red and blue states to bring these stories into schools, libraries, community centers and other youth-friendly spaces. Read more here.

National Dinner Tickets: HRC is holding its largest fundraising event of the year on Saturday, September 13th, in Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 1997, the National Dinner has marked pivotal moments in our movement — from celebrating the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to the historic victories for marriage equality. Get your tickets today.

Dear Friends,

The great Audre Lorde once said “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives.”

The wisdom of Lorde has been on my mind a lot this week. Every headline reminds us that our struggles are deeply connected: LGBTQ+ equality, racial justice, reproductive freedom, democracy itself. None of us lives single-issue lives — and the threats we face are layered and linked. That’s why our response must be just as connected, just as intersectional and just as determined.

This week, we saw another painful reminder of that truth with the sudden removal of the rainbow crosswalk that was part of the Pulse Nightclub memorial in Orlando. For survivors, families and the entire LGBTQ+ community, that site was sacred ground — a place to grieve, to remember and to recommit to ending hate-fueled violence. The destruction of the crosswalk felt like an attempt to erase not only tragedy, but resilience and love.

Pulse was never just a nightclub. It was a sanctuary. And the memorial was never only about the past; it was about demanding a better future. That is why HRC was quick to help mobilize the community, who showed up, sidewalk chalk in hand, to color the crosswalk back in. Because we will not be erased — and we will never give up the fight for commonsense gun safety reform, stronger hate crimes enforcement and spaces where LGBTQ+ people can live openly and safely.

Almost simultaneously, another dangerous front opened when the Department of Justice issued subpoenas for the private health records of patients receiving gender-affirming care — including in states where transgender health care is protected. This latest attack is more than bureaucratic overreach — it’s intimidation. It seeks to scare providers, parents and young people away from accessing life-saving care across the country, asking not only for medical treatment but personal identifying information, home addresses and more.   

We are not naive. We know where this leads. If the government can weaponize medical privacy against one group, none of us are safe. And while this latest attack targets trans youth, it’s a page torn out of the same authoritarian playbook that has been used to divide marginalized people: surveillance, scapegoating, suppression.

Yet even in the face of unparalleled attacks, HRC is standing firm. We are mobilizing legal expertise, grassroots support and the power of communication to make sure families know their rights and to push back against this unprecedented intrusion.

In the fight to protect our democracy, nowhere is the battle clearer than in Texas. Governor Abbott and Trump’s allies have forced yet another special session to advance a dangerous agenda: gerrymandered maps to silence voters, a revived bathroom bill to target trans people, an abortion ban to strip away autonomy and even holding up flood relief to score political points.

This is a direct attack on Black, Latine, immigrant and LGBTQ+ Texans — and it’s also a test run for strategies designed to spread nationwide. If we don’t stop them in Texas, these tactics will land in statehouses across the country.

But Texans are fighting back. House Democrats broke quorum to block the GOP’s takeover, and HRC is standing with them. Last weekend, we joined the Fight the Trump Takeover Rally in Austin, mobilizing supporters, amplifying community voices and reframing the narrative for what it is: not governance, but a power grab.

These power grabs come at a cost. Today, MSNBC ran an important piece telling the story of why Rachel Gonzales, a former member of HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality, and her family made the excruciating decision to move from their home in Texas to a foreign country. Libby Gonzales, who is now 15, has been telling her story to the Texas legislature since she was 7 years old. The Gonzaleses have been a constant presence in the fight in Texas, and they stayed as long as they could to fight to be able to stay in the home that they love. HRC will continue to fight back against gerrymandering as well as the anti-transgender legislation filed in Texas session after legislative session — including the bathroom bill that was heard in the House State Affairs committee earlier today.

Even as Texas exposes the scale of the threat to our democracy, California shows us another path. Governor Gavin Newsom is refusing to let democracy be dismantled. He is taking aggressive steps to push back against unfair redistricting, using every legal and political lever to protect fair representation in California.

This is an important reminder: we are not only on defense. When leaders fight for fairness, when they use their platforms to strengthen not suppress democracy, they set a model for what’s possible. California’s pushback demonstrates the power of proactive leadership and the importance of refusing to cede ground.

All of these developments — Pulse, trans healthcare, Texas, California — underscore why the American Dreams Tour is not just timely but necessary. For decades, our movement leaned on two primary levers: litigation and electoral politics. And yes, they brought historic wins. But today those tools alone are not enough. Courts can be stacked. Elections manipulated. Policies reversed in a single session.

That’s why the American Dreams Tour is built around storytelling. From Stonewall to marriage equality, our stories have always been our most powerful weapon. They move hearts, shift minds and lay the foundation for political and legal change. The same is true now.

And so we move forward with our next stop, Las Vegas.

In Vegas, we’ll take this fight into every corner of community life. We’ll sit down with leaders at the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada to discuss HIV equity and lessons for the nation. We’ll celebrate our resilience and joy at the HRC Las Vegas Dinner. We’ll worship at an affirming congregation, reminding ourselves and the world that faith and LGBTQ+ equality can and must coexist. And I’ll sit down with Congressman Steven Horsford for a filmed conversation in our Our American Dreams YouTube series, connecting stories of harm and hope to the broader American promise.

Our time in Las Vegas will serve as proof that we are defined not by the lies told about us, but by the truth we live every day.

Talking Points & Actions:

Membership Town Hall: HRC will hold a special end-of-summer membership town hall on Wednesday, August 27th, at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT. We will be discussing the American Dreams Tour, threats to marriage equality and current events for the LGBTQ+ community. RSVP here.

Texas Gerrymander: This week, the Texas House approved new, gerrymandered Congressional maps for the state, a move to tilt the electoral map in Donald Trump’s favor ahead of the 2026 midterms. Among the Democrats whose districts are being targeted is Representative Julie Johnson, the only openly-LGBTQ+ member of Congress from the South. Read more here.

School Boards Matter: HRC’s Welcoming Schools program and the School Board Integrity Project have compiled a new resource guide to help LGBTQ+ students, parents and allies get involved at their local school boards. School Boards Matter: A Guide to Effectively Advocating at the School Board Level contains information aimed at helping readers understand how school boards operate and how to get involved. Read the full story here.

Dear Friends,

This is a hard time in our country. Many of us feel sick and tired — some days, even filled with despair. We are heartbroken by the shooting in Minneapolis. No child should have to worry for their safety going to school. No parent should have to face the start of a school year, worried about losing their kids. And while we are still learning more facts about the case, we’ve seen a disturbing rise in anti-transgender vitriol. Mayor Jacob Frey spoke to this on Wednesday, saying, “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone. We should be operating from a place of love for our kids.”

I couldn’t agree more. Let’s remember that tragedies can be prevented with lifesaving, common-sense gun laws. But some politicians are working to block those at every opportunity. We must press on and end this violence.

Even in the hardest times, hope isn’t just a feeling, it’s a decision, an intention.

This week, we had a membership town hall to discuss the importance of our American Dreams Tour, current threats to marriage equality, how HRC is organizing for the elections ahead and beyond, and ways to volunteer with HRC and support our urgent work. We were thrilled with the level of engagement of our members and supporters who asked very good questions.

Many of our viewers specifically asked about the future of marriage equality, given the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court filed by Kim Davis, who, herself, has been married four times to three husbands. Cathryn Oakley, HRC’s Senior Director of Legal Policy, responded that Davis’ effort to overturn marriage equality is unlikely to succeed; however, when our opponents say that they are coming after our right to marriage equality, we should believe them — and fight back hard.

Other viewers asked about how we can be better allies at the local level in this time of increasing threats to the LGBQ+ community, what policy changes we’d like to see in a pro-equality “Project 2029” and what we can do as parents to help our young trans kids stay safe at school and maintain access to gender-affirming care, even in presumably “safe” states. The Q&A discussion was robust, substantive and worth watching.

This week, the American Dreams Tour continued. In Somerville, Massachusetts, we were honored to be joined by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley for an Equality Town Hall focused on the issues impacting our community. Together, we discussed the devastating impact of cuts to HIV prevention services, the urgent need to protect access to gender-affirming care, and the importance of imagination in our movement — the imagination to dream of a better tomorrow, and the determination to fight forward until we get there. The audience was packed; the conversation was powerful, and the energy in the room reminded us that our collective fight is alive and unstoppable.

As we build people-power we must also build political power. That’s why the Human Rights Campaign PAC, in partnership with the Equality Virginia PAC, was proud to endorse pro-equality champions in the commonwealth: Abigail Spanberger for governor, Ghazala Hashmi for Lt. Governor, Jay Jones for Attorney General and a strong slate for the House of Delegates. They are all committed to upholding and expanding the rights and protections of the LGBTQ+ community in Virginia. And HRC will mobilize over 2 million Equality Voters to help them win.

Also this past week, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, in partnership with Whistle Stop Capital, released a new report, showing that LGBTQ+ inclusion is good for long-term business growth. “The Link between LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Business Performance” debunks recent political attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion as harmful to businesses or employees. The data analysis included a company’s scores in HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index and financial indicators such as market value and revenue growth over time; it indicated that workplace inclusion isn’t just a set of values — it’s a positive business strategy, too.

We continue to keep our eyes on the courts as well. HRCF, on behalf of eight leading health care scholars, filed an amicus brief in Chiles v. Salazar, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a Colorado law that prohibits licensed therapists from providing so-called “conversion therapy” to minors. Conversion therapy is a vile practice that every major medical and mental health association in the country opposes; it is long-disproven, unethical and deeply traumatic to the young people forced to endure it.

HRC also responded to mass resignations of dedicated public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control, the resignation of LGBTQ+ health advocate and Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez. For eight months, the LGBTQ+ community has watched the administration and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. take a blowtorch to the public health framework that has helped improve our health outcomes over the past decades. The recent firings and resignations of some of the nation’s top medical leaders is an urgent wakeup call for America’s public health.

Here’s the choice before us: we can “comply in advance” or fight back as a unified and unstoppable force. We’re building the largest equality movement in HRC’s history. We’re taking our American Dreams Tour on the road, listening to LGBTQ+ people and lifting up their stories, changing hearts and minds, shifting laws and policy and transforming our nation. And we’re fighting not only for ourselves but also for our families, our communities, our freedoms and our future.

So, HRC family, let’s rise. Let’s organize and mobilize. Let’s dream bigger than we ever have. And let’s get free.

Talking Points & Actions:

Brandon Wolf on CNN: ICYMI, this week, HRC National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf went on CNN to discuss the Pulse nightclub memorial crosswalk that Gov. Ron DeSantis painted over in a petty and transparent attack on LGBTQ+ people. Anti-equality politicians want to erase our existence, our history and our pain, but we’re never going to stop fighting for equality. Share a photo of your local rainbow crosswalk on Facebook, Instagram and Threads and tag @humanrightscampaign, or @hrc.org on Bluesky.

My Story is the American Dream: HRC just launched a new video, “My Story is the American Dream,” to uplift the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies who spoke to what the American Dream means to them. We shared the video in Wednesday’s town hall, and you can watch it here.

Win a Lexus: The HRC Foundation and Lexus are offering the exciting chance to win a brand-new 2025 Lexus RZ. For only $100, you can enter to win this all-electric SUV in your choice of exterior and interior colors and desired trim package. Net proceeds will benefit the HRC Foundation and fuel its educational activities and programs that support the LGBTQ+ community. We are grateful to Lexus, a committed partner to address our society’s most pressing challenges and accelerate lasting, positive change. Purchase your tickets here, and good luck!*