Renowned Artist and Advocate Amy Sherald Announced as Human Rights Campaign 2025 National Dinner Honoree

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization – announced that it will honor prolific artist and advocate Amy Sherald at this year’s National Dinner in Washington, D.C. Sherald will receive HRC’s Ally for Equality Award for amplifying the existence and experiences of the LGBTQ+ people in her art, best exemplified by her work “Trans Forming Liberty” which reimagines Black transgender artist Arewà Basit as the Statue of Liberty. This piece, alongside her outspoken advocacy, serves as a bold demand for visibility and a call for inclusion in the American dream — especially at a time of enhanced political and social antagonism. 

The sold-out 2025 HRC National Dinner will be a night of celebration and community building, taking place on Saturday, September 13th, at the Washington Hilton. 

“Amy Sherald’s work brings to life the diversity, beauty and power of our community. Her talent, advocacy and bravery, in the face of cruel and politically motivated censorship, calls forward a vision of the American Dream that is not only inclusive, but celebrates the diversity of our beautiful community. We are so excited to honor her at this year’s National Dinner, as we work toward making LGBTQ+ stories, faces and voices an undeniable part of our country’s history and future,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. “This night will be a moment to lift up the voices of our advocates, celebrate the beauty of our authentic selves, and unite around a future where our community’s dreams know no limits. 

“In the fight for social justice, art has served as a megaphone — it has been a place where dreams are held and a lens through which we can imagine a better, inclusive and more authentic world,” said artist Amy Sherald. “Through my work, I seek to make visible the full, complex truth of American life. Transgender people, Black and Brown people, we are all part of the American identity. Attempts to erase our existence is not only futile, but a blatant disservice to the truth.”

“As the LGBTQ+ community faces numerous attacks designed to strip back rights and representation, I hope my work reminds us that the LGBTQ+ community is an inseparable thread in the fabric of our country. I am grateful to receive this honor from the Human Rights Campaign and will continue to stand against censorship, discrimination and exclusion — until the world we live in reflects the brightness we’re reaching towards.”

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Amy Sherald is an American painter and portraitist well known for her work centering LGBTQ+, Black, Brown and other marginalized communities. In 2016, Sherald became the first woman as well as the first Black person to win the National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The next year, she became one of the first Black people to receive a presidential commission from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, resulting in her highly recognized work depicting former First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2020, Sherald painted Breonna Taylor's portrait which was featured on the September cover of Vanity Fair. 

A collection of her works, “American Sublime,” was set to arrive at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in September of this year”. However, after an executive order alongside anti-LGBTQ+ censorship attempts by the Trump Administration, Sherald was told the museum was considering removing “Trans Forming Liberty,” a painting that reimagines Black transgender artist Arewà Basit as the Statue of Liberty. In response, Sherald decided to pull her exhibit, standing strong against this attempt to erase transgender representation. Sherald continues to be an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, through both her work and her actions, with the larger goal of making equality a reality for all.

The National Dinner brings together HRC’s dedicated advocates, members and supporters across the country to raise crucial funds in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people, with 3.6 million members and supporters. The HRC Foundation (a 501(c)(3)) works to ensure LGBTQ+ people are safe, seen and supported where it matters most: at school, at work and in every community across the country. From the courtroom to the classroom, from Congress to corporate America, HRC and the HRC Foundation build power through partnerships, storytelling, and action—working to create a future rooted in equity, freedom and belonging for all LGBTQ+ people.