A European Informational Website
learn more
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equal rights organization in the United States, with over 600,000 members. The HRC "envisions an America where GLBT people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community." [1]
The Human Rights Campaign is a visible entity in U.S. politics. It lobbies Congress for support of LGBT-positive bills, works to build an LGBT-friendly Congress by funding those politicians that support the LGBT community, mobilizes grassroots action amongst its members, and encourages members to employ their right to vote in every election.
Through its website, the HRC also assists members in identifying state and local lawmakers, researching state and local laws regarding issues central to LGBT causes, reviewing scorecards of how lawmakers rate on LGBT issues, and drafting and sending letters to lawmakers.
Additionally, HRC maintains information on how to come out and information about workplace issues (in the Corporate Equality Index).
The Human Rights Campaign Fund was established in 1980 by Steve Endean to raise money for gay-supportive congressional candidates. Within three months time, the HRC was registered with the Federal Election Commission as an independent political action committee. In 1983, Vic Basile, one of the leading LGBT rights activists in Washington, DC at the time, was elected as the first executive director. In October 1986, the HRC Foundation was formed. As with many gay organizations in the 1980s, HRC's membership was devastated by the onslaught of AIDS and they spent much of the decade struggling to hold their ground.
In January 1989, Basile announced his departure, and the HRC reorganized from serving mainly as a PAC to becoming a lobbying and political organization. The purpose statement of the HRC became,
Tim McFeeley, a graduate of Harvard Law, and founder of the Boston Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance and a co-chair of the New England HRC Committee, was elected the new executive director. Total membership was then approximately 25,000 members. In 1992, the HRC endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time — Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. In March 1993, National Coming Out Day became a project of the HRC. From January 1995 until January 2004, Elizabeth Birch served as the executive director of the HRC. Under her leadership, the institution more than quadrupled its membership to 500,000 members and purchased an office building for its Washington, DC headquarters.
The headquarters building was purchased from B'nai B'rith International in 2002 for $9.8 million. A large national capital campaign raised over $28 million for the project. After extensive renovations of the mid-century modern structure, the building is currently valued at over $18 million.
As part of festivities surrounding the Millennium March on Washington, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation sponsored a fundraising concert, Equality Rocks, on April 29, 2000. Over 45,000 people attended at Washington DC's RFK Stadium to watch Melissa Etheridge, Garth Brooks, Pet Shop Boys, k.d. lang, Nathan Lane, Rufus Wainwright, Albita, and Chaka Kahn. The event was billed as a concert to end hate crimes and the parents of Matthew Shepard spoke and other families of hate crime victims were honored.
In August 2000, Birch became the first leader of an LGBT organization to address the convention of a major political party when she spoke before the Democratic National Convention.
Birch's successor, Cheryl Jacques, resigned in November 2004 after only 11 months as executive director. In a statement released by the organization, Jacques resigned over "a difference in management philosophy". Incidentally, Birch's partner, Hilary Rosen, former chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, was named as interim replacement.
On March 9, 2005, the HRC announced the appointment of Joe Solmonese as the president, describing him as one of the "nation's most accomplished and respected progressive leaders".
The Human Rights Campaign also consists of a Board of Directors and a Board of Governors. The HRCF (Human Rights Campaign Foundation), a non-profit entity, also maintains a separate Board. In December 2004, they named Michael Berman as their Board chair.
In 2006, the Human Rights Campaign came under fire from other nonprofit human rights groups for accepting money from Nike, Inc., which has received criticism for its human rights violations in other countries.
On May 5, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, which would expand the 1969 federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, as well as remove the existing prerequisite that the victim be engaging in a federally-protected activity. Solmonese and the HRC have lobbied extensively for this expansion.
The historical records of the Human Rights Campaign are maintained in a collection at the Cornell University Library. Arriving at Cornell in 2004, the records include strategic-planning documents, faxes, minutes, e-mails, press releases, posters and campaign buttons which constitute the second largest collection of records in the Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Human Sexuality Collection area with 84 cubic feet of records. On February 8, 2007, the records were opened to scholars at the library, and selected records pulled into an online exhibit called "25 Years of Political Influence: The Records of the Human Rights Campaign." [2][3]
Many conservatives have criticized the HRC for what they term "powerful homosexual groups from pressuring the media to shut down the debate on homosexuality in this country." [4]
Andrew Sullivan has also been critical of the HRC calling them "a patronage wing of the Democratic party, designed primarily to get its members jobs in future Democratic administrations or with Democrats on the Hill (even while Howard Dean treats them like the help)."[5]
Others have criticized the Human Rights Campaign's advocacy for certain gay as politically expedient.[6]
Cyndi Lauper promoted the HRC in a tour where she was mostly critical of conservatives.[7]
Critics have called the Human Rights Campaign a "Trojan horse" for left-wing causes.[8] [9]
Religious groups assert the HRC promotes legislation to "Americans who voice their opposition to the homosexual lifestyle" Bob Knight, in a WorldNetDaily.com, called the HRC sponsored Hate Crimes Bill a "prescription through tyranny." as well as "Homosexual activists have redefined any opposition to homosexuality as 'hate speech.' [10]
In 2002, the Human Rights Campaign, in collaboration with Centaur Entertainment, released an awareness album named Being Out Rocks. It was released on October 11 2002 to celebrate National Coming Out Day that year. It features a cross-section of LGBT and gay-supportive straight artists. Its release was accompanied with signing events at the Times Square Virgin Megastore in New York City and at the HRC Action Center in Washington, D.C.
On February 8, 2005, the Human Rights Campaign released its second CD compilation with Centaur, a 2-disc set called Love Rocks.
As of April 1, 2005, the following companies are the current national corporate sponsors of HRC (source):