Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, talking about her family and other LGBTQ Americans and drawing a sharp contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
“The history of America is the story of progress toward freedom. In just a few generations, my family went from slavery in Mississippi to the first free black family in Muscatine, Iowa, and now preparing for the election of President Kamala Harris,” she said.
Robinson spoke on a day when LGBTQ+ rights were in focus.
She also shared the stories of LGBTQ+ pioneers from across the country. These included the stories of a young transgender man from Arizona whose courageous advocacy helped secure equal rights in that state; a California couple, Sandy Stier and Kris Perry, whose wedding, officiated by then-Attorney General Kamala Harris, was the first in the state after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed California to stop enforcing the state’s ban on same-sex marriage; and a Texas veteran whose service is a reminder of the community’s commitment to protecting and defending our freedoms and whose commitment helped put an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
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“We are your family, classmates and neighbors,” Robinson said. “Like Daniel, a transgender kid in Tucson going to his first prom. Like Eric from San Antonio, who sacrificed in the fight to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Like Sandy and Kris, the first same-sex couple to legally marry in California 11 years ago in a ceremony officiated by Kamala Harris.”
She contrasted Trump’s devastating “Project 2025” agenda with the hope of a Harris presidency: “Donald Trump wants to wipe us out. He would ban our health care. Degrade our marriages. Bury our histories. But we’re not going anywhere.”
“We fight for the freedom of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, queers and transgender people without exception,” she said to thunderous applause. “Equality without exception. Joy without exception. And when we fight, we win.”
