WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, is vaulting into the midterms with a $15 million investment targeting Republicans in battleground districts after a series of setbacks in recent years.
鈥淚 think that this is the election that鈥檚 going to be the sea change, not only for getting to a pro-equality majority but for changing the momentum on this fight for equality,鈥� said Kelley Robinson, the Washington-based organization’s president, in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淭his movement is ready for its next wind, its second wind.鈥�
Besides eight congressional districts that could help determine control of the U.S. House, the Human Rights Campaign is also supporting Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio and Texas. The money will be spent on advertising, events and canvassers.
The LGBTQ+ movement has been reckoning with a wave of defeats on the campaign trail and in the courtroom that have left Democrats struggling to regain their footing.
President Donald Trump’s Republican administration has rolled back protections for transgender people, such as and . The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority has while in Democratic states.
鈥淚 believe that our movement made ourselves believe that we were closer to equality than we actually are,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淭he last few years, we鈥檝e been doing an incredible amount of listening, of learning, also of repositioning this work.鈥�
After the 2024 presidential election, Democrats were divided over the role that LGBTQ+ rights played in their party鈥檚 losses. The Trump campaign ran a series of advertisements mocking Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting medical gender transitions for incarcerated people and highlighting the issue of transgender people playing on women’s sports teams.
鈥淜amala Harris is for they/them,鈥� said a voice-over in one national ad. 鈥淧resident Trump is for you.鈥�
Robinson argued that the ad was effective because of an implicit economic message, not for its critiques of the policy toward transgender people. But conservative activists and some moderate Democrats have argued such stances are too unpopular with swing voters.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real disconnect between most voters and the party elite,” said Leor Sapir, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
He added, 鈥淚f I鈥檓 a Democrat consultant, my advice would be: Do everything in your power to keep this issue off the public agenda.”
Robinson said her organization has been soul-searching on how to best craft winning messages on LGBTQ+ rights.
鈥淥ur job is to move away from the fireballs that our opposition wants to talk about and instead find a way to get back to the things that are impacting folks every day,鈥� she said.
In January, the Human Rights Campaign published a guide to blunting conservative attacks on LGBTQ+ issues, citing the successful campaigns of and .
Although the guide encourages candidates to 鈥渓ead with your values鈥� and 鈥渁ddress concerns directly,” it also encourages them to 鈥済o big鈥� and quickly pivot to issues like cost-of-living concerns.
鈥淚 think the number one way to shut out a voter is to try to make them believe that their fears are not real. So what we coach candidates on doing is listening,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淔or folks who have questions about the issues, that鈥檚 OK. We鈥檙e in a moment where the stakes in front of us are too high to look away.鈥�
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