The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest Censored page, Censored page, Censored page, and Censored page (LGBT) equal rights organization in the United States. The HRC "envisions an America where [LGBT] people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community." [1] http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_HRC

Contents

1 Actions of the HRC 2 History and leadership 3 Controversies 4 National corporate sponsors and partners 5 See also 6 External links

Actions of the HRC

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 Censored page, 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 the LGBT cause, reviewing scorecards of how lawmakers rate on LGBT issues, and drafting and sending letters to lawmakers.

History and leadership

The Human Rights Campaign Fund was established in 1980 by Steve Endean to raise money for Censored page-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, D.C. 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 80's, HRC's membership was devasted 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, "For the promotion of the social welfare of the gay and lesbian community by drafting, supporting and influencing legislation and policy at the federal, state and local level." 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 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 built a large complex in Washington, DC. In August 2000, she 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. Her successor, Cheryl Jacques, resigned in November 2004 after 11 months as executive director. Birch's partner, Hilary Rosen, former chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, was named as interim replacement. The Human Rights Campaign also consists of a Board of Directors and a Board of Governors. The HRC Foundation also maintains its Board. In December 2004 they named a straight man, Michael Berman , as their board chair.

Controversies

HRC has not been a stranger to controversy from both the right and left of the political spectrum.

Officially, the HRC represents the transgender community. However, it has previously been the target of protests once due to its refusal to demand the inclusion of the transgendered in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) bill. These objections changed in 2004 when the organization announced support for an ENDA bill that was inclusive of gender identity, however sparking charges of "trans-jacking" from the far right.

HRC came under heavy fire in 1998 when they endorsed incumbent Republican Al D'Amato over Democrat Charles Schumer in a race for a New York Senate seat. D'Amato had many decades of votes in favor of homophobic legislation, while Schumer was one of the strongest proponents of pro-gay legislation while in the House of Representatives. Their reasoning was that d'Amato had pleged to vote for a hate crimes bill. Schumer won the race handily, and harbored no public ill will towards HRC, but many liberals were appalled at what they viewed as a crass attempt to show "bipartisanship", and the organization suffered a loss of credibility with the left that has yet to fade away. That sense of resentment only continued in 2004 when HRC disinvited gay rights activist Margaret Cho from a fundraiser because they thought her anti-Bush remarks would cause controversy.

HRC has attracted extended criticism from the right for claiming to be bipartisan while endorsing Democrats for President, such as Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 (after he signed the Defense of Marriage Act and ran ads touting the legislation), Al Gore in early 2000 (some Republicans felt that Gore, who had once supported Censored page and took muted positions on other issues, was no better than John McCain or Bush on GLBT positions), and most of all, John Kerry in 2004. The duality of HRC actively supporting same-sex marriage while also supporting a candidate who opposed same-sex marriage rankled some observers. HRC stated they supported Kerry because he opposed a federal amendment banning gay benefits and he supported them in many other areas Bush did not, such as gays in the military, AIDS funding, ENDA, and so on. Still, they refused to endorse Kerry for several months after he endorsed an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Other flare-ups resulted from their 2004 decision to not endorse Republican senator Arlen Specter, citing his vote in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Others claimed that Specter had been a consistent vote in favor of hate crimes, anti-discriminatin laws, and AIDS funding, and to endorse a longtime incumbent in favor of an underdog, unknown Democrat (Joe Hoeffel) smacked of partisan politics. Specter went on to win reelection.

The anger continued after the November 2004 election, as Bush won reelection, viciously bigoted Republicans won more seats in Congres, and 11 states passed bans on same-sex marriage and even limited benefits for gay couples. Some claimed HRC had gone "too far" in fighting for same-sex marriage rights. Others argued that the Republicans had brought up the gay marriage issue long before gays wanted to discuss it, and that even when they had focused on less "controversial" issues, anti-marriage legislation such as DOMA had passed. Other questions, such as how exactly Bush managed to INCREASE his total number of self-identified gay voters in spite of HRC spending tens of millions of dollars to support Kerry, and why HRC spent some of their limited resources on renting trucks that read "GEORGE BUSH, YOU'RE FIRED!!!" to drive around New York City during the Republican National Convention, were less easily answered. Many major donors were reportedly incensed at the direction the group had taken through 2004, a situation which likely resulted in the departure of Cheryl Jacques. More scrutiny came when they hired a straight man to run their board, although some felt the move was long overdue and that gays need the help of heterosexuals to win major battles. [2] http://www.nyblade.com/2004/12-17/viewpoint/editorials/looking.cfm

In December 2004 HRC's new leadership made comments suggesting they would support George W. Bush's plans to privatize Social Security (HRC backtraked when more progressive groups such as Censored page attacked the remarks).

Late in the year controversial pioneering AIDS and gay rights activist Larry Kramer viciously attacked HRC in a Village Voice interview, echoing a familiar criticism with the remarks: "I never saw an organization exist so long, raise so much money, and do so little." [3] http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0450/solomon.php

National corporate sponsors and partners

The following companies are the current national corporate sponsors and partners of the HRC:

• Corporate sponsors
  • The Advocate
  • American Airlines
  • Beaulieu Vineyard
  • BoxOfficeTickets.com
  • Capital One
  • Cingular Wireless
  • Coors Brewing Company
  • IBM
  • John Hancock Financial Services
  • Mitchell Gold Co.
  • Nike
  • Olivia Cruises & Resorts
  • Out
  • Replacements, Ltd.
  • Showtime
  • Volvo Cars of North America
  • Washington Mutual
• National partners
  • Centaur Music
  • PlanetOut Partners

See also

• Censored page

External links

• Human Rights Campaign http://www.hrc.org/