Hillary Clinton and HRC President Chad Griffin | Photo: Ward Morrison/Metro Weekly
Some might say this was inevitable: The Human Rights Campaign today endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. (Scroll down to take our poll as to who you’d like to see as the Democratic nominee.)
In a statement, HRC president Chad Griffin noted that “we are preparing to put the full force of the Human Rights Campaign behind a pro-equality candidate who will be our next champion in the White House,” adding that the organization will be “launching an unprecedented effort over the next nine months to register, organize, and mobilize the nation’s pro-equality majority for Hillary Clinton and other key supportive candidates on the ballot this year.”
He continues, “In the time since she became the very first First Lady to march in a pride parade, she has led on bills to protect LGBT workers from employment discrimination, advanced hate crimes legislation, pushed for greater HIV/AIDS prevention and funding, and worked to extend partner benefits. As Secretary of State, she did more to advance LGBT equality as a pillar of U.S. foreign policy than any other diplomat in history, giving a landmark speech to the United Nations declaring that ‘gay rights are human rights.’ She helped lead the United Nations to pass the first-ever U.N. resolution on the human rights of LGBT people, and created the Global Equality Fund to advance the rights of LGBT people around the globe.”
Immediately following the announcement, Clinton released a statement, thanking the organization that shares her initials.
“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign—the nation’s largest organization working to achieve full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Thanks to the Human Rights Campaign and millions of advocates across the country, we’ve made tremendous progress. But our work is far from over. Too many LGBT Americans still face discrimination — in employment, in housing, in education, in health care — because of who they are or who they love. And the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. The Republican candidates for president have not only hurled hateful, insulting rhetoric about the LGBT community — they’ve made it clear that if elected, they will roll back the rights that so many have fought for.
“As President, I will continue to fight alongside the LGBT community to pass the Equality Act. I’ll support efforts to allow transgender personnel to serve openly, and I’ll end the dangerous practice of ‘conversion therapy’ on minors. I’ll expand access to HIV prevention and treatment, and confront the epidemic of violence facing the transgender community, especially transgender women of color. And I’ll continue the efforts I led as Secretary of State to advance the human rights of LGBT people around the world.
“I’m proud to stand with the Human Rights Campaign in this fight. Together, we can and will make our country—and our world—more just, fair, and equal for generations to come.”
Harvard University has drawn criticism from conservatives after announcing that Tufts professor Kareem Khubchandani -- who performs and occasionally lectures in drag as "LaWhore Vagistan" -- will serve as a visiting associate professor in its Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality department.
The visiting professorship was established through an endowment from members of the Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus, the university's LGBTQ alumni group. It was created to bring in scholars focused on issues related to sexual minorities and sexuality.
Khubchandani is scheduled to teach two courses during the 2025-2026 academic year: "Queer Ethnography," in the fall semester, and "RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire" in the spring semester, focusing on the cultural influence of the show RuPaul's Drag Race.
More than 9 in 10 LGBTQ adults are out to someone in their lives about their sexual orientation or gender identity -- yet many remain closeted when it comes to family members or co-workers.
According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January, 96% of LGBTQ adults say they have told someone about their identity, while only 3% say they have not come out to anyone. However, up to one-third of LGBTQ adults -- including those who have come out to “someone” -- say they are not out to extended family members, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, or cousins.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating an assault in Logan Circle in which a man allegedly threatened violence against a passerby in what may have been a hate crime.
The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. on September 15 at 14th and R Streets NW. Police say the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Marshall Baxter, jumped in front of the victim -- a neighborhood resident -- and swung his fists, narrowly missing them.
According to an MPD press release, Baxter, who has no fixed address, allegedly shouted a homophobic slur at the victim.
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