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Robinson delivered a stirring speech on a day that spotlighted LGBTQ+ rights.
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Wednesday, highlighting the stories of her family and other LGBTQ+ Americans, and drawing a sharp contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
“The story of America is the story of progress towards freedom. In just a few generations, my family went from being enslaved in Mississippi to the first free Black family in Muscatine, Iowa, to preparing to elect President Kamala Harris,” she said.
Robinson spoke on a day that spotlighted LGBTQ+ rights.
She also told the stories of LGBTQ+ trailblazers from across the country. The stories included those of a transgender Arizona young person whose courageous advocacy has helped safeguard equality in that state; a California couple, Sandy Stier and Kris Perry, whose marriage, 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 marriages; and a Texas veteran whose service is a reminder of the community’s commitment to protecting and defending our freedoms and whose advocacy helped end “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
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“We’re your family, classmates, and neighbors,” Robinson said. “Like Daniel, a trans kid in Tucson going to his first prom. Like Eric from San Antonio, who sacrificed in combat and battled to end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell. Like Sandy and Kris, the first same-sex couple to get legally married 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 erase us. He would ban our health care. Belittle our marriages. Bury our stories. But we’re not going anywhere.”
“We fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and trans freedom without exception,” she said to raucous applause. “Equality without exception. Joy without exception. And when we fight, we win.”
