Lgbtq Rights Group Human Rights Campaign Launches Tour Through Mostly Red States

The Human Rights Campaign, nan country’s largest LGBTQ authorities organization, is taking its LGBTQ equality connection connected nan roadworthy pinch a multicity circuit focused connected changing much hearts and minds, peculiarly successful reddish states.

The “American Dreams Tour” will footwear disconnected Wednesday successful Columbus, Ohio, and recreation to cities successful predominantly Republican-led states done November. The tour’s goal, according to HRC, is to amplify LGBTQ people’s stories “at a clip of rising governmental attacks and taste erasure” and “celebrate nan communities pushing backmost against dislike and fighting for a early of equality for all.”

“For half a century, our activity has changed hearts and minds pinch our stories — Harvey Milk successful nan Castro, Pedro Zamora connected nan Real World, trans younker and parents coming guardant successful statehouses crossed nan country. When group cognize who we really are, everything changes. This circuit is astir reclaiming that legacy,” Kelley Robinson, president of nan Human Rights Campaign, said successful a statement. “We’re walking to nan places wherever harm is happening—and wherever dream is rising. We’re showing up for communities who’ve been told they don’t beryllium and reminding them, and nan country, that they are nan American dream.”

The circuit will “anchor” successful six awesome cities — Columbus; Las Vegas; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Atlanta; and Nashville, Tennessee — pinch different stops to beryllium announced successful nan coming weeks, according to HRC. Each extremity will beryllium tailored to nan issues queer group are facing successful those peculiar locales. The Columbus stop, for example, will beryllium centered connected “Ohio’s bequest of LGBTQ+ activism while confronting today’s governmental backslide and barriers to HIV care,” according to HRC, while Atlanta’s extremity will beryllium successful business pinch Atlanta Pride and will zero successful connected “Black LGBTQ+ activity and community-led attraction models.”

The “American Dreams Tour” comes astatine a precarious clip for LGBTQ authorities — and peculiarly transgender rights. So acold this year, nearly 600 anti-LGBTQ bills person been introduced successful statehouses crossed nan U.S., according to a tally by nan American Civil Liberties Union. And a study published past week by LGBTQ defense group GLAAD asserted that 300 anti-LGBTQ actions had travel from nan Trump management since January. An NBC News study published successful February recovered that lawmakers successful astatine slightest 9 states had precocious introduced measures to effort to chip distant astatine same-sex couples’ correct to marry.

"For nan first clip successful decades, we're really seeing a backslide successful LGBTQ+ authorities crossed this country, and we've sewage to do something," Robinson said Monday successful an interview pinch MSNBC. "We've sewage to get backmost to basics successful telling our stories and gathering group wherever they are, because we cognize that erstwhile we show our stories, we not only alteration hearts and minds, we displacement nan measurement group behave, that they vote, that they advocator successful their communities."