The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBTQ rights advocate, on Tuesday, named Kelley
Robinson as its next president.
Robinson will become HRC's ninth
president and the first Black, queer woman to head the organization.
She joined Planned Parenthood in 2009
as a regional organizer in Iowa and Nebraska. She served as the
executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the vice
president of advocacy and organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation
of America.
“I’m honored and ready to lead HRC
– and our more than three million member-advocates – as we
continue working to achieve equality and liberation for all Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people,” Robinson said. “This
is a pivotal moment in our movement for equality for LGBTQ+ people.
We, particularly our trans and BIPOC communities, are quite literally
in the fight for our lives and facing unprecedented threats that seek
to destroy us.”
“The overturning of Roe v. Wade
reminds us we are just one Supreme Court decision away from losing
fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to marry, voting rights,
and privacy,” Robinson said. “We are facing a generational
opportunity to rise to these challenges and create real, sustainable
change. I believe that working together this change is possible right
now. This next chapter of the Human Rights Campaign is about getting
to freedom and liberation without any exceptions – and today I am
making a promise and commitment to carry this work forward.”
The group's former president, Alphonso
David, was terminated last September over the role he played in
sexual misconduct allegations against former New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo. David alleges in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against
HRC that his firing was racially motivated.
Robinson's first day on the job will be
November 28.