Our History
The Human Rights Campaign was founded in 1980, with a goal of raising money for congressional candidates who supported fairness. In the years that followed, the organization established itself as a resilient force in the overall movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights as it strived to achieve fundamental fairness and equality for all.
A Historical Snapshot
In 1980, Steve Endean, an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, founded the Human Rights Campaign Fund to raise money for pro-fairness congressional candidates. In that era, several extremist right-wing groups, including the Moral Majority and the National Conservative Political Action Committee, were gaining notoriety, and HRCF was created in part to counter their anti-gay tactics.
Over the decades that followed, the Human Rights Campaign — which dropped the word “Fund” from its name in 1995 — expanded its mission and became a leading player in the pro-equality movement nationwide. It lobbied for fair-minded legislation in Congress, worked alongside corporate America to gain needed protections for LGBT workers and spread the message of equality to every corner of the country.
Some notable accomplishments of the Human Rights Campaign:
- In its first major electoral effort in 1982, HRCF donated $140,000 to 118 congressional candidates. Eighty-one percent of those candidates went on to win.
- In 1986, HRCF and its allies stopped right-wing attempts to revoke a law that aided HIV-positive Washington, D.C., residents.
- In 1990, following HRCF’s lobbying, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with HIV and AIDS from discrimination.
- In 1992, HRCF endorsed Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in the presidential race. After Clinton’s victory, HRCF’s executive director took part in the first meeting between LGBT leaders and a sitting president.
- In 1995, HRC created its Workplace Project, which fights for fair-minded workplace policies in corporate America.
- In 1997, HRC ran public service announcements on LGBT equality during the landmark coming out episode of the sitcom “Ellen.”
- In 1998, following the murder of Matthew Shepard, HRC led the national movement supporting hate violence legislation to protect LGBT Americans.
- In 1999, thanks to HRC’s lobbying, the Senate passed a major hate crimes bill.
- After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, HRC worked to ensure that survivors’ same-sex partners received federal relief funds.
- In 2002, HRC launched its Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program to meet the unique needs of LGBT students of color.
- After a Massachusetts court ruled in favor of marriage equality in 2003, HRC sent staff and funds to the statewide pro-fairness movement.
- Twice — in 2004 and 2006 — HRC led the successful fight against the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have banned marriage for LGBT families.
- In 2005, HRC launched its Religion and Faith Program to reclaim the faith-based debate over LGBT issues from the radical right.
- In 2006, thanks to HRC’s policy work, two key provisions in the Pension Protection Act ensured financial protections for same-sex couples.
- In the 2006 elections, following HRC’s voter mobilization efforts, more than 200 pro-equality candidates won their races, resulting in a fair-minded majority in the U.S. Congress.
- In 2007, the Religion and Faith Program gathered more than 230 religious leaders from across the country and from every faith tradition for a hugely successfully Clergy Call for Justice and Equality. The religious leaders converged on Capitol Hill to raise public awareness about the need for Congress to pass legislation to combat hate-motivated violence and to ban workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans.
- In 2007, after HRC's considerable lobbying and a huge public outreach effort, both houses of Congress passed hate crimes legislation for the first time. The threat of a presidential veto ultimately prevented the measure from becoming law.
- In 2007, six of the leading Democratic presidential candidates participated in the first-ever televised presidential forum devoted to LGBT issues. HRC co-hosted the event.
- In 2007, HRC launched the first Healthcare Equality Index, which rates the nation's hospitals on a set of baseline standards of patient care for LGBT Americans.
- In 2008, HRC participated in the first-ever congressional hearing exclusively on the issue of workplace discrimination against transgender Americans. President Joe Solmonese and Business Council members Meghan Stabler and Diego Sanchez provided testimony as part of HRC's efforts.
- In 2008, HRC helped prepare witnesses for the first congressional hearing to review the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy since it was enacted in 2003.
- In 2008, HRC engaged in the largest electoral campaign in the history of the organization - we launched Year to Win, an aggressive $7 million election effort to mobilize and motivate millions of LGBT and allied voters, and helped to elect more than 200 pro-equality congressional candidates.
- In 2009, after 11 years of advocacy work by HRC and countless other groups and individuals, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The new law gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
- In 2009, President Obama announced the final regulation reversing our nation’s prohibition on HIV-positive people entering the country for travel or immigration. HRC had been a lead organization lobbying on Capitol Hill for the statutory repeal and working to ensure that Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations were changed.
The Human Rights Campaign works each and every day to create a fair environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. To become a part of that movement, join HRC today.