Everyone. From a quality to Racial Justice to immigrant rights, all of us. Every single day im part of a Historic Movement to reclaim the story of america from those who wish to roll back the clock on our progress. As we work across communities and identities with quality, please take a look at this video we created celebrating the voices fighting for fairness and justice for all. One year ago we addressed the nation in the midst of a heated election. An america that is diverse and bighearted. I am a proud american. We are blessed to raise our three sons where they are free to be themselves. We have gone from a presidency of progress into prejudice. We have seen attacks on transgender kids and troops. Countless efforts to move Health Care Away from millions of americans including those living with disabilities. The criminal justice reform. But also no presidency can silence our voices. We took for the streets. We filled airports. From coast to coast and countless main streets in between. Empowering our voices we are declaring black lives matter. We must protect our kids. America is a nation of immigrants. People with disabilities, those living with hiv, every person deserves healthcare. As we traveled around the country, we have seen the america on that stage was gone. We must decide what is in the history books. The momentum of the movement and stress when we work together. My name is sarah and i am a proud transgender american. I am a dreamer. I am an American Woman with a disability. My name is caesar. My name is carla and my parents are not documented. I am a mother of the movement. Today, tomorrow and every day we are united. And we still know that we are stronger together. [applause] please join me in welcoming a hero of ours and a gold star father. [applause] [cheering] [applause] i am so humbled to be standing among my family. Thank you. [applause] [cheering] im so honored by the dignity and courtesy you have bestowed. Your support has meant so much to be in good times and difficult moments. My lg bt q. Family has given us the courage to continue the fight. [cheering] i wish to pay tribute to our trans gender active duty and veterans. [applause] [cheering] we support your determination. We are proud of your valor, and please note that a majority of america stands with you, supports you and are grateful for your service. [cheering] tonight i am proud to stand with the Human Rights Campaign for lgbtq and muslims. The fight against bigotry is one of the. Othe. Xenophobia, islamic phobia and racism must be rejected. They must be rejected by all of us. Since the election, one question has been asked of me time and time again. Where do we go from here . My answer is lets remain hopeful and remain united as individuals and as americans and the leaders in the most cherished principles of the nation equal protection and equal dignity. [applause] you have endured attacks on your dignity. You have held your head high. It wouldnt be long before e. Quality prevails to veto equality prevails. And your names would be written in gold on the history pages for your courage i am humbled by your hospitality and proud to stand with you in this fight. Thank you very much. [applause] [applause] i have the pleasure of introducing a passionate activist for quality and an icon in the lgbtq community. Billie jean king is a former number one in the world, National Tennis player at the height of her career he won 39 grand slam titles, singles, 16 womens doubles and eight by then. The players of one time helped pave the way for women to have careers as professional athletes and to be paid based on their ability, not just their lucks. And made history in a famous tennis match against male tennis player bobby. That story is a moment in victory that she used as a platform to fight for equality for everyone is a backdrop in the new film battle of the sexes. In the film in real life, the opponent is a narcissistic blowhard. Sound familiar . She won three in a row. Overnight the tennis match needed equal to men. Wait a minute, let me correct that. Its now 44 years later and women still are behind the earnings and equal respect shown to men. We continue to be reminded every day of injustice and inequality, but the trailblazer and part of the Community Inspired us all to keep fighting on. Billie jean has received the much admired president ial medal of freedom and they honored her with the equality award in 2006 at this event and we are thrilled to have billie jean back with us tonight. Please welcome the amazing Billie Jean King. [applause] thank you. [cheering] thank you, vanessa. Im thrilled to be with you especially to honor Hillary Rodham clinton. [cheering] beginning with a bit groundbreaking commencement speech to her work as a young lawyer with the Childrens Defense Fund and in her earliest years of Public Service in arkansas and on the National Stage hillary has been and advocate for all of us. Especially those on the margins and struggling. Above all she she has been a pr in the fight making the communitys battleground. To help defeat the federal marriage amendment and ensure the constitution would never be amended to deny the rights to us and others. [applause] she thought for the passage of nondiscrimination protections and the expansion of hate crimes and the repeal of dont ask, dont tell. [applause] as the secretary of state, she made the inclusion of the rights a top priority of American Foreign policy. We will never forget the declaration heard around the world that rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. [applause] [cheering] i just finished reading her book called what happens. If you havent read it yet, you should. Its very clear that she isnt done yet. [applause] she brings all of herself to everything she does. She continues to show us we all need to persist and in last. We need to move onward together. She has the heart of a chance again. Compassion for others and the confidence to be herself. Please join me tonight with all the love we can give to our friend, trailblazer, champion, our very own hillary clinton. [applause] [cheering] [cheering] thank you very much. [cheering] there is no one that i would rather share my initials with van you. [applause] some of you may have seen when i cannot do stairs i have one of those boots on because i fractured my foot. Its going to be for a couple more weeks. When Something Like this happens, heres what your doctor says. Rest, ice, compress and elevate and dont do anything else. I said that is all fine and good, but in addition, i have hrc that i have to be at. I cant imagine missing this extraordinary event, and im told its the biggest one ever. [applause] i want to thank my dear friend Billie Jean King a champion for greater pay and equal opportunity for women and old people. [applause] and its wonderful to see a lot of familiar faces tonight including sarah mcbride. [applause] they spoke so eloquently at the Democratic NationalConvention Last year. They embodied america and our values at our best. It does feel like a Family Reunion and for me that is in large measure because i am so grateful for the support i have received from so many of you in the community over the years. [applause] i think it is fair to say youve made me a better first lady, senator, secretary of state, president ial nominee. [applause] a better person you embraced me and my family everywhere i went. I not only saw those blue and yellow tshirts, but i heard your story. The man in iowa who couldnt wait to tell me about the daughter and his partner the first in the state, he thought, and the granddaughter whos now the light of his life, the mother of a transgender girl in las vegas who stayed awake at night worrying about how her daughter would get the medical care she needed. Veterans, teachers, doctors, nurses, Business Owners who were so determined to keep their promise to the next generation that yes it gets better. [applause] so thank you from the bottom of my heart for your courage and effort and enthusiasm and energy. Thank you for your commitment to building an america that is fair, kind, compassionate and equal. [applause] i will be honest there were times that it was tempting just to pull the covers up over my head. But instead, i spent time with family and friends and i watched a lot of hg tv and went into my own frenzy of organizing closets and drawers in our house playing with their dogs and did some yoga a technique called alternate nostril breathing which are a fair share and i also had my fair share of chardonnay. [applause] i detail all of this in my book what happened because everybody gets knocked down, right . And we need to share our best experiences and how we all get back up. So, as a person i am okay but as an american, i am concerned. I am concerned about what the future holds for the country and to so many americans. It fills me with joy to think about old friends and people ive met over the years who can marry, raise a family for most of the country, was proud and open. [applause] but it makes my heart sink to know that so much of the progress we worked for and celebrated, maybe even started a little bit to take for granted is nowhere near as secure as we hoped. That is where each of you and the Human Rights Campaign comes in. Hrc has always stood for progresprogress and a future ths better than the past. You changed hearts, minds and walls and learned devastating losses and come back twice as strong to celebrate historical wins for the fight of the full equality. To paraphrase a thought that id love, the fight song, i hope you still have a lot of fight left in you. We have some tough battles ahead. For starters, the battle for affordable healthcare. Every Time Congress and this Administration Try to repeal the Affordable Care act they are not trying to rip away health care for millions of people. Not only that but funding for hiv aids research. They are threatening to undo decades of our progress towards an aids free generation. [applause] i will never forget the palpable feelings of pain and loss in the National Mall that they where we viewed the quilt for the first time or the determination of the activists but i met from los angeles to new york that were literally fighting for their lives and reminding us that silence equals death. We cannot and will not go back to those days. [applause] pay attention, my friends because embedded in this horrible, irresponsible, cruel and meanspirited giveaway to the riches of americans called tax reform is a 500 billiondollar cut in medicare and 1 trilliondollar cut in medicaid. And exactly the appropriate response. But call the congress and tell them you will not stand for that. [applause] right now we are facing the battle for Transgender Americans. Like you, i was just shocked when the administration rolled back protection for the students and also rolled it back for students with disabilities and so many other advances to protect those who are vulnerab vulnerable. I couldnt stop picturing the faces of the children and teenagers that spoke out about bullying and harassment that they faced in school and families who were so desperate to help and protect them. I was outraged when i ran it on twitter of all places but the president wanted to ban transgender people from serving in the military. You know and he knows they fought and died for this count country. [applause] they are serving in uniform with distinction right now and the suggestion that they are unfit to serve is insulting and wrong. After all it means standing up for our values. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people live in places where they can be arrested and even executed for being gay. More than 100 gay and bisexual men being taken from their families and detained in secret prison. Just last month, six men were arrested for promoting Sexual Deviancy after waving a gay flag in cairo egypt. Incidents like these should alarm every american and so should the fact that just a few weeks ago, the United States actually voted against the Un Security Council resolution to condemn the use of the Death Penalty as punishment for consensual samesex relationships. When i sold tha saw that i thoue i had read it wrong and maybe i somehow got a double negative mixed up in there. But no, that is exactly what our country voted against two condemned the use. The state department attempted to clarify their positions, but the fact remains the United States shouldnt be shirking our responsibility to defend human rights with people around the globe. [applause] we should be leading that fight, to shine a light on human rights abuses. Its why i call on the heads of state to stop the persecution of innocent people and i announced the first Government Strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against lgbtq people that they. As i said and i believe now more than ever, gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. [applause] these attacks on the community here at home and around the world are striking and scary. I can only imagine what its like to be in the position that so many people still find themselves in and our country. People who cant afford to come to this great dinner and look so terrific and in their fancy, beautiful outfits because they live somewhere in america they are still afraid to be who they are. So i cannot pretend to understand what that feels like, but i do know what it feels like to be torn down and attacked and i want you to know that i am with you. [applause] today, tomorrow, for the long haul. I will not be siphoned and i hope that you will not either. [applause] that is a promise from one to another. [applause] but there is good news even in these perilous times we are seeing glimmers of hope in the activism across america even will and grace are calling members of congress. [applause] [cheering] we have to stay engaged at every level. It is wrong wit that in 2017 yon lose your job, lose your home or if this administration gets its way, be denied a wedding cake because of who you are or who you love. We cant rely on this administration or the Supreme Court to uphold the rights. We need to be passing the equality act to guarantee full federal equal the grid community. [applause] with people into positions of power that end embrace practices like socalled conversion therapy. It sends an unmistakable message to, gay, Transgender Americans you dont matter, youre not welcome. And when the republican candidate in alabama supports the idea that homosexuality should be criminalized and whether or not people should be executed, americans of any party, any decency, democrats, republicans and independent should line up and condemn him. [applause] that includes the president and Senate Majority leader and speaker of the house and every single elected official who endorses the candidate whether or not we are willing to accept this kind of bigotry and teach the speaks volumes on who we are as a country. None of that matters if you do not get out to vote in every election not just the president ial one. In all levels of government we have to elect the candidates who wouldnt say the right things but do the right things to stand up not only for the lgbtq writes that the rights of all the immigrants and refugees and civil rights, womens rights, stand up for the religious freedom. Freedom of the press to the right for people to live and worship freely. Who Will Champion human rights and democracy . As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, in the small places close to home, the schools the they atted with factories, farms and offices where they work, earlier this year about a month and a half ago i spoke at the Memorial Service in new york instrumental for the fight for marriage ecology. Her lawyer said something that stuck with me that i want to share with all of you. No human being ever gets to complete the work of liberation. [applause] if we die or retire with the sense that our work is complete, then we know we have not aimed high enough. We stand on the shoulders of generations whove come before, activists and advocates like elected officials who kicked down the door. Everyone who continues to fight today. [applause] parents like judy and survivors and family members, trailblazers like laverne cox, leaders like my good friend chad griffin and whose names we may never know who are changing our country and the world with acts of bravery. They are speakin speaking up and resisting injustices large and small. We have to strive for that Perfect Union and a Bright Future that every child deserv deserves. We need to speak truth to power for whoever is on the receiving end. [applause] i would have much preferred to have come to the dinner tonight from a slightly closer residence. [cheering] there are still Unanswered Questions but it does strike me that in the last few days fox news seems to think thats where i live is in the white house because they spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about impeaching me. [laughter] if they want to i would be more than willing. [cheering] but until then, lets remember keep going, keep fighting, never give up. [cheering] please welcome the director of outreach and engagement. The person i have in honor of introducing is no stranger to you, someone who doesnt back down or give in and today as we pick some of our toughest battles yet under the leadership opened up a new front in the fight for full equality in order to reach more people than ever before. Combating the spread of hiv and aids. The key epidemic watching the largest efforts in the history of the movement she is someone who knows how to get things done. Watching an action. Donald trump wins the presidency. Antidiscrimination protections. Its hard enough to have a discussion. The administrations signature on a piece of paper our lives completely change. Just so we can come home and be treated like secondclass citizencitizens but we faced the before and no one can stop us when we stand together. Conceding the governors race and the backlash from the bathroom bill. One of the most powerful special interest lobbying groups more powerful than the nra. We are here for you and we got your back. From the Human Rights Campaign sent a letter asking him to protect transgender students. A lot of backlash from the Human Rights Campaign and that is why it opposes the nomination. It is now suing the government. The American People are here to attend accountable. The nominee for the Army Secretary and for the human rights. From the heart of the deep south. No one in the city of birmingham is discriminated against and if they are, the country is halfway around the globe. You have got to stop these atrocities. More than 100 companies are starting up the coalition. Millions of people are counting on us. Now is the time for action allowed. That is what the Human Rights Campaign is all about. I want to remind donald trump of one more thing, the community is diverse and the backbone of the nation. We are men, women, black white and latino, we are immigrants and people with disabilities and when you attack one of us, youve are attacking all of us. [applause] please join me in welcoming chad griffin. [cheering] thank you all very much for that kind introduction. I want to thank them for the work they do for this organization and this movement. [applause] isnt it clear why the majority chose her to be president of the United States. Thank you for being here and continuing to use your powerful voice for god. And thanks to each and every one of you for being here tonight especially my mom and step dad who are here all the way from arkansas. Needless to say, it has been a very long to 281 days since donald trump took that oath of office. Not that any of us are counting. Honestly, it seems like forever ago but before then, the future seemed brighter for, gay, transgender and transsexual people. We have more reason to feel hopeful. I think a lot about the young people who only known the progresknow theprogress we haver president obama. Young peoplyoung people like my, lucas and an amazing kid who just graduated high school in hot springs arkansas where my sister is a counselor. At 14, lucas came out as transgender and immediately began transforming the world around him. He traveled around the state educating other students and teachers about what it means to be transgender. He knew the future had so much to offer him and he was determined to seize every opportunity. That meant going to college and joining the rotc so he could serve the country in uniform. [applause] but three months ago, a message turned his world upside down. I will never forget the moment i saw the email in my inbox with a subject line military band. My heart sank. Its the day that he was banning trans people from serving in the military. Lucas is here tonight with his mom. I want you to know that regardless of what the madman in the white house says or does, steve levi hrc stands with yd you can achieve everything you set your mind to. [applause] [cheering] all of us here tonight must reclaim the future of the nation for lucas and everyone out there thaevery one outthere that feell and more fearful because of donald trump. It can be true the exhausting every time we think this president s behavior cant get any more erratic or repugnance like clockwork in light is on the phone to prove it once again. And lets be honest, to simply want to give up, tune out and turn it all off. But that is exactly what the entire cabinet of the portables are hoping we will do. They want us to stop paying attention. They want us to stop paying attention long enough to implement the blueprint for america. But we cant give in. We cant grow complacent or back down and together, weve got to hold his hand to the fire every single day. [applause] [cheering] for these past nine months, that is exactly what weve done. We marched in the streets and past town halls, we called and lobbied our lawmakers for the most fundamental rights and defeated nominees like mark green in the choice to replace the nations first openly gay secretary of the army and exposed the lies for the Rapid Response that is working day and night for the shameful actions at every turn. We joined challenging the assault on france. And we stood shoulder to shoulder with our allies across the movement to defend the rights of all americans. Just look what happened when this president tried not once or twice but three times. More than 65,000 of you members and supporters called your 70s and lobbied your representatives and make your voices heard. Today planned parenthood doors s or so of winning the Affordable Care act is still the law of the land. [applause] so yes this resistance is critically important but even while resisting we are also mobilizing. And if anyone doubts what we can accomplish when we stand together, tell them to see how the former North Carolina governor is doing these days. [applause] last year we showed the country and the world what happens when politicians try to use our lives and our families to scare up. After he lost that unprecedented attack on the Community Committee organized, mobilized,e organized, mobilized and turned out hundreds of thousands of voters and together we not only defeated, we sent a powerful message if you come for us, we will come for you on election day. [applause] and today we are replicating the model from that victory nationwide. Thanks for your support we watched the single largest grassroots expansion in this organization 37 your history. Its critical that we organize and mobilize the 10 million voters in this country which by the way is a voting bloc that is larger than the margin of victory for every president ial election since 1984. But we are not just targeting lgbtq voters we also need to turn out the voters dont identify, families, friends and other allies, folks that are willing to make the candidates position on a quality be the deciding factor in who gets their votes. Through hrc rising we have organizers, we are registering voters, recruiting volunteers, training new activists and mobilizing equality voters to elect the candidates up and down the ballot and on top of the sleeping state strategy, we are laser focused on the states of ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, arizona and nevada. [applause] because if we are going to put a stop to this agenda, if youre going to pass the act and accelerate the pace of progress, then we need more campaigns in washington working alongside of us. And i hope they dont. But if somehow alabama votes to the senate, then we will make sure Tammy Baldwin is waiting in the chamber to greet him. [applause] [cheering] it is on all of us to seize this moment for everyon everyone evel encounters discrimination and bigotry. We must seize it for the women of color who faced in epidemic of hate violence and we must see through this next generation so that four years from now around the time lucas will be graduating from college, lgbtq young people all across the country will turn on their tv and not see a president attacking and demeaning them but signing the a quality act into law. [applause] the fight ahead of us will not be easy and we will not win every battle but i promise you, we will win this war because of each and every one of you come at a Grassroots Army of 3 million strong. Never before have we as americans been more eager to participate, to advocate and fight back. And when we all emerge from this national nightmare, when we prevail in 2018 and 2020, it is this president s catastrophic compulsion to buy and divide that will have a great awakening of the democracy. [applause] throughout our history americas Journey Towards the promise of a more Perfect Union has faced countless roadblocks. For every step forward we take, there are some dragging us two steps back but that is the greatest movement and fiercest fighters that have emerged. From the Civil Rights Movement to black wives matter, from the womens suffrage to the womens march, farm workers to organize to the immigrants that dare to dream, and this movement, the lgbtq Equality Movement like so many others is forged from fire. It was harassment from the police that led lgbtq people to fight back at stonewall parking a nationwide movement. It was our government so murderous and action to the thousands of lives lost to aids has left thousands were to declare the silent equal deaths and awaken the world. But Stewart Harvey milk said and lets recall the fierce urgency of now. Lets remember that yes we can and that we are stronger together. The next chapter of our Great American story is waiting to be written and we are people who turned heartache into action who forged a way to conquer hate with love, who taught the world the power of pride, we will be the ones to write it. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [applause] [inaudible] you all will get your dinner soon. Please stick with me. Good evening. I do hope you all sit tight for a few moments so i can tell you my story. I am here to ask you to join but first i want to tell you about my incredible family. I have been married to adam my better half for 16 years. We have two beautiful children ethan and allie. Ethan is 13 loves fancy cars and junk food. Ally is nine and loves gymnastics and dancing. When allie was in kindergarten she asked to sign up for dance class. I never expected to be a dance mom nor did i want to be but i found myself at the dance studio on registration day totally surrounded by dance moms. And i was filled with anxiety. I was signing up my child for dance class. [applause] five years ago eli was living parttime mostly at home as a girl and asked us to use the name ali. We called her allie at home and when we were out with the family and we werent exactly sure where this was going. Did we have a son which would have been amazing. She wore close at home and eventually out of the house for just on weekends. It was more than clothing and long hair. It wasnt about looking like a girl. It was about being a girl. When it was my turn at the Registration Desk i realized i hadnt thought this through. How was i going to fill out the forms and which class should we choose what would the uniform requirements b. And i started to panic but i managed to get through it and slid the paperwork across the desk. I filled it out and swiped my credit card. Seemed. Painless. Before i could say a word my kid is trying on ballet slippers and my teacher was asking me if we needed tights. Before i could respond she said trust me you were going to need a pair of tights and i said oh trust me we are going to need a hell of a lot more than that. [laughter] [applause] by this point i am holding l. A. Shoes and pink tights and i thought what were we going to do do . How was i going to pull this off . But then i saw something. My childs beaming face, smiling from year to year and i knew then that i had pulled it off. [applause] and i dont just mean the dance uniform stuff. I mean all of it. I was going to give my child a soft place to land. I was going to fight her fight. [applause] silly by shoes, we buy tights and we buy leotards in me head for the car and as we are about to step off the sidewalk i hear the director calling out to us. I just had a question she said. Really, just one . [laughter] what name would you like us to use she said. [applause] i looked down at my little ballerina and said what name should i use . Alley, she said. Ally it is said the director. [applause] leaving allie and me on the sidewalk Holding Hands in that sidewalk became a rebirth. I was in just a moment that her new name was given light it was also moment they gave new light to allie. I attended several hrc galas and asked allie if she would like to attend her typical response is that transgender stuff is your thing. Not really my thing. [laughter] and she is right. It shouldnt be her thing. She is mine. [applause] it should be our thing and isnt that why we are all here tonight . [applause] my husband and i have to help allie pay her way but the threat to her in lgbt people across the country scares me and makes me angry and its full. [applause] but i know hrc is in the fight for all of us especially those who cant fight for themselves. Last year i was at the dinner just like you are and adam and i knew to help prevent allie from basing some of the battles and some of the heartbreak like so many of you in this room have had to face that we need to join and now its your turn. [applause] we need you with us and i am asking you personally to do more to support hrc whether you are lgbtq or an ally or a first time attending or a veteran would need your help to make sure everyone everywhere knows that we have youre back. [applause] there are pledge cards on your table. I want you to pick one up and a pen. Go ahead, pick them up and turn the plans on. They light up. I am a mom, dont make me tell you pick up the card and pick up the pen and now fill it out. Its 100 a month and its the most immediate way to support hrc. If you are already a member please consider demonstrating your commitment to our work and for those who can afford a larger investment please consider becoming a major donor. Starting at 5000 a year your gift is taxdeductible and supports Hrc Foundation program. Some of you may work for companies that give to a charity and several of tonight sponsors offered generous benefits. This is another great way to support Hrc Foundation. Remember there is no limit on your gift support. To reach our goal tonight we need 50 new federal fund members in 20 major donors. To help kick this off a group of donors has issued us a challenge challenge. They will match up to 760,000 if we can raise that right now. [applause] help us secure that match by filling out the pledge card and giving is generally generously as you can. The lighter pence are not just a novelty. They are there to help you see the pledge card so that you can fill it out and you are only allowed to keep the light up pen if you complete a pledge card. In just a few moments arent volunteers will collect those pledge cards. Countless people rely on us to push our Movement Forward to parade their battlefield and fight their fight. People just like my sweetest allie so please become a member or become a major donor and give as much as you can tonight. Be as generous as you can possibly be because we need you. Please join the federal club tonight. Thank you. [applause] [applause] on june 26, 2013 a historic ruling to the United StatesSupreme Court in a case known as hoin