Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, waves to the crowd as she speaks during tHRC’s National Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington in September 2024. Robinson was in Dallas last weekend as part of HRC’s American Dreams Tour and will be back here in November for Black Tie Dinner. (Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press)
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson made a stop in Dallas the weekend of Sept. 20 as part of her organization’s American Dreams Tour, which is highlighting a variety of issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community, “from bans on gender-affirming care and curriculum censorship to anti-trans legislation and HIV funding cuts.”
The current tour is taking Robinson to Atlanta, Columbus, Las Vegas, Nashville and Washington as well as Dallas, then she’ll be back in Dallas in November for Black Tie Dinner.
Robinson said her focus during her visit to Dallas was “organizing at the epicenter of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, focused on trans justice and health access.”
Robinson spoke with Dallas Voice about a number of issues, saying the LGBTQ+ community risks backsliding in terms of equal rights and just how we live our daily lives. As an example, she noted that she’s hearing people are more reluctant to have a picture of their partner sitting on their desk at work.
“People are being forced back into the closet,” she said, adding ominously, “Darkness exists.”
But she said the Corporate Equality Index, a resource for employees on how companies treat LGBTQ+ staff, is on track, even though some companies have become reluctant to fill out the questionnaire or relay information to HRC about policies.
“If you won’t tell us, how do you know you’re telling your employees,” Robinson said of those companies’ reticence to share information.
But filling out the questionnaire is only one method of collecting information for the annual CEI. Employees send in information, and most companies post employment policies on the internet.
There was a time, Robinson said, that filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about equal treatment at work led to a fair hearing. But, she added, in the current environment, “We can’t count on the EEOC.”
Fear is gripping corporate America and universities across the country. It is, she said, a fear over losing government contracts or other benefits. She cited Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension as a prime example of “fear at play.”
Kimmel was suspended from his show after the chairman of the FCC threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license rather than because of any threat from advertisers. So ABC made a decision for political reasons, not economic ones, she said.
“So we’re not fighting a business case,” Robinson said. “We’re protecting what we’ve already gotten.”
As the LGBTQ+ community filed lawsuits to gain marriage equality and employment non-discrimination, HRC argued a business case. It was only fair to offer employees with same-sex partners the same benefits as those with opposite-sex partners. And as companies compete for the best talent, that pool should include everyone without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.
And each year, more and more companies agreed, based on the results of the CEI. But now, with companies being bullied into shuttering DEI offices and programs, Robinson said, the LGBTQ+ community is having to defend those gains already made.
“We’ve had to retell the story of what the CEI is,” she said. “We’re asking for the same benefits and protections as someone who’s straight.”
She continued by stressing that diversity, equity and inclusion benefit a company’s bottom line. “When companies include everyone, they thrive,” she said.
So what is this new era of bullying corporations and universities really about? Power and control, Robinson said.
While Robinson understands why some people have to retreat to the closet — to save their jobs or for their personal safety, among other reasons — the American Dreams Tour is about telling our stories.
She believes most of the ani-transgender legislation that passed this year in Texas and elsewhere happened because most people don’t know a trans person. Telling our stories dares others to see us as friends, neighbors and family.
“Our stories affect the way others act toward us and how they vote when LGBTQ+ rights and safety are at stake,” according to the American Dreams Tour’s website.
By telling our stories, we increased our visibility, and allies championed rights such as marriage equality and employment nondiscrimination. This project, Robinson said, is based on the belief that we’ll gain support when more people hear how cuts to federal programs such as Medicaid and HIV treatment and prevention are affecting people’s lives.