Clinton endorsed by Human Rights Campaign

“All the progress we have made as a nation on LGBT equality – and all the progress we have yet to make – is at stake in November”, HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. HRC said Clinton would formally accept the group’s support from president Chad Griffin at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday.

In a statement Tuesday, Clinton pledged to support the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include discrimination against LGBT people, she would support transgender people serving in the military, and would end the practice of gay “conversion therapy” on minors.

The group, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group, lauded Clinton’s positions “On Full Federal Equality”, “On Marriage Equality”, “On LGBT Equality Abroad”, “On Transgender Equality”, on “LGBTQ Youth & Families”, and “HIV & AIDS”.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, right, poses for a photograph after speaking at a town hall at the Toledo Civic Center in Toledo, Iowa, Jan. 18, 2016.

An announcement from HRC said the “endorsement comes at a time when the stakes could not be higher for the LGBT community” and detailed achievements in the last seven years under the Obama administration.

“I’m proud to stand with the Human Rights Campaign in this fight”, Clinton added. “Together, we can and will make our country-and our world-more just, fair, and equal for generations to come”, she said. As secretary of state, she declared to the United Nations that “gay rights are human rights”.

None of the 12 Republican Presidential candidate have backed proposed LGBT rights protections, and HRC says none replied to requests for LGBT policy information.

Like many elected officials, Clinton’s views on LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, specifically, have evolved over the years. As secretary of state, she prioritized the elimination of violence and discrimination against LGBT people, famously declaring in a 2011 speech in Geneva that “gay rights are human rights”.

HRC announced the endorsement in a statement on its website, saying it was unanimous among its 32 community leaders. Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley provided answers, while no Republican candidates for president returned HRC’s questionnaire. In the Senate, she helped lead on bills to protect LGBT workers from employment discrimination, and had a strong record on key votes and legislation that mattered to LGBT Americans.