The Human Rights Campaign board pulled off a bold and surprising move last week when it named Chad Griffin as the next president of the organization. Griffin, who will start in June, is well known among California LGBTs for leading the fight in the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit. In 2009 it was Griffin who co-founded Americans for Equal Rights, the nonprofit that is behind the lawsuit, known as Perry v. Brown, and he was also responsible for recruiting the high-powered legal dream team of Theodore Olson and David Boies to argue the case, which they have done successfully so far.
Griffin will bring new energy to HRC and it couldn't come at a more important time. Just last month three states passed marriage equality laws, adding urgency to their successful enactment. Granted, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie quickly vetoed his state's law, and there are very real possibilities of referendums on the laws passed in Washington state and Maryland; but the fact that a majority of state lawmakers in those legislatures voted yes for marriage equality signals a quickly changing landscape and Griffin, as leader of the nation's largest LGBT rights organization, likely will be quick to capitalize on these recent gains.
One of the best things about Griffin is his willingness to take on the establishment, and that includes the LGBT establishment. In 2009 when AFER filed its lawsuit on behalf of two California couples who wanted to marry, virtually all of the LGBT legal groups were aghast at this bold move. They had wanted to plod along, laying the groundwork for the "right" case. "Premature lawsuits based on the federal Constitution" could be "ill-timed," read a joint statement in May 2009 signed by just about every national LGBT organization. That list included – you guessed it – HRC. And while the groups didn't mention the Olson-Boies lawsuit specifically, the timing left no doubt they were referring to it. Tensions were so high at one point that Griffin's legal team opposed the appointment of LGBT legal groups as intervenors in the case, leaving the LGBT community essentially out of the loop in a case that would directly impact it. But as the court case proceeded, Griffin and his litigators began to work with LGBT legal group leaders and a sense of teamwork grew.
While the Perry case is still advancing through the courts – and it's not certain that there would be victory at the U.S. Supreme Court should the case be heard there – the rulings of the trial court and federal appeals court striking down Prop 8 are major legal victories for the community.
We expect Griffin's tenure at HRC to be just as bold in challenging the status quo. And we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that there are several other issues in addition to marriage that are critical to the LGBT community attaining equal rights. Chief among those is the hideous federal Defense of Marriage Act, which affects same-sex couples in numerous ways from obtaining health insurance to immigration. There is legislation to repeal the act in the Senate, but the House, controlled by Republicans, will be trickier.
Then there's HRC's long, tortured history with the transgender community, complete with backstabbing and reneging on promises related to gender identity being included in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The fallout from HRC's 2007 debacle in this area (it caved and supported a version of ENDA that included only sexual orientation) still tears at the hearts of many trans people, especially in the Bay Area, where we have a large and politically active trans community. HRC is now on record as supporting a gender inclusive ENDA, and that bill has been proposed but is sitting around gathering dust because House Republicans will not call for a vote. There have been reports that President Barack Obama could sign an executive order for what is known as a "mini ENDA," but the administration has not commented on that. We have editorialized before that we don't think HRC ever saw ENDA as an economic bill and that a different lobbying strategy might have produced some movement on it. Griffin, known as a savvy strategist, might agree with us and re-energize the conversation. Transgender people are typically underemployed – and unemployed – and having basic job protections would go a long way toward helping them in the workplace.
HRC must continue to work for and with the trans community.
No doubt Griffin will bring with him his fundraising capabilities, and that, too, is an asset. HRC has an annual budget of about $40 million. While easily the largest LGBT organization in the country, that figure is paltry compared to anti-gay groups that raise tens of millions of dollars. The LGBT community must level the playing field and when it comes to raising money, Griffin has a proven track record. He helped raise millions of dollars for AFER and the Perry case (Olson and Boies did not take the case pro bono) and we're confident he will be successful.
Finally, Griffin comes equipped with intangible qualities that make him a potentially powerful leader. He has been nearly universally described by LGBT leaders as a smart, strategic person who can hold his own on television and when speaking out for LGBT equality. In this age of complete partisan gridlock in Congress and the hyper-kinetic volume of political discourse, we believe he is very capable of confronting the anti-gay forces that seek to deny us equality.
As the leading national LGBT rights organization, HRC is a big job with big responsibilities but we believe Griffin is up to the task.