Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, urged people at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last week to reimagine freedom and democracy beyond the “little piece of paper” the Founding Fathers wrote.
Robinson spoke on the third night of the DNC, but two days earlier she had participated in a panel at the DNC’s LGBTQ+ Kickoff, where she was asked how to “dramatically change and strengthen” the power of the LGBTQ community and other minorities.
“We cannot just worry about protecting democracy. At this moment, we must reinvent it, centering it around the people who look and love like us,” Robinson replied.
She continued, “And I think for us now, it’s about reinventing freedom and this American story in a way that’s more revolutionary than what our founders actually wrote on that little piece of paper. Rather, it’s a kind of democracy that’s by and for all the people of this country. That’s the opportunity we have.”
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Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign, on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The self-described black queer woman delivered a speech on the DNC’s national stage on Wednesday in which she said Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, were “fighting for joy.”
She said, “The story of America is the story of progress toward freedom. In just a few generations, my family went from slavery in Mississippi to the first free black family in Muscatine, Iowa, and now preparing for the election of President Kamala Harris. There is progress, my friends!”
She added: “Donald Trump wants to wipe us out. He would ban our healthcare. Degrade our marriages. Bury our stories. But we are not going anywhere. We are not going back. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, they are our champions for LGBTQ+ freedom, folks.”
Robinson hosted HRC’s “Out for Kamala Harris LGBTQ+ Unity” virtual rally in support of Harris in July.
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Robinson praised Kamala Harris for her fight for the interests of LGBTQ Americans. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Robinson also made waves last year with her testimony at the Senate hearing on “Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.” During her testimony, she denied that biological men have a physical advantage over women in sports, claiming that tennis star Serena Williams could beat a man.
“There was this article in the newspaper about men who think they can beat Serena Williams in tennis,” Robinson said. “But that’s just not true. She’s stronger than them.”
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Karsten Braasch, then 50 years old and ranked 203rd in the world, challenged the Williams sisters at the 1998 Australian Open and defeated them in two consecutive matches after the sisters claimed they could beat any male player outside the world’s top 200.
