News
Think you have what it takes to run HRC?
LGBT rights movement’s biggest player posts the job description for its top spot
The Human Rights Campaign has posted the official job description for the next President, who will replace outgoing leader Joe Solmonese. Do you have what it takes to lead HRC?
…The President reports to the Boards of Directors of both the Human Rights Campaign and theHuman Rights Campaign Foundation and is responsible for the overall management and leadershipof HRC’s activities and programs. The President’s job is to develop and implement HRC’sstrategic vision, its policies and programs to advance the interests of its membership and the LGBTcommunity as a whole. The new President will be charged with leading this important organizationduring a time of great change and progress in the country.
The President will be working every day to improve the lives of LGBT Americans by identifyingand overcoming societal and legislative barriers to LGBT equality. At the same time, s/he will beworking to engage, educate and empower millions of fair-minded Americans to advocate for equalrights for the LGBT community.
Specific responsibilities include:
Provide vision and focus for a dynamic organization. HRC is a large, diverse and highlymotivated organization with activities occurring simultaneously in many locations and on a varietyof issues, with a unique combination of professional staff, volunteers, allies, boards, donors, andmembers. The President must be able to inspire, motivate, coordinate and honor these multipleconstituents in ways that advance the mission of HRC and maintain the highest standards ofservice and integrity.
Build, maintain and continually inspire a work environment to achieve the highest standardsof performance and accountability. One of the hallmarks of HRC’s mission is to assureworkplace equality for all LGBT employees. HRC strives to attain those goals with its ownemployees by fostering a workplace that welcomes and embraces diversity and encouragesindustry, teamwork and mutual respect. The new President must not only embrace these values, butcontinually lead in creating an atmosphere that promotes teamwork, client responsiveness,diversity, accountability, professional development and succession planning – and helps theorganization adapt to changing and disparate needs within the community.
Manage through change. The effectiveness of HRC as a civil rights organization will depend onhow well it manages uncertain changes in the political environment and how nimble it can be inresponding to external changes. Managing these changes in ways that keep HRC relevant andcentral to the movement will be critical for success.
Represent and lead HRC in the most positive manner, enhancing HRC’s visibility andinfluencing public opinion. The President of HRC has the ability to reach government andbusiness decision-makers and influence public opinion on issues vital to HRC’s mission. It isessential that the new President be able to convey HRC’s activities (and those of the broader LGBTcommunity) effectively and persuasively to thought leaders and the broader public through a widevariety of communication tools.
Lead the development and promotion of legislation and public policies that positively affectLGBT families and their children, as well as, oppose legislation and public policies that wouldadversely affect LGBT families and their children. HRC’s President also is the strategic visionaryon how to elect candidates for public office who will sponsor and support HRC’s legislative agendaand the creation of equities for LGBTs throughout society, as well as oppose those candidates whohave promoted policies and legislation adverse to LGBT families…
Attract new members, allies, strategic partners, advocates, donors and volunteers. HRCcontinues to grow and diversify its membership, which has helped to expand its impact. The newPresident must be able to lead HRC in building on its growth by effectively finding new ways toretain and attract a broader membership base. S/he must be skilled in coalition building, working inpartnership with other LGBT and civil rights organizations to tackle legislative and policy needs onthe state and federal level.
Engage diverse constituencies. Diversity and inclusion are strategic imperatives for HRC andnecessary for the continued success of the organization. Diversity and inclusion have beenembedded in HRC’s mission since it was founded in 1980. In the last several years however, HRChas provided diversity and inclusion objectives more sustained support internally by providing staffand resources to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment at every level of the organization.
In addition, HRC has developed significant relationships externally to evidence its commitment todiversity and inclusion. The President must work to broaden public support for LGBT equality byengaging fair-minded people and partner organizations that represent the multiple dimensions ofdiversity, including ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientation, gender identity, beliefs,religions and faiths, geographies, experiences, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and levels ofphysical ability.
Lead the development of educational programs that positively affect the societal and culturalcondition, as well as shift public opinion. HRC’s next President will continue to build upon thedynamic educational programs and tools of the organization such as the Corporate Equality Index,Healthcare Equality Index, Family Project and Religion & Faith programs. S/he also will push forinnovation and the creation of new programs consistent with HRC’s strategic plan that will educateand gain a broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by the LGBTcommunity.
Read the rest of the job description, including the preferred qualifications (to see if you qualify), here.
Hungary
Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.
“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.
The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.
The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.
“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.
Colombia
Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election
Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government
Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.
López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.
López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.
“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.
Runoff to take place June 21
Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.
Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.
Ghana
Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ bill
Measure that would criminalize allyship awaits president’s signature
Ghanaian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ allyship.
Reuters reported MPs approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, in a voice vote after parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee backed it.
MPs in 2024 approved a similar bill, but it faced legal challenges and then-President Nana Akufo-Addo didn’t sign it. Lawmakers last year reintroduced the measure after President John Dramani Mahama took office.
The bill awaits his signature.
Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ advocacy group, in a series of social media posts notes MPs passed the bill days before the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty will take place in Accra, the country’s capital.
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