After a presidential election cycle marked by relentless anti-trans attacks and one year of a Trump-Vance administration weaponizing government against LGBTQ+ people’s health and safety, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has unveiled a new messaging playbook for pro-equality campaigns to effectively define themselves early, fight back against anti-trans attacks, and go on offense with their pro-equality values.
Post election analysis and polling show clear trends: battleground district voters overwhelmingly support nondiscrimination and equality. They’re weary of politicians inserting themselves in people’s personal lives, while ignoring urgent crises facing the country. Those same voters reject anti-trans fear mongering.
HRC has compiled data and key messaging recommendations into a tool for campaigns across the country that will engage 75 million equality-minded voters.
“We need and deserve leaders that treat everyone with dignity, give everyone the chance to thrive, and advance equality for all,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. “But the right wing, uninterested in and incapable of solving the issues that people are facing, has spent years trying to use LGBTQ+ people as a wedge, pouring millions into anti-trans attacks to scapegoat our community and bully our allies into silence.
“If we’ve learned anything, it’s that silence is not the answer. This messaging playbook is about giving those allies the tools to stop playing defense and lead with conviction. To be unapologetically pro-equality. And to win elections. Just as they did in states like Virginia and New Jersey last November, voters are going to reject anti-trans fear mongering in the midterms and send a clear message: equality wins.”
The frame for pro-equality candidates, outlined in the playbook, includes five key pillars:
Share your story before attacks come.
Lead with your values.
Address concerns directly.
Turn the tables and gain voters
Go big.
In addition, the HRC Foundation released findings from the annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, which reveals an increase of attacks on LGBTQ+ visibility, health care access, financial stability and discrimination. This survey also helps to fill the gaps left by a Trump-Vance administration that is working to rollback data collection about LGBTQ+ people.
The data presents a stark picture of the LGBTQ+ experience one year into this administration:
Financial security is declining: LGBTQ+ adults are nearly twice as likely to say that their financial situation worsened over the past 12 months as non-LGBTQ+ adults.
Visibility is slipping: More than half of LGBTQ+ adults (51.1 percent) report being less visible than a year ago. 40.1 percent of LGBTQ+ parents with school-aged children report being less visible at schools, the highest of all measured environments.
Outness is fading: Nearly half (47.5 percent) of LGBTQ+ adults report being less out somewhere in their lives over the last 12 months. This retreat cuts across workplaces (26.5 percent), healthcare (25.4 percent), and public spaces (28.3 percent).
DEI rollbacks are harming LGBTQ+ workers: 57.4 percent of LGBTQ+ workers with employers that ended or scaled back DEI reported experiencing stigma and bias at work.
Access to HIV care significantly harder: Among LGBTQ+ adults, those on Medicare/Medicaid are more than two times more likely to report barriers to HIV prevention or treatment care than LGBTQ+ adults with another form of health insurance coverage. 41.5 percent of LGBTQ+ adults earning less than $75,000 per year report the same difficulty accessing HIV care.
“Trump and his allies made no secret about their plans; they laid it out for all to see in Project 2025,” said Robinson. “Over the past year, his Administration has pushed forward efforts to eliminate civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, with funding cuts, regulatory changes, and bullying from the bully pulpit. Now, LGBTQ+ Americans are deeply hurting. Still, for all the pain Trump has caused, the community’s resilience drives our power. Together, we continue to fight for a future in which everyone has the freedom to be who they are.
“I believe that, together, we will come through this stronger, more united and victorious.”
This report builds on the momentum of HRC’s American Dreams Tour, which concluded last year after traveling to 10 cities and engaging more than 5,000 attendees through town halls, trainings, and community meetings. Across the tour, HRC partnered with local leaders to train storytellers, elevate lived experiences, and strengthen grassroots power, demonstrating that LGBTQ+ people and our allies are ready to lead, even in uncertain times.
HRC hosted an event at the National Press Club on the same morning, joined by U.S. Congresswoman Julie Johnson, Jonathan Capehart from the MSNOW talk show “The Weekend,” Reproductive Freedom For All President Mini Timmaraju and Joey Teitelbaum from Global Strategy Group to unveil the new tools in the fight for equality and lay out the plan to ensure they get to those who need them.
Additionally, the organization has already hosted a series of briefings with pro-equality candidates, campaigns, and committees to equip them for the midterm elections and provide ongoing support as anti-LGBTQ+ attacks ramp up.
The One Year Out Campaign Playbook is available at https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/documents/OneYearOUT-rev6.pdf.