John:

Today marks the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, John. 54 years since a brave group led by black and brown LGBTQ+ people protested police brutality. 54 years since the launch of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. 54 years of fighting. 54 years of progress.

In 54 years, our community has moved steadily forward. Kathy Kozachenko became the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to public office in 1974, with Elaine Noble following a few short months later. Tammy Baldwin becomes the first out LGBTQ+ U.S. Senator in 2012. And now, more than 1,173 out LGBTQ+ people are proudly serving in public office. That’s enormous.

But there’s still more work to be done. Though a historic number of LGBTQ+ elected officials are serving in the U.S., there are still plenty of bigots across the country attempting to rollback our hard-won rights. Two states - Louisiana and Mississippi – have still not elected an out LGBTQ+ state legislator. Far too many have never elected an out member of Congress or governor.

But we intend to change that this year, John. Right now, Victory Institute is training LGBTQ+ people to run for office and giving them the tools they need to win. We're traveling to the states that have the worst anti-LGBTQ legislation and building lasting political pipelines to ensure our community's rights.

Stonewall was a call for LGBTQ+ people everywhere to mobilize and stand against a system that systemically stripped them of their humanity. And we must not stop now. Victory Institute is going to train the next generations of LGBTQ+ leaders. But we need your help to do it. Donate to make more LGBTQ+ history happen.

Thank you for supporting this essential work,

LGBTQ+ Victory Institute