HRC’s Kelley Robinson Makes the Time 100 List

metroweekly.com:

Time Magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People of 2024,” marking a significant honor for the head of the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization.Writing for the magazine, Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of the LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD, praises Robinson, the first Black queer woman to lead HRC in its history, as having “a vision for a more equal and just world that, paired with her talent for building coalitions across all intersections, has taken the LGBTQ+ movement — and the larger social-­justice movement — by storm when it is most needed.”Noting that Robinson is leading HRC at a time when state legislatures are passing an onslaught of bills focused on restricting LGBTQ rights and visibility, Ellis credits Robinson for spearheading campaigns that uplift and center the needs of historically marginalized communities, including queer people of color and transgender people.“Kelley has a voice that demands to be heard,” Ellis writes. “Whether it’s in front of Congress, at a political rally, or over social media, she inspires and mobilizes longtime advocates and new young activists into action with fresh energy and urgency.“She has also brought the LGBTQ+ movement to recognize the critical intersectional work needed on gun reform, racial justice, immigration, voting rights, climate, abortion, and safeguarding our very democracy.

Her dream of freedom for all truly means all.”Robinson called being honored by the popular magazine “humbling beyond words.”“Being honored alongside the world’s most influential voices is something I never dreamed of growing up young, Black, and queer on the Southside of Chicago,” Robinson said in a statement. “At a young age, I saw firsthand the devastating impact.