Chad Griffin announced Thursday that he will be departing as head of the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to the LGBTQ community.
In a statement, Griffin revealed he would no longer serve as the group’s president in 2019.
“Every single person across this country deserves an equal opportunity to succeed in life, without having to overcome roadblocks put in place by politicians advancing a discriminatory agenda,” Griffin said. “Even as I step down from my role in this remarkable organization, I remain committed to HRC’s mission and will continue to fight for the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people — and all Americans — as I embark on this next chapter.”
In the seven years that Griffin led the organization, HRC doubled it’s membership and now has more than 3 million members. The group also augmented its grassroots efforts under Griffin’s leadership, which helped boost a bevy of Democratic campaigns.
During the 2016 election, the group unveiled HRC Rising — a campaign that injected millions of dollars into grassroots efforts to gather volunteers and register voters. Additionally, the organization endorsed more than 480 “pro-equality” candidates around the nation during the 2018 midterm elections. A team of 150 staff members were sent to organize voters across 23 states with critical races.
“So now is the time to fight harder and dig deeper,” Griffin said. “Because there are still more trails to be blazed. There is still more history to be made and more battles to be won. The LGBTQ community’s brightest days and our grandest victories are still ahead of us.”
