The Human Rights Campaign’s annual National Dinner is always a star-studded, glamour-filled night of celebration and inspiration, and this year’s event was no different.
At the dinner on October 28, more than 3,600 HRC members and friends from across the country took inspiration from speakers including former secretary of state and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton; California Senator Kamala Harris, attorney and Gold Star parent Khizr Khan, and tennis legend Billie Jean King. Actress Emmy-award-winning actress Uzo Aduba of Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” was awarded the HRC Ally for Equality Award, and Jeff Bezos, founder and chairman of Amazon, received the HRC National Equality Award. Musical entertainment was provided by the multi-platinum selling band DNCE.
For me personally, it is always so moving to see, hear, and experience how far we've come, and how much more work remains to be done to ensure equal rights and an inclusive society for all LGBTQ people. It's truly awesome to stand alongside nearly 4,000 energetic, engaged people who are united in a great cause.
Throughout 2017, I had the honor of serving on the steering committee for the National Dinner, having been invited by my client and friend Rachael Gresson of the Bipartisan Policy Center. My specific role was helping to recruit as many “table captains” as possible from the DC-Maryland-Virginia region, which we did through a combination of e-blasts, social media, and good old-fashioned one-to-one outreach.
Other members of the steering committee were: Bruce Rohr, Thomas McCarthy, Sherie Hughes, Michael Albano, Rajiv Desai, and Charlie Linder.
To learn more and see photos and videos of this event, please visit http://hrcnationaldinner.org/. And please consider me joining me and Lamar at our table in 2018, and in the meantime, please support the work of the Human Rights Campaign.