More than 170 events across 10 days in battleground states to engage and mobilize voters
Kickoff in Philadelphia to feature MN First Lady Gwen Walz, PA State Rep Malcolm Kenyatta, PA State Rep Andre Carroll, and others
WASHINGTON – Just weeks before Election Day, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Out for Harris-Walz, The Harris-Walz campaign’s national LGBTQ+ organizing coalition along with PA Democrats, are launching 10 Days of Action, a series of events aimed at mobilizing and turning out LGBTQ+ and allied voters.
During the push, HRC, Out for Harris-Walz, and PA Democrats will harness the power of LGBTQ+ voters to phone bank, canvass, rally, and fundraise through daily opportunities that will make a meaningful impact, both in-person and remotely through:
- New ad campaign targeting LGBTQ+ voters in battleground states.
- A digital organizing program that empowers individuals to drive voter mobilization from wherever they are.
- A virtual rally on October 10 ahead of National Coming Out Day, to bolster recruitment and GOTV efforts in battleground states on October 12.
- Amplifying student voices on HBCU Out Loud Day on October 16.
“With Election Day around the corner, the stakes are as high as ever for LGBTQ+ Americans,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “The American people know that we deserve leaders with a vision to ensure we don’t just get by but have the chance to get ahead. We know we deserve leaders who believe in the promise of this country and the value of our communities. Those leaders are Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. While Donald Trump and JD Vance try to drag this country backward into their Project 2025 nightmare, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are charting a new way forward. Our job is to show up for them in the same way that they have shown up for our community for decades. Over the next 10 days, we will knock doors, make calls, and rally communities across this country to send the clear message that when we show up, equality wins.”
“With so much at stake for LGBTQ+ Americans, we are not taking a single vote for granted,” said Harris for President Campaign National LGBTQ Engagement Director Sam Alleman. “LGBTQ+ Americans deserve leaders who will champion our freedoms — like Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. While Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda promise to roll back the clock on our hard won freedoms, Kamala Harris is fighting for a new way forward where we can all be who we are and love who we love. With our 10 Days of Action, we’re bringing this vital message directly to the voters who will decide this election, and showing them that when we fight, we win.”
LGBTQ+ and allied voters are a crucial voting bloc that will play a key role in determining the outcome of November’s election. Recent HRC data shows that the number of Equality Voters, those who prioritize equality when deciding who to vote for, has reached a record 75 million nationwide – a number that includes millions of Equality Voters in the key battleground states that will decide the election. In 2022, Equality Voters constituted 38% of the electorate, playing a critical role in holding back the “red wave” and delivering wins for pro-equality candidates. And for many, trusted messengers like HRC and the Out for Harris-Walz coalition along with Pennsylvania Democrats will be the difference between showing up or staying home, making the 10 Days of Action campaign paramount in driving turnout.
The 10 Days of Action will build on the work of the Out for Harris-Walz coalition and the Coordinated Campaign, which has mobilized and organized LGBTQ+ voters across the country through:
- Community engagement calls with voters across the LGBTQ+ coalitions,
- Virtual organizing calls with LGBTQ+ activists and community leaders,
- Relational organizing trainings focused on activating and reaching new volunteers targeting battleground voters,
- House parties and community events in Phoenix, Arizona; Ferndale, Michigan; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
The stakes of November’s election on issues of equality are staggeringly high. As president, Donald Trump led a virulently anti-LGBTQ+ administration, banning brave transgender servicemembers from the military and advocating for rollbacks to nondiscrimination protections. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz have been career-long champions for LGBTQ+ rights, defending marriage equality, advocating for the freedom for families of transgender youth to make their own health care decisions, and championing nondiscrimination protections through legislative and administrative action.
The campaigns’ plans for the future stand in stark contrast, as well. As president, Kamala Harris and Democrats have committed to fighting to pass the Equality Act to enshrine anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans in health care, housing, education and more into law, while Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda would eliminate federal rules that protect LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination and rip away more of our hard-fought freedoms.
10 Days of Action kicks off tonight with a rally in Philadelphia featuring remarks from Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, Pennsylvania State Representatives Malcolm Kenyatta and Andre Carroll, Philadelphia City Council Member and Out for Harris PA Co-Chair Rue Landau, creator and author RaeShanda Lias-Lockhart, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, and others.
The 10 Days of Action campaign launches on the eve of National Coming Out Day, first organized by Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg with the National Coming Out Day organization and observed on the October 1988 anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. In 1993, the National Coming Out Day organization merged with HRC. Since its inception, National Coming Out Day has been a community-wide declaration of the power of being free to live authentically. And as LGBTQ+ communities have faced escalating political attacks from MAGA bullies, National Coming Out Day has also served as a call for LGBTQ+ people and our allies to show up defiantly against hate. The 10 Days of Action campaign will be a rallying cry, encouraging LGBTQ+ and allied voters to come out in support of the Harris-Walz ticket and Democrats up and down the ballot.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
###
