Pride is patriotism. LGBTQ+ Americans aren’t backing down

As we begin Pride Month in the year of our lord 2026, I’m not going to mince words: it’s hard out here for our community.

Everywhere we turn, from state legislatures to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, we face an endless stream of lies and vitriol and, even worse, dangerous policies. Our healthcare, our history, and our families are all under attack. Trans kids are used as scapegoats for the failures of those in power. Our opposition is hungry to turn back the clock on all our progress, including marriage equality.

None of this is an abstraction; it makes an impact we can feel every day. According to a report from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released one year into the Trump administration, the LGBTQ+ community is hurting by nearly every metric. We’re living through reduced access to healthcare, increased stigma in the workplace, declining financial security, and more. Perhaps most concerning of all, nearly half of all LGBTQ+ people report being “less out” in some area of their lives.

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That truth should alarm every American. Because no one should be forced back into silence just to survive.

But throughout our history, our community has always found the light in our darkest moments. And we’ve always fought back when our rights and freedoms were under attack. Because pride has — and always will be — a protest. And this Pride, I see an LGBTQ+ community more engaged, more organized, and more powerful than we’re given credit for. We are not going anywhere. In fact, we are only growing stronger.

As the President of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the country, I’m proud to announce that we now stand 4 million members and supporters strong — an historic high and an increase of 1 million over the past two years. Here’s why that matters. At the exact moment our opposition escalated their attacks, more people of conscience moved toward our community than away from it.

These are people who march in the streets, call their elected officials, and proudly put equal signs on their cars and fly pride flags at their homes. Together in less than two years, they’ve amassed nearly 1.2 million actions aimed largely at this administration and Congress in support of LGBTQ+ equality, including letters to their elected officials, public comments on federal regulations, and calls into Hill offices. All of that has been since Trump’s second term began. They are our brothers and sisters, parents, colleagues, neighbors, and many of them are allies. They are a community that shows up every day to strengthen equality, opportunity, and dignity in every school, workplace, community, and throughout our democracy itself.

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But this milestone reflects something bigger happening across the country: the LGBTQ+ community is on the rise. Nearly 30 percent of Gen-Z identify as LGBTQ+. Our community represents $1.4 trillion in buying power, and businesses that leave us behind will feel the cost in lost sales, loyalty, and worker retention. The number of openly LGBTQ+ lawmakers has tripled in a decade. We’re not just a force to be reckoned with: we’re a force that will be part of shaping a safer, more equitable tomorrow for all of us.

And as we head into one of the most consequential midterm elections of our lifetime, we’re also flexing our political power like never before. LGBTQ+ voters will make up at least 10 percent of the electorate this fall, and according to the HRC Foundation, 92 percent of LGBTQ+ voters say they are “definitely” going to vote this November. Our voices will be the deciding factor in races across the country, from Maine to California, Alaska to Georgia, and everywhere in between. HRC is doing our part–we announced a $15 million investment in the midterms to flip Congress, increase LGBTQ+ representation in public office, and defeat anti-trans ballot measures across the country. Folks are going to feel the force of the LGBTQ+ voting bloc in every race in this nation.

Because these are serious times that require serious leadership. Nobody is coming to save us. Not a court. Not a committee. Not some hero riding in at the last minute.

It’s us. It has always been us. And that’s exactly how it should be. And when we unite as a community, we can win.

When extremists in Congress tried to attach 50 anti-LGBTQ+ riders to the national budget, we fought back–and we defeated every single one. When politicians in Virginia, New Jersey, and Nebraska tried to rely on anti-trans attacks to win their elections last November, voters rejected their fearmongering by overwhelming margins. When the Trump administration took the Pride flag down at Stonewall, we fought back–and within weeks, they were forced to put it back up.

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We did that. The movement did that.

Because while there are some people in America who are just now waking up to the realities of authoritarianism, many of us have been living under versions of it for generations.

Black communities. AANHPI and Latine communities. Immigrant communities and disabled people. Women. LGBTQ+ people. We know what it feels like when governments try to control your body, silence your story, erase your history, and decide whether your humanity deserves protection under the law.

And that’s why our job at this moment is not simply to defend ourselves. Our job at this moment is to rewrite what it means to be free in America. Because freedom cannot just belong to the wealthy. Or the straight. Or the powerful. Or the politically convenient.

It must belong to all of us. That is the future of our movement and this nation.

So this Pride Month, as we head into marking this country’s 250th birthday, the LGBTQ+ community and allies are showing up loud and proud–we’re reclaiming this country and its freedoms as our own. We say with our full chest: Pride is Patriotism.

Pride flags belong right next to American flags. LGBTQ+ people have always been a part of this country’s history, and we are undeniably a part of its future. Our belief in a nation where everyone can live as their true selves, without exception, has always pushed this country toward becoming a better home for all.

This is our country too. And no matter the attacks or hate that comes our way, we are never backing down. This Pride, millions of people will gather with a clear message: We are here. We are queer. And baby, we’re not going anywhere.

Happy Pride, y’all!

Kelley Robinson is the president of the Human Rights Campaign.

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