Human Rights Campaign president to Dems caving on trans rights: ‘You’re doing too much and getting too little’

For Democrats hoping to make Republican attacks disappear by adopting their own anti-transgender messaging, Kelley Robinson believes that they are giving up too much for a political benefit that may never arrive.“My honest answer is you’re doing too much and getting too little,” the Human Rights Campaign president told The Advocate during a roundtable breakfast conversation with reporters Monday at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “You don’t have to sacrifice any member of our community to win in these races, to have a message that resonates with voters.”The dispute centers on how Democrats should answer Republican campaign ads portraying support for transgender people, particularly their participation in school sports and access to gender-affirming care, as evidence that candidates are out of step with voters. Some Democrats have responded by emphasizing their own support for restrictions. Robinson argues that doing so gives LGBTQ+ voters less reason to support them without ending the Republican attacks.Related: Gretchen Whitmer, ‘a Midwest lesbian’s mom,’ has a message for Democrats waffling on LGBTQ+ rightsWith roughly a month until the midterm elections, Robinson laid out a strategy that places LGBTQ+ voters at the center of competitive races and challenges Democrats to recognize the electoral cost of alienating them. HRC, she said, has made a $15 million investment, its largest for a midterm election, and is concentrating its resources on candidates who will defend the community.That support comes with conditions.“We are not the Democratic Party. We do not endorse every Democrat,” Robinson said. “We endorse folks who are with us on the issues and where we think that there’s a margin that we can make a difference and win.”Her warning arrives amid a debate over how Democrats should respond to Republican campaigns targeting transgender people. For Robinson, the question is also whether candidates understand who they