I'm still having a hard time believing this is real. This was a long journey and i'm grateful to have shared the road with so many of my amazing colleagues at @HRC and organizations we are lucky to call partners in the movement. (Thread) https://twitter.com/HRC/status/1249094877314453504

As @HRC's @AlphonsoDavid says, "We don't build political power to have it, we build political power to use it." And HRC began to build it years ago fighting alongside former State Senator @JenniferWexton, and Senators @AdamEbbin and @JennMcClellanVA in the General Assembly.

These trailblazers intro'd the first iterations of legislation that would protect LGBTQ Virginians from discrimination in housing & public employment. And they did this time and time again despite facing severe opposition from anti-equality legislators-- their own colleagues.

We continued to build our power in 2017 by working to elect Del. @pwcdanica -- the first openly trans person to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly-- and electing a progressive top ticket.

@HRC continued to build power by keeping folks energized and engaged in 2018 by helping elect @RepWexton (VA-10) and @RepSpanberger (VA-7) who have been outspoken allies in the House of Representatives as we work to pass the #EqualityAct.

And still, we kept going. At the beginning of 2019 @HRC worked to fill the State Senate seat vacated by Wexton, electing former Del. @JenniferBoysko (chief co-sponsor of the Virginia Values Act this year). This seat was a crucial hold in our road to flipping the VA State Senate.

And at the end of the legislative session in 2019, when non-discrimination bills were once again killed, we knew we had to help bring change to Virginia. If legislators weren't going to listen to their constituents, then we were going to work to elect ones who would.

And so, last fall@HRC endorsed 27 pro-equality candidates and invested over $250,000 by putting our best resources on the ground and pulling out all the stops to flip both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly.

All of these moments helped usher in a new era in the Commonwealth for the 2020 legislative session. It's what made the Virginia Values Act becoming law possible. But the biggest key to our success is YOU-- the advocates, the volunteers, the door knockers, the phone bankers. You.

You. You are why we do this work, and why we can do this work.

Hey, there's still a lot more work to do. But let's take a moment to celebrate what is possible when we double down and work together. Thanks again for making it possible.

/thread