The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued the following statement ahead of Donald Trump’s State of the Union (SOTU) address, following the past year of the Trump-Pence administration’s attacks on LGBTQ people:

On Tuesday evening, Donald Trump is expected to address the nation before a joint session of Congress following a year of pursuing his and Mike Pence’s agenda in attacking LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities.

Over the past year, the Trump-Pence Administration has unleashed a torrent of attacks on the LGBTQ community and undermined the rights of millions of Americans. Donald Trump and Mike Pence have systematically and meticulously eroded years of progress and protections. What’s more, Trump and Pence have appointed and nominated scores of extreme and unqualified anti-LGBTQ officials to crucial agencies and court benches — some of whom will serve lifetime appointments. Beyond these extensive, explicit attacks on LGBTQ equality, the Trump-Pence Administration has targeted many of the most marginalized within our community — from banning Muslim refugees, to undermining voting rights, to putting the lives and livelihoods of 75,000 LGBTQ Dreamers at risk. Read a report detailing the myriad of ways Trump and Pence have attacked LGBTQ people over the past year here.

“From literally day one, the Trump-Pence administration has pursued an agenda rooted in anti-LGBTQ discrimination,” said Chad Griffin, President of HRC. “Donald Trump and Mike Pence have indulged extremists and engaged in a systematic campaign to make millions of LGBTQ people second-class citizens. In 2018, HRC, our grassroots army of three million, and our allies all across the country will continue to resist at every turn while mobilizing the largest grassroots campaign in our history to pull the emergency brake on their despicable agenda in November.”

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Patricia King, a transgender woman currently serving and Lynda Bengtsson-Davis, a transgender Marine Corps veteran, will join Representatives Joseph Kennedy and Jared Huffman as their guests at this year’s State of the Union. Donald Trump and Mike Pence are attempting to ban openly-transgender service members despite their courageous and honorable service in uniform.

Following the State of the Union and Rep. Kennedy’s response, HRC’s Sarah McBride will join other civil rights leaders, including NARAL’s Ilyse Hogue, UNITED WE DREAM’s Cris Alex Jimenez, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Vanita Gupta, Sarah Silverman, Debra Messing, and others in delivering #ThePeoplesSOTUResponse, live-streamed by @NowThisNews.