Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris Join Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors

Actress Sophia Bush and soccer star Ashlyn Harris have joined the board of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.

“This isn’t just a role; it’s a commitment to fight for LGBTQ+ justice and equality with everything I have,” Harris, who played goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, said in a statement on social media. “Let’s get to work!”

Bush and Harris quickly became a popular queer power couple after Bush came out and announced her relationship with Harris in an emotional essay for Glamour magazine in April.

“I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” the “One Tree Hill” star wrote. “Right now I think the word that defines it the best is queer. I can’t actually say it without smiling. And that feels pretty good.”

Bush has not spoken publicly about joining HRC’s board of directors. However, she noted in her Glamour essay that the increasingly hostile political climate toward LGBTQ people influenced her decision to come out.

“I hate the idea of ​​having to come out in 2024,” she wrote. “But I am acutely aware that we are having this conversation in a year where we are seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history.”

She noted that state legislatures considered more than 500 bills targeting LGBTQ people last year, of which 75 passed, according to an NBC News analysis. So far this year, state lawmakers have introduced more than 520 such bills, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Human Rights Campaign described Bush as a “dedicated activist and philanthropist who passionately supports projects that empower girls and women,” in a press release about the new board members. The organization noted that Bush is a general partner and investor in Union Heritage Ventures, a majority-Black, women-owned venture capital firm, and that she also co-founded and serves on the board of I Am a Voter, a nonpartisan voting and civic engagement organization.

The Human Rights Campaign noted that Harris was one of the plaintiffs in the case suing U.S. Soccer over equal pay for women, demonstrating “her courage and unwavering commitment to advancing fairness and creating meaningful social change.” Harris and the other plaintiffs settled with U.S. Soccer in 2022. Harris also serves on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a nonprofit founded by American tennis icon Billie Jean King that is dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in sports.

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