Power 50: Chad Griffin

Courtesy of HRC

In 2015, justice for same-sex couples arrived, in President Obama's words, "like a thunderbolt." It was also the year that the backlash began. After celebrating a historic victory, Griffin and the HRC immediately went into the fray, with mixed results, from surprising success in South Dakota to bitter defeat in Houston. With little hope at the moment of Congress passing the Equality Act, Griffin's job of keeping antigay forces at bay is daunting, but that has never stopped him before.