While the Georgetown community welcomed the president of largest pro-gay rights organization in the country to campus Tuesday, various Catholic groups nationwide were vocally opposed to his visit.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, spoke on the future of gay rights following the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, focusing on the work that’s left to achieve true equality.

“[They] were great victories and long overdue,” Solmonese said. “But here we are in this moment, having passed two significant and landmark pieces of legislation, and it still isn’t lost on me that we are still without the basic civil rights to equality and workplace.”

According to Solmonese, the HRC’s next goal is to further the legalization of gay marriage.

“If gay and lesbian Americans can fight and die for this country, there is no way that over time we should be denied our full rights as citizens,” he said. “Marriage is at the forefront of our efforts.”

HRC is also working with states and with individual companies to establish better standards for equality in the workplace, including instituting non-discrimination policies and guaranteeing equal benefits for same-sex couples.

Students at the talk said that they were pleased with the discussion.

“It was nice that he talked about marriage and the big issues but also the ones that tend to get overlooked. It was really exciting to hear about the progress we’ve made and the victories that are near,” lecture attendee Maxwell Wallace (SFS ’13) said.

The event, entitled “Beyond DADT Repeal: The Future of the LGBTQ Rights Movement” and sponsored by the Georgetown Lecture Fund, the LGBTQ Resource Center and GU Pride, was denounced by several Catholic organizations including the Cardinal Newman Society and Catholic Campus Watch.

“This event spells out the sad reality that on many Catholic campuses, especially at Georgetown, perennial Catholic morality is often rejected, and the immoral agenda of the homosexual movement is welcomed,” Catholic Campus Watch wrote on its blog.

Solmonese emphasized Georgetown’s openness despite being a Catholic university.

“It is a real honor to be here,” Solmonese said at the beginning of his speech, “Georgetown has played a pivotal role in educating extraordinary everyday people who want to contribute to their society and confront problems of inequity and leave as their legacy a better and more enlightened world.”

Lecture Fund member and event organizer Sean Keady (SFS ’13) said he was happy with the decision to bring Solmonese to campus.

“I’m not surprised by most of the criticism, because of where it’s coming from,” Keady said. “I think Solmonese had an important message for students, that it’s important not to be complacent, that there are many objectives that still need to be won and are being fought right now.”