WASHINGTON — This Pride month, state Democrats are fighting back against growing Republican anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric. In states with Democratic majorities, lawmakers have focused on issues like expanding health care access for the transgender community, strengthening fair housing protections, combating discrimination in public schools, and reinstating benefits to LGBTQ+ veterans. Every state where Democrats control the legislature has full LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections in state law and in response to a potentially hostile Supreme Court, a growing number of states are protecting marriage equality with Democrats leading the charge. Meanwhile, the priority in Republican-led states has been to make life harder for the LGBTQ+ community, especially for LGBTQ+ kids. Republicans have repeatedly stifled discussion of LGBTQ+ identity in classrooms and passed bill after bill that bar trans kids from health care access and from participating in school activities and sports. In a year where anti-LGBTQ proposals are flooding state legislatures, the contrast in leadership could not be more clear.
“While Republicans drag us back in time with their anti-LGBTQ+ hate, state Democrats are celebrating Pride month and our record of representation and action,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “LGBTQ+ state Democrats are serving in statehouses and holding leadership positions all across the country, spearheading legislation to protect their community and uplift the wellbeing of all Americans. This Pride month, we celebrate the progress we’ve made, acknowledge that we still have a long way to go, and continue to speak out against Republican attacks on the lives of trans and queer Americans. Democrats will proudly continue to combat Republicans’ archaic attacks on the freedom to be oneself.”
Nationwide, around 160 Democratic state legislators are openly members of the LGBTQ+ community and make up the vast majority of LGBTQ+ representation in state legislatures. This diverse group of Democratic lawmakers has helped pass crucial legislation that not only protects the LGBTQ+ community today, but protects queer youth and generations of LGBTQ+ Americans people to come.
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