During Pride Month, Lawmakers Defend Freedom & Rights for Queer, Trans Americans
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) launched a new effort to push back against the Trump Administration’s assault on the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ Americans nationwide.
The No Place for LGBTQ+ Hate Act would ensure that President Trump’s hateful executive orders targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other Americans have no force or effect, and would ensure that no federal funds are used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out those executive orders. With anti-LGBTQ+ hate on the rise across the United States, Merkley and Balint’s bill fights back against these harmful federal policies, expands freedom, and opens the doors of opportunity for all Americans.
“Freedom is the right to safely live as your authentic self without fear of harassment, discrimination, or violence,” said Merkley. “President Trump and Republicans are attacking our LGBTQ+ neighbors, friends, and family members by rubberstamping discrimination in every aspect of daily life. As we mark Pride Month this year, we say ‘hell no’ to this hate and honor those who have fought for LGBTQ+ equality by never giving up on the vision of America as a land of freedom for all.”
“Trump cannot take away our rights or our health care just with the stroke of a pen. I’m standing with Senator Merkley and my colleagues to show the Trump administration that their hate and dehumanizing rhetoric targeting queer Americans doesn’t intimidate us. We won’t back down when it comes to protecting our rights. No matter how much they try to erase us and our history, LGBTQI+ people are valued members of every community across this country,” said Balint.
The No Place for LGBTQ+ Hate Act takes aim at the Trump Administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, including:
- The Day One executive order to mandate discrimination against transgender, non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals.
- An executive order to reinstate and expand the transgender military ban.
- An executive order to prevent medically necessary health care from being provided to transgender youth.
- An executive order to prohibit transgender students from participating in school sports.
- An executive order requiring schools to deny the existence of transgender people.
In addition to Merkley and Balint, the No Place for LGBTQ+ Hate Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and U.S. Representatives Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-03), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30), Maxine Dexter (D-OR-03), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51), Hank Johnson (D-GA-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Sarah McBride (D-DE), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Seth Moulton (D-MA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Scott Peters (D-CA-50), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-07), and Nikema Williams (D-GA-05).
The bicameral bill is endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, Advocates for Trans Equality, ACLU, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Reproductive Freedom for All, and Planned Parenthood.
“LGBTQ+ people, including transgender people, live and work in every community. They serve in Congress, run companies, protect our country, and build families,” said HRC Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Pike Bailey. “That means LGBTQ+ people deserve the same dignity and respect as everyone else. But the Trump-Vance Administration has launched an unrelenting assault on LGBTQ+ lives, issuing one executive action after another aimed at making it harder to see a doctor, go to school, and live life openly. Thank you to Senator Merkley and Congresswoman Balint for pushing back and declaring that this should be a country where freedom truly exists for all. Every one of us deserves an equal shot to chase our American dream, and that means putting a stop to this administration’s agenda of targeting people simply because of who they are.”
“From day one, this administration has conspired to encourage and promote policies designed not simply to strip trans and intersex people of critical civil rights protections, but to push them out of nearly all sectors of public life. From our jobs, schools, and access to medically necessary care to the use of public accommodations and participation in sports, the Trump Administration has sought to deny the existence of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people and to dehumanize us,” said Sinead Murano-Kinney, Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) Health Policy Analyst. “While these discriminatory Executive Orders do not change the law, they have continued to stoke fear, misinformation, and hate towards trans and intersex people. We are proud to endorse this legislation introduced by Senator Merkley and Representative Balint, who continue to set and raise the bar for what it means for members of Congress to stand up for trans and intersex people.”
“These actions by President Trump are baseless and lawless, far exceeding his powers and threatening the freedom and lives of transgender people across the country. This administration has made clear their goal is pushing transgender people out of public life entirely, and his executive orders have threatened their rights as workers, as patients, and as citizens. We are thankful for the leadership of Senator Merkley and Representative Balint in introducing this measure and we will continue to demand accountability for this administration and their dangerous, unconstitutional actions towards LGBTQ people,” said Ian Thompson, Senior Legislative Advocate for ACLU.
“This bill is a vital step in defending the rights, dignity, and safety of transgender people, who have again and again been maliciously targeted by the Trump administration’s discriminatory executive orders,” said Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “These orders are rooted not in facts or fairness, but in fearmongering and bigotry. We refuse to let trans people be scapegoated by the administration’s campaign to erase their identities, deny them life-saving health care, and push them out of schools, sports, and public life. We will always fight back against this lawless cruelty and recognize that these attacks both deeply harm trans people and threaten the rights and safety of all women and girls. We are grateful to Senator Merkley and Representative Balint (D-VT) for introducing legislation that affirms that everyone deserves to live free from government-sanctioned discrimination.”
Full text of the No Place for LGBTQ+ Hate Act can be found by clicking here.
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