Sara Jacobs: “I thank Congresswoman Newman for yielding and thanks to the Equality Caucus for organizing this Special Order. As the…”

“I thank Congresswoman Newman for yielding and thanks to the Equality Caucus for organizing this Special Order. As the gentlewoman mentioned, I am the proud sister of a trans brother and a gender nonconforming sibling. I am also the proud Representative of Hillcrest, the heart of San Diego's LGBTQ-plus community, so this issue is deeply personal to me and to the people whom I love. Every time that we hear about another trans person being murdered, I think about my siblings and my constituents, and my heart breaks because this epidemic of violence has gone on for too long. For too long, trans voices have been silenced, ignored, and disrespected. Whether they are trying to access healthcare, trying to find housing, or even when they are just trying to go about their daily lives, our trans neighbors and friends face discrimination, harassment, and a pervasive lack of resources. Even in this body, we have colleagues actively working to prevent equality for the trans community who continue to misgender and dehumanize our trans friends and family and continue denying them the support they need and are trying to keep them on the margins of our society. This rhetoric and this anti-trans legislation making its way through the country has real-world consequences. With the recent news of the killing of Marquiisha Lawrence in South Carolina, 2021 just became the deadliest year on record for trans and nonbinary people.…”