Kathy Manning: “I thank Mr. Cicilline for holding this Special Order. I am proud to rise to celebrate Pride Month. This month, we honor…”

“I thank Mr. Cicilline for holding this Special Order. I am proud to rise to celebrate Pride Month. This month, we honor the many contributions of the LGBTQ community while recognizing that the fight for equality is ongoing. I recently watched a documentary on PBS called ``The Lavender Scare.'' I was amazed to learn how liberating military service during World War II was for so many members of the LGBTQ community. The people from small towns and rural areas were relieved to meet so many others in the military who shared their feelings about sexuality and gender. They realized that they were not alone, and they could be valuable members of the war effort. But then, when they returned home after V-E Day, they were confronted with the Red Scare and the nightmare that was Senator Joe McCarthy, who ruined many lives by calling on government officials to identify homosexuals and remove them from their government jobs, claiming they were vulnerable to blackmail by Communists and could be induced to reveal national secrets. It is a shameful part of our history that I never really knew about. Thankfully, we have come a long way since the Lavender Scare and the Stonewall riots of 53 years ago, including the recognition of marriage equality in 2015, the enactment of landmark hate crime legislation, and extending title IX protections to include LGBTQ students. We have made progress toward equality, but there is much more work to be done.…”