Josh Gottheimer: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Happy Pride to all. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight in support of LGBTQ+ equality, a…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Happy Pride to all. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight in support of LGBTQ+ equality, a domain in which we have made so much progress. I am so grateful for that, but we have a long way to go. I thank Congressman Takano for his phenomenal leadership, his friendship, what he does on the Equality Caucus as co-chair, and what he does in the Halls of Congress every day, standing up to hatred, fighting for doing right and for, of course, coordinating tonight's Pride Month Special. I thank the gentleman so much. Yesterday was Equality Day, the anniversary of three Supreme Court decisions that transformed LGBTQ+ rights here in our great country: Lawrence v. Texas, U.S. v. Windsor, and Obergefell v. Hodges. In just over two decades, we made a century's worth of progress, unbelievable progress in a short period of time, decriminalizing homosexuality and guaranteeing marriage equality nationally. Yet, in the midst of this monumental progress, there are forces here in the Halls of Congress and in State legislatures across our country that want to pull us backward and go after Americans for who they love. So far this year, the ACLU is tracking 515 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in our State legislatures, embedding hate and cruelty into the letter of their laws. LGBTQ+ rights are personal for me, as they are for many people in Congress and for Americans across our country.…”