Political Quotes

“I thank the chairwoman for yielding. I rise in strong support of the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act. I will say it is troubling for me to hear of the ongoing effort by our Republican colleagues to cancel the LGBT community. Efforts are underway to be sure that you are not allowed to speak about members of the LGBTQ community, the ``Don't Say Gay'' laws that are percolating in State legislatures and that have been passed in some; efforts underway to ban books that include depictions of members of our community; and now, today, an effort to oppose collection of data so you can pretend we don't exist. We are not going to tolerate that because LGBTQ+ members have existed in this country for a very long time, and for far too long, Federal surveys have failed to collect critical data on our community. But we know even with the limited data that we have that the LGBTQ community is facing many, many great challenges. LGBTQI+ people face higher rates of unemployment, poverty, and housing insecurity and have worse physical and mental health outcomes than their peers. That is a fact. These adverse experiences are not just a consequence of who they are, but they are a consequence of the way the LGBTQI+ community is treated in our country and in society. They are disparities that are a result of a society where discrimination, rejection, harassment, even bullying of LGBTQI+ people is still common.…”