David Cicilline

No, the President doesn't have a point. Look, this is a very simple proposition. There was an investigation conducted on behalf of the American people. It took 22 months. Democrats fought hard to protect Mr. Mueller so he could complete…

Nazis are not a protected class. What we are trying to do here is make sure that transgender individuals and individuals who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual, are that protected class.

We should all learn from that community what it means to be a member of one human family.

It makes absolutely no sense.

Equality is equality.

Now why, for the life of us, would we remove them from the roster of parents who are ready to adopt?

This is a magical moment for our country. We are expanding equality.

This is a profoundly troubling offense to the equality norm and to our Nation's commitment to children and to our young people.

Mr. Cicilline, I ask the witness be permitted to finish her answer to that last question.

It is simply not right, and it undermines core founding values of this great country of fairness and equality.

And today, I am proud that we have the greatest number of individuals from the LGBTQ community in the House of Representatives in U.S. history with eight openly lesbian, gay, and bisexual Members.

This path was made possible by activists like Harvey Milk, Bayard Rustin, Barbara Gittings, and Audre Lorde, to name just a few.

That riot 50 years ago in what is now Mr. Nadler's district sparked the modern LGBT rights movement that has ushered in extraordinary achievements in our fight for equality.

As we consider H.R. 5 here in the House, I can't help but think of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riot just a few weeks from now.

This bill is bipartisan and now has 240 cosponsors, including 3 Republicans.

Thank you, Chairman Nadler, for calling this hearing and for your outspoken and unwavering support of the Equality Act from the very first moment we began to discuss it nearly 5 years ago.

I don't view Nazis as a protected class.

Both of your cases get to the heart of why the Equality Act is necessary.

Equality means equality, and you cannot have full equality if we leave people behind.

I am a proud and outspoken ally of the LGBT community and the trans community especially.

I think it is useful to point out that the suicide rate among individuals who are transgender is 40 percent.

This is a civil rights issue. This is not about individuals opportunistically trying to take advantage of particular entitlements or benefits that are accorded to women.

While we are examining the specific provisions of this legislation, the true question before us is much broader and goes to the heart of the country we want this to be.

Many States have sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination laws, and all of them still have women's sports.

The scaremongering about potential bathroom predators has not turned out to be true.