On the recordJune 23, 2022
It is high time that we provide equal protection for all members of the LGBTQI community in accordance with the 14th Amendment. H.R. 4176--again, not punitive--will take us one more step forward in the decades-long journey toward equality by creating a tool kit through which our LGBTQI community members can be represented and the demographic data can be taken. Let me just simply say that the numbers speak truth. I said I wanted to discuss a moment of truth. When we have the data, we can help with housing, healthcare, schooling, or special needs that this community would have, representation as it relates to them being counted in Federal funding that may be necessary to aid in their circumstances. I am reminded of tragedies that have happened before. Does anyone remember a young man being assailed against a fence just because he was part of the LGBTQI+ community? I met with Matthew Shepard's mother. I remember these atrocities. I see in a State like mine that transgender families are threatened over trying to find resources for their children. We love our children. We love our families. The only thing I can see in this legislation is the importance of affirming, counting, treating with dignity, and recognizing that this wonderful community, the LGBTQI+ community, they, too, are America. We, too, are America. This is a moment of truth, and it is simply collecting data, punishing no one but uplifting all Americans. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 4176.
