Political Quotes

“I just want to start by giving a heartfelt thank you to my colleague, Morgan McGarvey, a dear friend whose family has become close to my family. Our wives have become close. It just means so much to me to be standing here on the floor of the House. It is a place where I never thought I would be in a million years not just because I am a child of an immigrant and a working-class mom but because I am a gay American. I knew at 11 years of age that I was gay. I also knew that it was not something that was accepted by my family or my community or my teachers or my friends, but it didn't matter. That is who I was. I also knew that my calling in life was to alleviate suffering, first as a teacher--I taught middle school for many years--and then as a State legislator, and now in Congress. That has been the through line of my life. It is using whatever position of power I have in order to alleviate suffering in all its forms. Madam Speaker, I just want to tell you what it is like when you know at 17 years of age what you are called to do, and you do not see a path to do it, not only because I had nobody in my family who had ever run for office, but it was because as a gay American I knew the world had not changed enough for me to be able to safely run for office. Even when I decided to run, it terrified my parents. They did not want me to be so public about being not just gay but having a family, a wife and children.…”