Congress members’ video message to LGBT people: “We Are With You”
Congressional Caucus releases video in observation of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
In recognition of today’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus released a video campaign to show support for the LGBT community.
The campaign, led by U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), comes amid bruising battles for LGBT civil rights waged throughout the country at the state and local levels. In addition to North Carolina’s HB 2 law nullifying local nondiscrimination ordinances and restricting transgender people’s access to restrooms, other anti-LGBT bills that have passed recently include a “religious freedom” law in Mississippi and a Tennessee law allowing counselors and therapists to exempt themselves from treating LGBT clients.
“Discrimination has no place in the law, and these attempts to legalize hate are shameful,” Maloney said in a statement. “These laws tell LGBT people that who they are or who they love makes them less valuable as human beings — and that’s just wrong. I started this campaign because, from North Carolina to Missouri, I want LGBT Americans to know that they are not alone. So I am asking my colleagues in Congress and folks across the country to join me and tell our LGBT brothers and sisters, ‘we’ve got your back, and we’re going to keep fighting for you until we win.'”
The #WeAreWithYou campaign features 25 members of Congress, all lending their voices to speak out against discrimination and let the LGBT community know that they are not alone, in spite of legislation that targets them for disparate treatment.
The general theme of the #WeAreWithYou campaign echoes last week’s comments by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who, as head of the Justice Department, announced a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HB 2 in North Carolina.
Watch the #WeAreWithYou video below:
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