Washington, DC – Today, Equality PAC released the following statement on the state of the LGBTQ community.
“As Pride Month is just around the corner, we want to take a moment to reflect on the current state of the LGBTQ community,” said Equality PAC Co-Chairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) and Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY). “We have witnessed a sharp increase in hate towards members of the LGBTQ community, mainly from bigoted elected officials that seek to cast our community as an “other” or a group that everyday citizens should fear. We have also seen those same elected officials seek to portray members of our community as “groomers” or engaging in pedophilia, using every moment to somehow sexualize our children. These attacks are from an old playbook, one we might add, that did not work in the long-term.”
“But in the short term, these baseless attacks on our community stoke fear, division, and hate for absolutely no reason,” the Co-Chairs continued. “The impact of these attacks around the world cannot be understated. Just recently, the State Department issued a worldwide LGBTQ travel alert, a highly unusual step. And as we begin Pride Month during a heated presidential election year, we are likely to see these attacks against us increase. We write this today to remind members of our community that in the face of this hate, we must remain united. Our love, compassion, and acceptance are stronger than any of the words or actions that are hurled in our direction. At Equality PAC, we remain steadfast in our resolve to stand up to bigotry and discrimination, and we will work to elect candidates that will inspire the next generation of LGBTQ leaders at all levels of our government. We encourage you to join our work, support our candidates, and make sure LGBTQ Americans in every corner of this nation have a seat at the table.”
Equality PAC’s mission is simple: to elect more LGBTQ+ persons to Congress — individuals who will have a seat at the table, impact the debate, and humanize the LGBTQ community’s concerns. All the funds we raise are used to elect and re-elect LGBTQ persons to Congress and secondarily support strong LGBTQ community allies who will proudly and unapologetically stand with us in the fight to pass the Equality Act and equal protection under our nation’s laws.
In the short time that Equality PAC has existed, Equality PAC has played an unmatched role in making history for the LGBTQ community, electing LGBTQ leaders at the federal level such as current House Members Sharice Davis (Kansas); Ritchie Torres (New York); Becca Balint (Vermont); Robert Garcia (California); Eric Sorensen (Illinois); Angie Craig (Minnesota); and Chris Pappas (New Hampshire), as well as former House Member Mondaire Jones (New York). Equality PAC has been instrumental in winning key races that have determined control of Congress because we know that without pro-Equality majorities, the progress our community has made and the civil rights and equal protections we have fought so hard for, and are still fighting for every day, remain in jeopardy.
