Celebrating Pride Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for yielding. Thank you, Representative Watson Coleman, for leading us in this Special Order that is so significant.

I stand with many in lending my voice on behalf of the LGBT community in the 20th Congressional District of New York, and across the map of New York for that matter, and across the Nation.

We mark Pride Month each year as an opportunity to celebrate the steps that have been taken in the fight for justice, the fight for equality and civil rights for our friends and neighbors in the LGBTQ community.

As we reflect on victories, I believe it is critical that we acknowledge the challenges before us; challenges like archaic bathroom laws that conjure up the ghosts of segregation and separate water fountains; challenges like that of Supreme Court Chief Justices who refuse to obey rulings from the Supreme Court when the highest court dictates that marriage equality is indeed the law of the land; challenges like initiatives that are borne out of fear, out of bigotry, and out of misunderstanding; and even in Washington, D.C., large routine appropriations bills that fail because one side of the aisle simply cannot support an amendment that ensures taxpayer dollars are not awarded to small businesses that, indeed, discriminate. These actions hurt each and every one of us.

When my LGBT friends are robbed of opportunity that hurts my community and local economies in New York's Capital Region, there needs to be a voice expressed. When LGBT kids are bullied, that teaches those who witness the act that it is okay to diminish the humanity of those that may be different from us.

These challenges are, unfortunately, a natural reaction to the massive strides we have taken in a short couple of years on the way toward equality. That does not make it acceptable, and we must work together to stamp out discrimination of any kind wherever and however it may exist.

Martin Luther King, Jr., has famously said: ``The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.''

That is where we are headed. We will get there sooner if we embrace the ideals of tolerance, of togetherness, and certainly of inclusion.

Another civil rights giant, our friend and our colleague, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, spoke words that I will never forget. He said: ``Make good trouble.''

That is exactly what we must do during Pride Month and every month until our goals are achieved.

I thank the Congressional LGBT Caucus and its leadership for assembling us here today. Let's take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to the noble and simple goal that everyone--that is everyone--has a shot at the American Dream regardless of their creed, regardless of their color, and regardless of their sexual orientation and identity.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to share thoughts this evening, and I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey.

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