Pride Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. It is an honor to host this Special Order hour in collaboration with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Equality Caucus. As Congress' first out person of color, it is an honor to lead this time on the floor.

As we near the end of Pride Month, it is important to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community's contributions to our country, our fight for equal rights, and the work that still has to be done.

I am proud to be joined by several of my colleagues in this House, and I appreciate their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.

Last year, I was joined by Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the co-chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus, and the LGBTQ+ activists to reintroduce the Equality Act. We stood together in solidarity and on the shoulders of many pioneers of the LGBTQ+ movement to demand equal protections for LGBTQ+ people. Former Congressman David Cicilline entrusted me with this landmark piece of legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and I take that responsibility very seriously.

The Equality Act was passed twice under the leadership of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and today it has the support of every House Democrat.

The story of LGBTQ+ equality is not complete without the passage of this legislation. From the Stonewall riots in 1969 to protest the over- policing and criminalization of the LGBTQ community, to the lives lost to the AIDS crisis, to the heroes of this movement like Marsha P. Johnson and Harvey Milk, our community has endured adversity, prejudice, and bigotry.

Unfortunately, the ugliness of hatred persists. Discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is still active, and violence against more vulnerable members of our community is increasing.

The Equality Act would send a message to all LGBTQ+ Americans that their government wants to ensure their dignified existence while honoring those who came before us. In a political moment where the LGBTQ+ community is used to stoke fear and distrust, the Equality Act stands as a way to unite us under principles that this country was founded: liberty and justice for all.

I am proud to come to the floor to during Pride Month to highlight this legislation and to send a message to not only the LGBTQ+ people who are living as their authentic selves and who have enjoyed the celebrations and festivities that this month has to offer but, also, those who, for whatever reason, cannot live or love in a way that is true to themselves out of fear of retaliation.

To those individuals, I want to say: you are not alone, and you have allies in places you may not expect. You have allies in the nine out Members of the House of Representatives, and you have allies in all of the vice chairs and members of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

We cannot wait for the day when LGBTQ+ people don't have to make the impossible choice of choosing safety over living authentically. While I cannot remedy every situation or make every American understand the fear many LGBTQ+ people live in, I can ensure the Federal Government does not stand in their way.

That is why we need the Equality Act, for dignity for a group that has historically been suppressed and continues to be the target of attacks.

We will not stop until this goal is achieved. We will not go back. We will keep fighting.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia), a deputy whip for the Progressive Caucus and Equality Caucus member, as well.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib), the vice chair for member services for the Progressive Caucus and also an Equality Caucus member.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint), the Equality Caucus co-chair and Progressive Caucus vice chair for new members.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Vermont, and I thank her for her most powerful and righteous voice.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), my good friend, a member of the Equality Caucus and a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ equality, and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) for his kind and warm and righteous words.

Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), my friend and a member of the Equality Caucus, a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer) for his commitment and the spirit which he brings to fighting for justice for LGBTQ people. Happy Pride to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I wish to turn my attention toward the world and the international stage. LGBTQ+ issues continue to be the topic of public debate globally. In every corner of the world, there has been movement, both good and bad. We have seen the struggle in many nations in the fight for equality and dignity.

On a very positive note, we see in the nation of Greece the legalization of same-sex marriage, making Greece the first Christian Orthodox country to pass such a measure.

Taiwan is making historic strides toward equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

Then, this past year, legislators from Taiwan extended the same-sex marriage act to grant adoption rights to LGBTQ+ couples. Now both individuals who are part of a same-sex couple with children are able to be acknowledged as legal guardians and can experience the parental rights enjoyed by all other couples.

This past October, Taiwan celebrated Pride with over 175,000 onlookers from all over the world gathering in Taipei to join the march. This year's theme was ``stand with diversity,'' which sought to recognize the diversity of every person and respect different gender identities.

In January, Taiwan elected its first openly gay legislator, but the most promising sign of LGBTQ+ equality came earlier this month from Thailand when legislators approved a marriage equality bill, a move that puts the country on a clear path to becoming the first nation in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex couples.

All of this is happening in the shadow of a more and more repressive People's Republic of China. The state authorities have continually targeted LGBTQ+ individuals and cracked down on pro-equality organizers. These groups lack legal support and are at the whims of an authoritarian regime that seeks to diminish and eliminate LGBTQ+ people. No person should live in fear because of their gender identity or who they love, and it is imperative that we protect the rights for LGBTQ+ people globally and hold governments with this anti-equality agenda accountable.

I commend Taiwan for their championing of equality for their LGBTQ+ citizens. It sets the example for other countries in Asia and across the world that have yet to support freedom and equality for our community.

Madam Speaker, I will make a side note here that while I share my Republican colleagues' concern about the authoritarianism of Xi Jinping and the CCP, I have yet to see my Republican colleagues rise in indignation about the way in which the regime of China treats its LGBTQ+ citizens.

Recent events in Uganda have cast a harsh light on the global struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, and it is our moral duty to speak out against the draconian laws that criminalize same-sex relationships in that country.

More than a year ago, Uganda enacted one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, criminalizing same-sex conduct with punishments that include life imprisonment and even the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, whatever that might mean.

Sadly, the law was recently upheld by the nation's highest court. This law is not just a legal measure; it is an instrument of hate and repression, designed to persecute and dehumanize a segment of society simply for being who they are.

As someone who has experienced both the triumphs and challenges of being openly gay in public life, I can tell you that laws like these do more than legislate against behavior. They legitimize prejudice, foster environments of fear, and justify violence. They rip apart families, drive people into hiding, and erode the fundamental principles of equality and human rights.

We simply cannot and must not look away. Silence in the face of such opposition is complicity. We must use our voices, our platforms, and our influence to condemn these injustices and support those who are fighting for their right to love and live openly and freely in Uganda and around the world.

That is why I introduced a resolution condemning this recent regression of LGBTQ+ rights in Uganda. I look forward to my colleagues' support on this measure and to send a message to the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda that they are seen, that they are heard, and that they are not alone.

Madam Speaker, I also extend my comments to praise the Biden administration, which has sent a clear message to LGBTQ+ Americans that they deserve to live safely and with dignity.

Buried in the 2022 Dobbs decision that stripped women of their reproductive rights was an ominous and dangerous warning from the Justices that marriage equality may be next. Congress and the President were quick to act to protect equality by passing and signing the Respect for Marriage Act. Just imagine if we had a Commander in Chief who did not prioritize this sacred right.

We know that 169 of my House Republican colleagues voted against it, and their agenda has not changed, but thanks to President Biden, marriage for everyone is safe from an extremist conservative court that has repeatedly shown that decades of old precedents can be overturned with the stroke of a pen in pursuit of their ideological aims. House Democrats, Progressives, and President Biden will always protect the right for anyone to marry who they love.

The President has also leveraged executive agencies to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are safe and healthy. President Biden has directed the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice to ensure that communities have the tools to curb violence against LGBTQ+ people.

The President's goal of ending gun violence is something that will help all Americans, including to ensure the safety of LGBTQ+ people as they continue to be targeted based on who they love, what businesses they go to, or how they present. We all remember the tragedies and lives lost from bigotry and fueled by gun violence at Club Q in Colorado and Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Through Congress passing the Safer Communities Act and President Biden's establishment of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Democrats are ensuring that our community is safe to live our lives authentically and with dignity.

A part of living a dignified life is one where you don't have to worry about a doctor turning you away based on your identity. The Biden administration advanced civil rights protections for patients by barring health providers and insurers receiving Federal funding from discriminating against those seeking care on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Reversing this Trump-era license to discriminate comes as LGBTQ+ people face unprecedented attacks on their right to healthcare.

We have seen over 20 States across the country attempt to get in the middle of healthcare decisions concerning LGBTQ+ care, causing patients to move to States that do not have these hateful regulations or forego care altogether. This action from President Biden sends a clear message: No one should be denied care or coverage of care due to who they are or who they love.

Even this week, the President continues to reconcile the harm caused to LGBTQ+ people in the military. He announced pardons for thousands of former servicemembers convicted of a crime under military law based on their sexual orientation. The effects of these convictions have blocked those who served our country their benefits that they have rightfully earned. This is a meaningful step forward for us coming to terms with the institutionalized discrimination, targeting, and repression of LGBTQ+ people in the uniformed services.

This is a glimmer of hope in a political era when some of my Republican colleagues and many State governments across the country have put some of the most vulnerable among us in the LGBTQ+ community in their crosshairs. Attacks on trans youth, particularly those who want to participate in sports, are the new bogeyman of the far right. No student, athlete, or young person should be the target of attacks from Members of Congress because they are living as their authentic self.

President Biden has responded to these attacks by strengthening Title IX protections. This update to Title IX stipulates protections from sex-based discrimination, which includes gender identity for the very first time.

All of these actions recognize the dignity of LGBTQ+ people and the community, a group that has experienced relentless attacks from my Republican colleagues in Congress.

We did not ask to be targets of the far right. We did not ask for our personal lives to be the topic of national debate. What we do ask for is respect and the privilege to live as we are without fear, something that non-LGBTQ people have never had to consider.

I am proud to come to the floor today to highlight the things this administration has done, but our fight is not over until no one is targeted or retaliated against for being who they are. That is why the Equality Act needs to be taken up, passed, and signed by President Biden to take an even larger step into the future of true equality for everyone regardless of the ZIP Code in which they live.

Madam Speaker, in the summer of 1974, I was glued to the television set in my grandfather's living room. My grandfather at the time lived across the street from where I lived. He was an immigrant grandfather. As we say in the Japanese language, his generation is known as the ``issei'' or ``first generation.''

I was watching on the public television station Representative Barbara Jordan give her remarks during the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on the Nixon impeachment. I believe I was 13 years old at the time.

Her eloquent and impassioned speech on the solemn nature of impeachment and the role of Congress in those proceedings made a deep impact on me as it did for many others.

She, in fact, became a national figure because of her role in giving her opening speech. She said in her very memorable speech that her ``faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total.''

Her conviction was present to all, and it made an indelible mark on me. It inspired me to pursue public service and it inspired me to study the art of wordsmithing and rhetoric with the hopes of one day having the same command of language that she did.

That journey led me to pursue a career in education. I returned home to Riverside, California, and began teaching in the nearby community of Rialto Unified School District in 1988. Ask any teacher and they will say it is their students, the young, curious minds that inspire them to strive for greatness in and out of the classroom. This is the same in my story when my students approached me to start the very first gay- straight alliance at that school.

Their bravery and clarity of purpose inspired me to run for Congress for the third time in 2012. I had run for the first time in 1992 and again in 1994. In fact, in 1994, I had been outed by my opponent.

When my students came to me in 2009, several months after the passage of Proposition 8--I might say that Proposition 8 was the statewide initiative that overturned the California Supreme Court decision that granted same-sex couples the right to marry. The people of California did this in the 2008 election at the same time that they gave President Barack Obama nearly a 20-point margin of victory. A much narrower victory was given to Proposition 8, which overturned marriage equality in California.

My students were in a slingshot moment. They surprised me. They came to me and said, Mr. Takano, many kids at our school are upset about the injustice of Proposition 8 and they are mad. They want to start a gay- straight alliance. What was amazing to me was that over 100 kids turned up in my classroom for that first organizing meeting.

It began to make me think that another run for Congress was something that I should start thinking about, that my experience in 1992 and 1994--in 1992 almost winning against my opponent and 1994 being a year in which I was attacked for being gay, and homophobic attacks were used.

I found that in 2012, I was surrounded by family, loved ones, and supporters as I was elected to Congress, making me the first out person of color to be elected to the House of Representatives.

My story is not all that unique. There are still LGBTQ+ people whose queerness is used against them, whether it is being outed or otherwise forced to stay in the closet for longer.

Pride Month and the idea of Pride reminds us that it isn't always the case that an out gay Asian man could come to the floor of the House of Representatives and stand alongside his colleagues to celebrate his identity.

It wasn't always the case that bills like the Equality Act could be introduced and nevertheless passed out of committee and out of a Chamber of Congress, let alone twice.

We have made so much progress, but there is still so much more to do. There are still members of our community being targeted, harassed, and diminished by those with hatred in their hearts.

While the journey to full equality for the LGBTQ+ community is long and winding, I stand here on the floor of the House of Representatives with clear eyes, proud of the progress we have seen in the past decade and beyond, along with a faith in the Constitution that is whole, that is complete, and that is total.

Madam Speaker, just a few miles from here is the Congressional Cemetery. There is a silent protest happening. There amongst the tombstones of former Representatives, Senators, and former Cabinet members is the tombstone without a name that instead bears the message: ``When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.''

Leonard Matlovich is laid to rest there, a Vietnam veteran who rose to fame in 1975 by becoming the first gay servicemember to publicly reveal his sexuality and challenging the military's longstanding ban on LGBTQ+ people.

After meeting with famed gay rights activist Frank Kamaney in D.C., Matlovich hand delivered a letter to his commanding officer, declaring his sexual identity.

Despite years of exemplary service and multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, which included a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart that he had earned after nearly being killed by a land mine, he was discharged.

Madam Speaker, 13 years later, Leonard passed away from HIV/AIDS after years of advocacy, bravery, and being a voice for LGBTQ+ servicemembers serving during Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Our Nation failed Leonard and the estimated 114,000 servicemembers who were discharged on the basis of their sexual orientation between World War II and 2011.

The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell came 13 years ago, but the hurt, shame, and legacy of this rule lives on in the form of missed benefits and harassment.

As ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I have heard stories from former servicemembers who either ended their service early or were discharged due to who they loved.

To date, there has been no congressional-led effort to investigate the historic and ongoing impacts of discriminatory military policies on LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veterans.

That is why I introduced legislation to establish a commission to collect facts and testimonies while also providing recommendations to Congress, the VA, and the uniformed services on how to move forward from these harmful policies.

There are currently 250,000 Active-Duty LGBTQ+ servicemembers and over 1.5 million LGBTQ+ veterans receiving healthcare from the VA, but there continues to be a pervasive lack of data collection on LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veteran populations and an absence of education on the LGBTQ+ community who serve in uniform.

I stand ready to pass this legislation so that even more veterans can experience the world-class care that all veterans are entitled to through the VA.

I say in closing that Pride Month is a time for celebration, but it is also a time for action. I thank all the speakers who joined in this Special Order hour to pay tribute to the LGBTQ+ community and to enunciate the work that is left to do.

Our speakers today have made clear the progress that we have made but also the work that we still need to do in order to achieve full equality.

This month and every month, the congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus stands in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people throughout the country and around the world. We will never stop fighting for your rights.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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