Encouraging the celebration of the month of June as LGBT Pride Month.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today on behalf of both the Progressive Caucus and the Equality Caucus, as we are here today to talk about June being national Pride Month--Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month--as we celebrate every June.

This year has been an especially significant year. We have had a lot of victories. One year ago Thursday--tomorrow--is the year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ensured that people could have their marriages recognized by the Federal Government.

We have also had a number of States in the last year--bringing us up to 19 States and the District of Columbia--where you can legally be married in this country and several others that have approved it, but are currently in the legal status, including my home State of Wisconsin. We have had a big year, in that Michael Sam was the first openly gay person to be drafted into the NFL.

So we have had a lot of successes in the last year since our last Pride. We are here today to talk about that and what an important contribution to this country we have from our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens, but as much we have had all these successes, we have also had a number of projects that we still have to get done.

Until everyone has access to full equality in this country, we have not provided equal treatment under the law to each and every person as we would expect.

Mr. Speaker, we still have a number of States where you can be fired simply for being gay or lesbian. Michael Sam, as much as he has finally made it into the NFL, could be fired in a number of States in this country under the current law.

We still have too many students and too many youth who attempt suicide who are bullied in school. We have to make sure they have equal access to a quality education, and we still have too much uneven treatment, depending on what State you live in, whether or not your family is recognized. Whether you are in Wisconsin or Massachusetts, the law is different, certainly, in the State level.

We are here today to talk about the many successes we have had and the challenges we still yet have. I am very happy to be joined by a number of colleagues today, and I would like to yield, if I could, right off the bat, to one of my colleagues who has been an outspoken advocate for equality, Representative Al Green from the great State of Texas.

Thank you, Representative Green, not only because you have been a veteran fighter for civil rights for everyone in this country, but I believe that is the first time that that resolution has been introduced in the body of Congress to recognize this month as Pride Month. We appreciate all the hard work you have done to make sure that happens.

I agree with you. I look forward to the day that we actually get a chance to vote on that in the month of June and make sure we recognize everyone in this country, so thank you so much for your contributions.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that, when the gentleman talked about the historical aspect of why this month is so important, he mentioned the Stonewall riots.

In fact, this Saturday--June 28--will mark the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which is often seen as the real birth of the movement for equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.

The gentleman mentioned Harvey Milk from California, who just this year was recognized on a stamp by the U.S. Government, the U.S. Postal Service, so we can recognize the many contributions that Harvey Milk made for this country, so that so many people could be out and run for office.

Mr. Speaker, I like to remind people that, in my home State of Wisconsin, one of the things is we talk about each coast and the many things that have been done on our coasts for people for equality who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered.

My State of Wisconsin--we were the State that sent the first person who ran out for Congress, Tammy Baldwin, to the U.S. House, the first person elected to the U.S. Senate, in Tammy Baldwin.

With my election, Tammy Baldwin's, and a Republican's--Steve Gunderson, who came out while he was in office--we have sent more openly gay and lesbian people to Congress than any other State in the country--and that is from the heartland, the State of Wisconsin.

So we are really proud of this entire country, from coast to coast and especially in the heartland. We are trying to do everything we can to make sure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity and they have the liberty to live their lives to the fullest, and that is exactly what this month is about.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to another one of my colleagues who has been a hardworking fighter on behalf of equality for every single person. In fact, I think he may have the distinction of being the first person to fly a rainbow flag outside of his office here in Washington, DC, have it outside of his door in his office.

He has been a tremendous fighter from the Long Beach area of California and a very good friend of mine. I would like to yield to my colleague from the great State of California, Representative Alan Lowenthal.

Mr. Speaker, I again thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal). You have been an outstanding advocate for every single one of your constituents, including the LGBT community, and I can't thank you enough for all of the work you do.

As Representative Lowenthal mentioned, one of the things we need to get done yet is a bill called the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, or ENDA. In 29 States in this country, you can still be fired simply because of your sexual orientation, and in 33 States based on your gender identity. This is 2014. Our country has moved far beyond the fact that you can be fired simply because of who you love. In fact, most people assume this is already the law of the land, yet it is not the law of the land, and depending upon what States you live in depends on whether or not you can have discrimination against you. That is simply wrong.

The ENDA bill has the support of virtually every Democrat in the House. Eight Republican Members have officially signed on as sponsors. And if that bill were to come to this floor, Mr. Speaker, there would be the votes to pass this bill. The problem is getting it to the floor of Congress.

Right now we are not able to do that. The Republican majority has not allowed that bill to come to the floor, but we know and we feel confident that there are the votes to pass that in this House if we can only get it on the floor. We can join the 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies that provide for equal treatment for their employees. And the fact that 82 percent of the U.S. public supports this, it is far past due to make sure that we protect each and every person with these protections.

Another thing that Representative Lowenthal said that deserves extra recognition is that the Obama administration, President Obama and Vice President Biden, have been outspoken advocates for equal treatment under the law for each and every single person.

In fact, when I think about 1 year ago tomorrow when that Supreme Court decision came out, I was outside the Supreme Court when the decision was declared. I remember going back to my office, and that day we were on the phone with the President and his administration telling us how they were going to make sure that the Supreme Court decision would be implemented in law as quickly as humanly possible. I can tell you, that has certainly happened. In fact, just last week, the Obama administration released a report on the implementation of the Windsor decision detailing exactly how Federal agencies have moved to implement the law, and we have had tremendous progress in virtually every area.

While we still have some areas to move forward, specifically in Social Security and in veterans benefits, we are moving forward with that law, making sure that the Supreme Court's decision is implemented in the laws of the land in this country so that everyone is treated equally. I tell you, that President Obama and Vice President Biden have made it such a priority that everyone is treated with dignity and respect in this country has been amazing, and it is part of why we have the progress that we have. If only this Congress could get an employee nondiscrimination bill on the floor, I know this Congress would pass in a bipartisan way the very protections that we need. In fact, the President just within the last 2 weeks made sure that some of those protections are in place.

The LGBT Equality Caucus has long asked the President could we possibly do an executive order to make sure that anyone who does business as a Federal contractor provides these protections to their gay and lesbian employees, just as should happen under the law. If this Congress can't act, it doesn't mean nothing should happen. If this Congress can't act, something has to happen to fill that vacuum. The White House says they will be drafting an executive order to make sure that any Federal contractor does not discriminate based on their sexual orientation. That is a tremendous step forward, but we still have to make sure that each and every one of those States that doesn't provide these protections does provide those protections under the law.

Another area within the Federal Government where we need to do more is specifically on a number of bills that have been introduced by a number of Members from across this country to make sure that everyone is respected under that court decision--no matter what you do for a living, that you have that respect and dignity.

The gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) has introduced the Respect For Marriage Act to ensure that those who live in States that aren't recognized can be recognized.

For example, in the State of Wisconsin, my husband and I were married in 2006 in Toronto. My State still has hate in its constitution. By Federal law, we are recognized for the thousand rights and responsibilities that are afforded to marriage, but the 213 under State law are still in limbo. Despite the fact that a Federal judge recently ruled our marriage ban as unconstitutional, it is still back in legal limbo. Until that decision gets made, people who have been married, which is in the hundreds in Wisconsin who just got married, and before that hundreds and hundreds more, can still have recognition of their benefits so we have consistency in the law.

There are other bills that I am going to talk about as we go through this hour, but I would like to yield to another one of my colleagues, someone who has been an outstanding Representative from the State of Rhode Island. First he served as the mayor of Providence, and he is an outstanding advocate for equality for each and every single person of this country, the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

I thank Representative Cicilline. You are seen on so many issues as the point person in this Congress; specifically, making sure that we respect those who may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender in other countries. I think I heard a statistic this year that one out of six people who previously had rights lost them this year because of countries like Russia, India, and other countries across our globe. It is a real concern. While we are having progress here, it is leaving a lot of other people behind around the world. Thank you for all of your advocacy around that.

In fact, one of those countries that is a country that has not gone forward in the area of equal treatment of their citizens is the country of Brunei. Brunei is a country that is currently part of the negotiations that we are having with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that is generally offered to countries that we have something in common with, that we want to be able to not only have increased trade with, but you actually want to make sure that they somehow reflect your values.

And unfortunately Brunei just recently implemented shari'a law, which includes the stoning of gays and lesbians, the stoning to death for gays and lesbians in their country. This is something that we have great concern about.

There was a bipartisan letter recently signed by 119 Members of this body that went to both Secretary Kerry and the U.S. Trade Representative, Michael Froman specifically saying why are we rewarding something that is considered such a prize, to have status in trading with us as one of the countries that we are going to put into a trade agreement, when they have such terrible human rights conditions? 119 people, in a bipartisan way in this body, sent that letter.

So we are hoping that--as Representative Cicilline said, we are seeing us go backwards in Russia, and it looks like we may be going backwards in India and some other countries. Certainly, they have advocated the stoning of gays and lesbians. That is truly a backward idea and something that this country needs to do everything we can to change. I am glad that so many of our colleagues, in a bipartisan way, did that.

Some of the other bills that Members of Congress have introduced to try to address some of the issues that we need to move forward on, Representative Titus from Nevada has introduced the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act, specifically getting at some of the complexities that we haven't gotten to yet within the Veterans Administration to make sure that everyone has their family relationship recognized and that that treatment is extended to their spouses.

Representative Walz also has Protecting the Freedoms and Benefits for All Veterans Act; Representative Adam Smith has Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act--all trying to make sure that if you serve this country and you are a gay or lesbian citizen, you have the same benefits and rights offered to your family as offered to the other members of the military.

There is also a bill Representative Ron Kind from Wisconsin has introduced, the Social Security and Marriage Equality Act, trying to address the other problem that we have within Social Security, to make sure that everyone has those benefits offered to their life partners, their husbands or wives in same sex-sex relationships. Right now that has not happened yet since that Windsor decision, and it needs to happen and we are moving forward on that.

There is a bill that I have introduced that specifically is looking to--the Restore Honor to Servicemembers Act. One of the, I think, uglier parts of our Nation's history when it comes to treatment of folks who may be gay or lesbian has been the fact that we had for so long a policy--and previous to that, outright discrimination--against gays and lesbians who choose to serve this country in the military. Under President Clinton we implemented Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but that still didn't fix it so that you could serve openly in the military.

And finally, when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed and anyone was able to serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation, we found that 114,000 people since World War II in this country were discharged with something different than the honorable discharge they should have received for their service to this country because we so often let people go previously out of the military because they are gay or lesbian with a either dishonorable discharge, other than honorable, or some other status.

Don't forget, a dishonorable discharge in some States is the same as a felony. It can take away your ability to vote; it takes away your ability to have veterans' benefits even though you served this country well.

There is a process now that people can get that status changed to the honorable status they should have received, but it is a complicated process. While it is in place under this current President, a future President could change it because it is not actually in statute. Often people have to go and hire a lawyer because it is a complicated process.

We have introduced a bill to make sure that we really treat all those veterans with the respect and honor they deserve for treating this country in the way they did by putting their life on the line to do everything they could to make sure that we have the liberty that we all have, that they should now have the liberty that they deserve and have that record changed. That is a bill that we are also trying to get done that we think is very important in moving forward.

This is a historic month. When we have Pride Month, we try to recognize the many areas that not only have we moved forward on, but also what we still need to improve. I think by talking about some of the bills that still have to move forward to make sure that everyone has that equal treatment under the law--again, those things include equal treatment for employment, which is why we have the Employee Nondiscrimination Act. In 29 States in this country you can still be fired simply because of whom you love.

We have too many students who are still being bullied in school, and the suicide rate among LGBT youth is much higher than youth in general, and we have to help restore that.

It shouldn't matter what State you live in whether or not your family is recognized. So, if you live in Wisconsin

that unfortunately still has hate in our State constitution, the fact that I live there with my husband doesn't mean I should be treated any differently than if I lived in Illinois or Minnesota or Iowa, neighboring States that all recognize the relationships regardless of whom you love.

Those are all things we still have to get done in this country. We need to do that in this body, Mr. Speaker, in this Congress. We need to get these bills to the floor and pass them and move on from what I think at one point in this history was a certain way to get out certain voters. There is a certain constituency that was built around hate. We need to move beyond that. I think many people have. While the Democratic Party certainly, I think, has been a party of inclusion and moved in a positive way, I think I am seeing that happen among Republicans, but we need to have the leadership of this House also moving.

We had a Republican Member just yesterday who has been a strong supporter of equality for all people just win his Republican primary. That is important because he has been an outspoken voice for equality. Representative Hanna, I am glad you won your primary. You stood up for your values, and your constituents supported you.

I think it is time that more of our colleagues, especially on the Republican side of the aisle, need to also stand up for what is right, because we all have colleagues and we all have constituents who are gay and lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. We can't pick and choose who we represent. You support and you represent every single person in your district, and when you don't support full equality, you are really not standing up for each and every constituent, and that is truly unfortunate.

To end, I really want to focus again on those successes. We have had a tremendous year. We have had so much progress from the Supreme Court decision exactly 1 year ago tomorrow, where we have now had a number of States just in the last year move towards full marriage equality, where we have had a country where Michael Sam could finally be the first openly gay person drafted into the NFL.

We have been able to move forward in so many areas. This is because society has moved. A majority of people in this country support marriage equality. I believe the last I saw was 58 percent of the people. Even more important, 81 percent of people 30 and under support marriage equality. That is where this country is going. We want to treat everyone with respect and dignity and allow them the liberty to live their lives. Until we do that for every single citizen, we have not reached the goal of treating everyone with equality and equal treatment under the law.

With this time that we have had, the Progressive Caucus and the Equality Caucus, I wanted to share some time with our members so we could make sure we celebrate this Pride Month and all of our constituents who may be gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgendered and say thank you for all you do. We are going to continue to fight for your equality, not only in this body in Congress, but throughout society.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

I greatly appreciate your yielding the time, and I greatly appreciate your work in the Congress of the United States of America to bring equality to all persons, regardless of who they are, where they are from, or where they happen to be at a given point in time.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that one God created all of humanity to live in harmony, regardless of sexuality. I believe that human rights are not conferred by a State. I don't think they are accorded by a constitution. I think that human rights are birthrights, and these are rights that one acquires simply by being born a child of God.

As such, I believe that all human beings deserve dignity and respect and that all human beings deserve equality under the law, regardless of who you are, regardless of your race, creed, color, national origin, familial status, or sexuality.

I believe that we, who hold ourselves out as people of goodwill, should do all that we can to make sure that every person on the planet Earth is treated fairly and with a great degree of dignity.

To this end, I am proud to have filed in the Congress of the United States of America H. Res. 416, which recognizes the month of June and celebrates it as LGBT Pride Month.

I am proud to say that this resolution has been cosponsored by 25 Members of Congress, including all seven cochairs of the Equality Caucus. I am also proud to tell you that the Honorable Barney Frank, who was an openly gay Member of Congress and chaired the Financial Services Committee, is an honorary sponsor of this legislation.

I would like to, if I may, my dear friend and brother, I would like to just give some indication as to what the resolution does, so that persons who may not be familiar, who may not have an opportunity to peruse certain records and documents, will at least hear some of what it does.

This resolution specifically recognizes the protesters who stood for human rights and dignity at the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1968, as some of the pioneers of the movement.

It celebrates the creation of gay rights organizations in major cities in the aftermath of the Stonewall uprising. It highlights the importance of the American Psychiatric Association removing homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in December of 1973.

It recognizes Elaine Noble as the first LGBT candidate elected to a State legislature in 1974 and Barney Frank as the first Representative to come out as an openly gay Member of Congress in 1987.

It highlights the importance of the Civil Service Commission eliminating the ban on hiring gay persons in most Federal jobs in 1975.

It celebrates Harvey Milk making national news when he was sworn in as an openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, 1978.

It praises the thousands of activists who participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and

Gay Rights to demand equal civil rights in 1979 and the National March on Washington to demand that President Reagan address the AIDS crisis in 1987.

It highlights the importance of the 1980 Democratic National Convention, where Democrats took a stance in support of gay rights. It highlights the importance of the Supreme Court ruling in Romer v. Evans, in May of 1996, which found a Colorado constitutional amendment preventing the enactment of protection for gays and lesbians unconstitutional.

It celebrates Vermont becoming the first State to legally recognize civil unions between gay and lesbian couples in 2000.

It highlights the importance of the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, in June of 2003, which found that, under the 14th Amendment, States could not criminalize the private, intimate relations of same- sex couples.

It goes on to do many other things, but I want to focus now on something that I think the resolution should do. It is my hope that I will live to see the day that this resolution will not only be spoken of in Congress in the month of June, but that it will actually come to the floor of the Congress of the United States of America and that it will pass the Congress of the United States of America because, on that day, we will have taken one more step toward equality for all of humanity.

Mr. Speaker, on that day, we will have taken another step toward making real the great and noble American ideal of liberty and justice for all.

On that day, we will have taken a step toward making real the concept that all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

On that day, when we pass this resolution in the Congress of the United States of America, we will have said to the world that the United States of America understands and recognizes the human rights of persons, regardless of their sexuality.

I thank the gentleman for the opportunity to give these expressions, and I pray to live to see the day that this resolution will pass the Congress of the United States of America.

I thank you very much, and I look forward to working with you and other Members of Congress to give us the opportunity to have a vote on the resolution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and for organizing this Special Order hour.

We certainly have a lot to celebrate in terms of progress toward full equality for the LGBT community, and a lot to be proud of. We are now living in a country where, in 19 States and the District of Columbia, individuals are afforded full marriage equality. We have work to do here, as you were just mentioning, by passing the Respect For Marriage Act, to be sure that we repeal DOMA, and legislatively doing what the Windsor case requires.

We have work to do in terms of passing the Employment Non- Discrimination Act to ensure that no qualified worker in America loses his or her job because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I want to compliment the President on his executive order that will ensure that this kind of employment discrimination does not occur in the Federal workplace. This President has provided extraordinary leadership on our collective effort to bring full equality to our community.

I also want to talk about LGBT rights internationally because this is an issue in many places around the world where members of our community are subjected to imprisonment, physical violence, sometimes imposition of death sentences for certain criminal provisions, solely because they are gay or lesbian. So I think one of the things that we need to continue to do is promote the principle of equality around the world and ensure that no one is persecuted or imprisoned or beaten because of who they are. We are seeing in places around the world like Russia and other places in the world really an uptick in anti-LGBT legislation, anti-LGBT activities.

So while we celebrate pride here in our country and the accomplishments of members of our community, we have to recognize that it is not the case for many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

We have made extraordinary progress, as you know. You are a member of the Equality Caucus. I just want to mention that we now have seven openly gay Members of Congress here in the United States, one Member in the United States Senate, so eight in total. We have for the first time in our history an executive director and a paid staff member who is responsible for helping to promote our agenda for equality for our community, to educate our colleagues about legislation important to our community, and who has really professionalized the Equality Caucus. That is historic progress. That would not have happened but for the work of a lot of individuals, a lot of great organizations, like the Human

Rights Campaign, the Victory Fund, and others who have helped to ensure that members of our community are elected to public office and that the great Congress of the United States reflects the great diversity of our community.

You are an important cochair of the Equality Caucus, and I would say to the gentleman that you take on more than your share of the responsibility of advocating for equality for our community and taking a leadership role in events such as this Special Order hour. So thank you for the work you do in representing your constituents, and also bringing equality for our community.

I think we all come here with our first responsibility to our constituents, and do everything we can to represent the people who sent us to Washington. At the same time, we come here with our characteristics and traits and our life experiences, and we all work hard to ensure that in America everyone is treated fairly and that we have access to the same responsibilities and privileges as everyone, and that is what the Equality Caucus does. I think this is a year for great celebration.

I want to end by again thanking our President, who has, more than any President in the history of our country, helped to advance the equality of LGBT individuals in the workplace, internationally, and in the conduct of marriage by implementing the Windsor case in an aggressive way, and by advancing and supporting efforts to reduce bullying and promote respect for our community, ensuring that the LGBT community is reflected throughout his administration in important positions of responsibility. I think there is no question that President Obama will go down in history as the President who has done more than any previous President to advance full equality to our community. We should always be mindful of that, and I thank him for his leadership.

With that, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Thank you, Congressman. It is an honor to be here. It is an honor to work with you on LGBT issues and all issues before the Congress, but as you point out, this is a historic time that we are living through.

This month, as you point out, marks LGBT Pride Month, a time for all of us to come together and remember the struggles for inclusion and the steps we are taking together to promote equality today, tomorrow, and generations to come.

Also, as you pointed out, it marks the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York. The riots in June of 1969 were a turning point for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and also for all its allies, friends, and family.

This is a moment when the community came together and stood up and said no--no to intolerance, no to homophobia, and no to homophobic public policies.

So much has changed since that night at the Stonewall Inn. Today, the egregious Defense of Marriage Act has been overturned by the United States Supreme Court, and marriage equality has come to 20 States, including my home State of California.

I am pleased to say two weekends ago I had the honor of being an affiant in the marriage of a loving couple of the LGBT community. The momentum for marriage equality is continuing, and we are living through a time when change is before us.

As you pointed out, I was listening to the discussions before the United States Supreme Court on DOMA and on Proposition 8, and I was so caught up and offended by people not wanting to provide equality when they would testify before it that I said that I would fly the pride flag from that day forward until equality is attained by all people, and especially the LGBT community. And that flag still flies today. Although there have been great strides, equality is still not here.

For example, there is no Federal law that explicitly protects the LGBT individuals from employment discrimination. Congress now has a unique opportunity to change that and make history. The Employment Non- Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA, has 205 bipartisan cosponsors and will ban all workplace discrimination against the LGBT community. This bill is the next important step on the inevitable march towards equality, and it will change the way in which we deal with all of our brothers and sisters, and it will provide the dignity that the LGBT community deserves.

I was pleased to hear that President Obama has indicated that he is soon to issue an executive order regarding LGBT discrimination, that he will ban all Federal Government contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Since taking office, the President has added critical protections to the Violence Against Women Act that protects the LGBT community and repeals the decades-old military policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

These are great steps, and we are living through a time of great change, but now it is Congress' turn to act so we can finally close this chapter of inequality. We must pass ENDA during the 113th Congress so we can take the

next step towards ending discrimination now and forever.

I thank you very much.