In an op-ed released last week,
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that if
elected president Donald Trump would reverse LGBT gains.
Clinton wrote the op-ed for the
Philadelphia Gay News, believed to be the first time a
major-party presidential candidate has done so for an LGBT
publication.
Clinton said that as president she
would “keep fighting until every American can live free from
discrimination and prejudice.”
“That means working to pass the
Equality Act,” Clinton
said. “It would finally provide LGBT people full federal
nondiscrimination protections in housing, employment and so much
more. I know that differences of opinion on LGBT equality still exist
in the hearts of some Americans, but they should not exist under our
laws. As president, I’ll be your partner in bringing about the
vision of the inclusive nation that advocates, activists and allies
have been seeking for decades.”
“I also believe we must address the
ongoing issue of violence against the LGBT community. LGBT people are
now more likely than any other group to be the target of a hate
crime. America saw the effects of hate in Orlando, with the attack on
the Pulse nightclub — the deadliest mass shooting by a single
person in our history. The danger is compounded for LGBT people of
color, who face intersectional pressures and dangers, particularly
transgender people of color. Last year, more than 20 transgender
women were killed in America. Recently, three were murdered right
here in Philadelphia.”
“We need to stop the violence and
save LGBT lives. We need to collect more data around gender identity
and sexual orientation in hate crimes, so we can stop them in a
smarter, more effective way. And we need to finally pass common-sense
reforms to address the gun violence epidemic. Along with the vast
majority of Americans, I believe that we can protect the rights of
law-abiding gun owners while still making sure that guns don’t fall
into the wrong hands.”
“Finally, we need to continue our
fight to achieve our goal of an AIDS-free generation. HIV and AIDS
still disproportionately impact gay and bisexual men, communities of
color, transgender people and young people. We need to increase
research, expand the use of effective prevention medications like
PrEP, cap out-of-pocket drug costs and reform outdated
HIV-criminalization laws.”
Clinton also warned that Trump would
“rip away so much of the progress we've made.”
“He would appoint Supreme Court
justices who would overturn marriage equality and rescind many of
President Obama’s executive orders – including those protecting
LGBT people,” Clinton wrote.
“It’s not just Trump’s policies
that reveal the kind of president he would be. So does his choice of
running mate. Mike Pence is one of the most anti-LGBT public
officials in America. As governor of Indiana, Pence supported a bill
that legalized discrimination against LGBT people. As a member of
Congress, he voted against expanding the definition of hate crimes to
include sexual orientation and gender identity. He opposed the repeal
of “'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' saying doing so would be 'social
experimentation.' And he’s said that homosexuality would bring
about 'societal collapse,'” she added.