LGBTQIA+ Rights

LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights.

Trans and queer people have always existed, and LGBTQIA+ people deserve equal rights and protections. Women's rights, reproductive rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights are bound together. The same political movements attack all of them, so our framing and defense need to be comprehensive. 

Standing on My Values

I openly advocate for my positions and priorities without selling out particular demographics, including trans people and immigrants, because I stand on my values. I refuse to buy into right-wing, MAGA messaging. I believe we have to counter-message rather than concede ground, because conceding ground puts people like me, my friends, and my family in danger.

The Democratic Party could have codified our rights multiple times over the years and chose not to. They wanted to keep women and LGBTQIA+ people scared enough to vote Democrat without having to earn our support. I refuse to throw anyone under the bus for political compromise, the way Democrats have done to trans people and immigrants, which helped lead us to this authoritarian moment. I will continue to put my time and my body on the line to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

Codifying Rights Into Law

The Supreme Court has shown that rights we once considered settled can be stripped away in a single ruling. We cannot keep leaving the most fundamental protections of bodily autonomy and equal dignity to the shifting preferences of nine unelected, unaccountable judges.

I support passing laws and constitutional amendments that enshrine reproductive rights and LGBTQIA+ protections permanently. That means:

• Maintaining and strengthening federal protected-class status for LGBTQIA+ people across employment, housing, healthcare, education, and public services. 

• Codifying the rights to abortion, contraception, and the full range of reproductive healthcare into federal law. 

• Passing a constitutional amendment, such as the Equality Act, guaranteeing equal rights regardless of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, so that these protections cannot be stripped away by a future Congress or Supreme Court. 

• Protecting access to gender-affirming care as medical care, free from political interference.

Broadly, we need to refocus our efforts on the Equal Rights Amendment, which has been in limbo for decades. Our Constitution should reflect our firm commitment to equal rights for everyone. 

Stopping Discrimination and Harassment

I support mandatory anti-harassment training, including sexual harassment and implicit bias training, for all public employees. Our public employees should uphold the highest standards of conduct, and our elected representatives should be held to an even higher standard rather than the lowest one. Eric Swalwell is just the latest in a long line of men in politics who believe they are above consequence, who abuse their power to harass and assault staffers and employees. We need a serious reckoning for the public figures who harass, exploit, and discriminate. 

As an intersectional feminist, I understand the impact that unconscious, implicit, and explicit bias has on people based on the intersections of their identities. In my past life as a healthcare worker, I served on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees to support culturally competent care and to end workplace and patient-care discrimination against women, veterans, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people. That work matters. I will bring that same commitment to Congress.

I will also fight to defend and strengthen Title IX, which has protected students from sex-based discrimination in federally funded education for more than fifty years. The current administration has worked to roll back Title IX protections, particularly for transgender and nonbinary students and for survivors of sexual harassment and assault. I will oppose every effort to weaken these protections and support legislation that makes clear Title IX covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, guarantees fair and trauma-informed processes for survivors, and ensures every student has access to an educational environment free from harassment.

Working Against the Politics of Division

The Epstein class and the billionaires who back the current authoritarian movement want us divided against each other. They want working people fighting over bathrooms and pronouns while they hurt our children, empty our bank accounts, and strip away our freedoms. I will not play that game. I will not let the people I represent be used as pawns in manufactured culture wars. LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, immigrant rights, and the economic rights of every working person in this country are part of the same fight to disempower the oppressive ruling class and empower everyday people.