[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 114 (Monday, June 22, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                     CELEBRATING LGBTQ+ PRIDE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 22, 2020

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my LGBTQ+ family, 
friends, colleagues, and constituents in celebrating the many hard-
earned gains that have been made for equality in our nation and around 
the globe. We have come a long way in the last several years: from the 
passage of the Equality Act in the House last year, to same-sex 
marriage being legalized in twenty-nine countries, and now the Supreme 
Court holding that the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex 
discrimination, applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation 
and gender identity.
  This Pride Month, as our nation reckons with its long history of 
racism and police violence, we must remember that the fight for LGBTQ+ 
rights goes hand-in-hand with the fight for racial equality. On June 
28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, the police rounded up 
and arrested LGBTQ patrons and forced them into police cars. Fed up 
with police harassing and brutalizing the gay community, other 
Stonewall Inn patrons started an uprising outside the bar. Among them 
were Marsha P. Johnson, a black drag queen and Sylvia Rivera, a Latinx 
drag queen, both pioneering activists who were key figures in resisting 
police violence that night, alongside other transgender and queer 
activists. The LGBTQ+ rights movement as we know it today was born out 
of these brave people resisting police mistreatment.
  This year would have marked the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Pride 
parade, and 51 years since the Stonewall riots. While we cannot march 
and gather this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can continue 
to celebrate our progress and our shared history in the LGBTQ+ 
community. I'm particularly proud of the role my district has in the 
LGBTQ+ community, with the Pride Parade stepping off just blocks from 
my Chicago District office, to the historic Andersonville neighborhood, 
and to being the home of so many historical institutions like the 
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, the Baton Show Lounge, the Test 
Positive Aware Network, and the Leather Archives and Museum.
  Despite our many advances, LGBTQ+ people, and disproportionately 
Black trans women, still face hatred, discrimination, violence, and 
police harassment and brutality around the country and globe. Over one-
third of Black trans women who interact with law enforcement in the 
U.S. are assumed by police to be sex workers, leading to harassment, 
abuse, and mistreatment. Since 2013, about 111 out of at least 157 
transgender and gender non-conforming victims of hate killings have 
been Black trans women. And just last week, we lost two Black trans 
women, Riah Milton and Dominique ``Rem'Mie'' Fells, who were brutally 
murdered. They were the 13th and 14th trans women in the U.S. to be 
killed this year alone. And the violence extends to the transgender 
community overall, including right here in Chicago. Last month, Selena 
Reyes-Hernandez was killed by an 18-year old man who shot her in her 
home on the south side of Chicago. We will not forget them, and we will 
continue to seek justice, equality, and liberty on their behalf.
  This Pride Month we must also remember and celebrate Aimee Stephens 
and Don Zarda who passed away before seeing the outcome of their nearly 
decade long case that made it all the way to Supreme Court. Aimee, who 
was fired for being transgender, and Don, who was fired for being gay, 
fought relentlessly to ensure that LGBTQ+ people can go to work as 
themselves without fear of retaliation. This week, in perhaps the 
biggest LGBTQ+ case in U.S. history, the Supreme Court sided with Aimee 
and Don and held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ+ 
workers from discrimination. Let this victory renew our hope and our 
drive to continue fighting for a world where everyone can live freely 
and authentically.
  My hope for our country this Pride Month is that we can reflect on 
the decades' long fight for LGBTQ+ equality, learn from our mistakes, 
and look forward to righting the wrongs of our past. As a proud 
grandmother of a young trans man, and as a Representative in the U.S. 
House, I will continue fighting to ensure my grandson and all LGBTQ+ 
people inherit a world that embraces everyone regardless of sexuality, 
gender identity, race, or class. Love is love.

                          ____________________