[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 9964-9965]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPORTING LGBT PRIDE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. YVETTE D. CLARKE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 20, 2013

  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I stand with my colleagues in the 
Congressional Progressive Caucus in honor of LBGT Pride Month.
  We have had many achievements to celebrate in recent years--the end 
of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'' the extension of many benefits to the 
same-sex partners of federal employees, the enactment of marriage 
equality in several states and here in the District of Columbia.
  These achievements have been critical in our effort to create a 
society in which we fulfill the promise of the Declaration of 
Independence that all persons are created equal and the promise of the 
Fourteenth Amendment that every person has a right to the equal 
protection of the law.
  The foundation of these achievements was not built here in 
Washington, D.C. Instead, it was the work of activists around this 
nation, it was the conversations between families at the dinner table, 
it was the realization of millions of Americans that ``I know a gay 
person, I

[[Page 9965]]

know a transgender person,'' and that he or she remains my son, my 
daughter, my brother, my sister, my friend.
  For who among us would accept a society in which our children and our 
friends are allowed to become victims of legalized discrimination?
  Who among us would not allow our brothers and sisters who are in 
committed relationships to sanctify their love in the form of marriage?
  Who among us would exclude our neighbors and our colleagues from full 
participation in this civil society?
  When we celebrate Pride Month, we celebrate these relationships, 
relationships in which parents come to know who their children really 
are, in which friends come to know their friends, in which Americans 
have come to know and accept their fellow Americans regardless of their 
sexual orientation.
  It is these relationships that have provided the foundation for many 
of the achievements of the LGBT community. Today, we have much to 
celebrate.

                          ____________________