[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10365-10368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           LGBTQ PRIDE MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Knight). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the 
leadership for allowing this time on the floor to take up H. Res. 329. 
H. Res. 329 encourages the celebration of the month of June as LGBTQ 
Pride Month.
  I bring this to the floor, Mr. Speaker, because I have had some 
experiences in life that have caused me to understand why it is 
important that we do this. Someone might ask, Mr. Speaker: Why would 
you, Al Green--a person who is not gay, a person who is considered 
straight--bring a resolution to the floor, a resolution to celebrate 
and recognize some of the most notable events in the movement of the 
LGBTQ community?
  Let me explain why. I am a son of the South. More specifically, I am 
a son of the segregated South. I grew up at a time when my friends and 
neighbors denied me rights that the Constitution of the United States 
of America accorded me.
  I was forced to go through backdoors. I was forced to drink from 
colored water fountains. I was forced to ride at the back of the bus. I 
was a son of the segregated South, and as a son of the segregated 
South, I learned early in

[[Page 10366]]

life what invidious discrimination was like.
  I learned what it smelled like because I had to go to filthy toilet 
facilities. I learned what it looked like because I saw the Klan burn 
crosses. I learned what it sounded like because I was called names that 
we no longer use in polite society. I am a son of the segregated South, 
and I know what discrimination looks like, feels like, smells like; I 
know what it hurts like.
  I know of the people who lost their lives in the effort to try to 
bring about justice and equality for all. Medgar Evers lost his life, 
and Myrlie Evers still suffers to this day because she lost her husband 
in a worthy cause, in a cause for justice.
  I know what it is like, and I know that, notwithstanding my 
circumstance as a straight guy, I didn't get here by myself. There were 
people who lived and died so that I could have the blessings that I 
have. Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney died. Schwerner and Goodman were 
not Black. John Shillady died in Austin, Texas, fighting for the rights 
of Black people. John Shillady was not Black. Of the people who formed 
the NAACP in an effort to stop lynchings, which were almost 
commonplace, a good many of them were not Black.
  I have been the beneficiary of the efforts of people who do not look 
like me, of people who had blessings such that they could have gone on 
with their lives. There was no reason other than they wanted ``justice 
for all'' for them to take up my cause.
  I believe that, when you are blessed, there is a reason for it. You 
are blessed so that you may be a blessing to others. You have such that 
you may help those who have less or who have not. Hence, I find myself 
standing on the floor tonight of the Congress of the United States of 
America, proud to sponsor a resolution to encourage the celebration of 
the month of June as LGBTQ Pride Month.
  This resolution celebrates and recognizes some of the most notable 
events of the LGBTQ movement.

                              {time}  1900

  What I would like to do is explain what this resolution actually 
does, H. Res. 329. H. Res. 329 celebrates the accomplishments of 
Houston mayor Annise Parker, the first lesbian elected as mayor of 
Houston, Texas.
  I am proud that it does because not only was she elected mayor of 
Houston, Texas, before she was mayor, she served as the city's 
controller for 6 years; and before serving in this capacity, she served 
on city council for 6 years. She has earned the right to be recognized, 
and I am proud to have her recognized in H. Res. 329.
  It celebrates the hard work that the transgender community has done 
to spread awareness about tolerance and inclusion and encouraging the 
community to keep on working toward broader inclusion. We live in a 
society that has within its Pledge of Allegiance the words ``liberty 
and justice for all.''
  I salute the flag of the United States of America, and I am proud to 
do so because I am a proud American. Liberty and justice for all, that 
means that we have to encourage liberty and justice for those who are 
in the transgender community and encourage them to keep on fighting for 
liberty and justice.
  This resolution recognizes the protesters who stood for human rights 
and dignity at Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1968, as some of the pioneers 
of the movement. It celebrates the gay rights organizations in major 
cities in the aftermath of the Stonewall uprising.
  After Stonewall, there was an uprising in a very positive way that 
took place. People realized that there was something they could do and 
should do to make sure that justice and equality were more than words 
for those who are members of the LGBTQ community.
  This resolution highlights the importance of the American Psychiatric 
Association removing homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 
December of 1973. There is a recognition in the medical community that 
we should not have and that we must undo what has been done by labeling 
people as mentally ill because they were being the persons that God 
created them to be.
  We have a saying in my community that God didn't create any junk, and 
people who are homosexuals are not junk; they are not persons with a 
mental illness; they are people who deserve the dignity and respect of 
all human beings and the dignity and respect that we accord other human 
beings, and I stand here tonight as a friend of the community to make 
it known that there are people who are willing to stand alone and fight 
for the rights of others, notwithstanding any consequences that may be 
put upon them.
  This resolution 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. 
I had the preeminent privilege of knowing the Honorable Barney Frank.
  I served on the Committee on Financial Services when he was the 
chairperson of that committee. He was a person committed to human 
rights for all, to human dignity for all. I am proud to stand here 
tonight and say that he has become an honorary member of the persons 
who are sponsoring this resolution.
  By the way, there are many persons in Congress who are sponsoring 
this resolution, and I want to thank all of them for signing on to it. 
The Honorable Barney Frank is no longer in Congress. That is why he is 
listed as an honorary sponsor or cosponsor of the resolution.
  This resolution highlights the importance of the Civil Service 
Commission eliminating the ban on hiring homosexuals in most Federal 
jobs in 1975. It seems unimaginable and unthinkable that we had to have 
a civil rights commission to eliminate the ban on hiring persons 
because of their sexual preference, because of their sexual 
orientation. It just seems unimaginable, but it had to happen, and it 
did.
  The resolution 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. I remember when it happened. It was 
really big news in this country. Quite frankly, it took courage for him 
to do this, and the kind of courage that he showed, that he 
exemplified, has merited his being mentioned in this resolution, H. 
Res. 329.
  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.
  There were some people who, because they thought that the disease 
impacted a certain segment of society, did not readily respond with the 
hand of help that was available. I am grateful that President Reagan 
did take up this cause to help with the fight against AIDS.
  AIDS can impact anyone in our society, and I am proud that our 
government has spent money on this disease to help eliminate it, but we 
haven't spent enough, and we haven't done enough. I think we can do 
more, and we should do more.
  The resolution highlights the importance of the 1980 Democratic 
National Convention, where Democrats took a stance in support of gay 
rights. I am proud of my party. I happen to be a Democrat, but this is 
not a partisan effort, and the Democratic Party took that stance at a 
time when it wasn't popular to take the stance.
  It has become popular now, to a certain extent and to a certain 
degree, to support gay rights and the rights of gay people, but in 
1980, it was not nearly as popular as it is today, and the party took 
the step forward and in so doing brought a lot of others along with us.
  The resolution 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 is important that we challenge laws that prevent people from 
having

[[Page 10367]]

equality of opportunity from receiving the same access to all that 
society has to offer as other people, and I am honored that the 
Colorado amendment preventing the enactment of protections for gays and 
lesbians was found unconstitutional.
  It celebrates Vermont becoming the first State to legally recognize 
civil unions between gay and lesbian couples in 2000; and, my, have we 
come a long ways since 2000. We have come a long way because a good 
many people in this country now understand that the laws ought to apply 
equally to all, that the 14th Amendment is not for some, it is for all.
  The judges who interpret these laws, who are indicating that these 
laws should apply appropriately to the LGBTQ community, these judges 
are not all gay judges. These are judges who are sworn to uphold the 
Constitution of the United States of America, and they are doing it 
because they know that it is the right thing to do.
  The Supreme Court will be taking up the case of gay marriage--in 
fact, is taking it up and will make a ruling sometime in the very near 
future. My hope is that the Supreme Court will honor the 14th Amendment 
and will allow the Constitution of the United States to apply to the 
members of the LGBTQ community to the same extent that it applies to 
people in other communities.
  The law should be blind to who you are; it ought to give you justice 
because you happen to be a person that is a subject of the 
Constitution. It ought not peek to see if you are of a different hue or 
of a different sexual orientation. It ought to weigh equally all people 
and mete out justice to all the same.
  This resolution recognizes the importance of the Matthew Shepard and 
James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into law 
on October 28, 2009, by President Obama, as it expanded the Federal 
hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or 
perceived gender, sexual orientation, or disability. People ought not 
be assaulted because of who they are.
  What this does is it recognizes that, if you assault a police officer 
because you know that person is a police officer, then the crime that 
you will be charged with is enhanced, the punishment is enhanced. You 
will be punished more severely because you have assaulted a peace 
officer. This is a law in the State of Texas.
  Well, if you assault a person because of who that person happens to 
be and because you don't happen to like that person because of the 
person's gender, because of the person's ethnicity, color, there ought 
to be a special punishment for you because you have gone out of your 
way to hurt somebody that you don't know in a good many circumstances 
and you want to do it simply because you don't like the way the person 
looks or you don't like the person's perceived sexual orientation. The 
law has been changed, and it punishes you if you decide that you are 
going to commit this type of crime.
  This resolution celebrates 2012 as the first year in which all 50 
States had at least one LGBTQ elected official. All 50 States have now 
at least one person who is a part of the LGBTQ community holding public 
trust. People have come to understand that it is not the color of skin, 
it is not sexual orientation; it is the character within a person that 
determines whether or not a person ought to hold public trust, whether 
or not a person ought to be respected appropriately. It is the 
character, not the way the person is perceived in terms of color or 
sexual orientation.
  This resolution celebrates Senator Tammy Baldwin being sworn in as 
the first openly gay United States Senator in January of 2013, and she 
has served her country well and merits this sort of recognition.
  The resolution highlights the importance of the Supreme Court ruling 
in the United States v. Windsor on June 26, 2013, which found that 
section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, found it 
unconstitutional and determined that the Federal Government cannot 
discriminate against married lesbian and gay couples for the purpose of 
determining Federal benefits and protections.
  This is the Supreme Court of the United States of America, the same 
Supreme Court with conservative and liberal Justices on it. We don't 
have to agree with everything the Supreme Court does, but I thank God I 
live in a country where we respect the decisions. We can differ with 
them. Even the Justices themselves differ about various opinions, but 
they respect the rulings of the Court. This Supreme Court has made such 
a ruling as it relates to the Defense of Marriage Act.
  This resolution celebrates the 37 States and the District of Columbia 
where it is now legal for same-sex couples to get married. Literally, 
more than half of the States in the United States of America now permit 
same-sex couples to get married--more than half of the States.
  This means that this country is moving toward, without a ruling from 
the Supreme Court, the notion that same-sex couples should be allowed 
to not only love each other, but to marry each other, to have the same 
benefits that heterosexual couples have when they marry.

                              {time}  1915

  Marriage is a great institution. I celebrate the institution of 
marriage. But the law, under the 14th Amendment, seems to indicate that 
we cannot prevent people who are of the same sex and who love each 
other from having the same opportunities that benefit from the 
institution of marriage that other people who are heterosexual have the 
opportunity of benefiting from.
  So the States that have decided that they would do this should be 
recognized. By the way, many of these States recognize same-sex 
marriage because of judges in those States who have made rulings, 
because of legislatures in those States who have legislated, and 
because of people in those States who have voted.
  There are 37 States. The States include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Connecticut. They are all States that recognize 
same-sex marriage. Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, and Idaho are States that 
recognize same-sex marriage. Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, and Minnesota all recognize same-sex marriage. 
Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North 
Carolina, Oklahoma, and Ohio all recognize same-sex marriage. Oregon, 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, 
Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are all States in the United 
States of America that recognize same-sex marriage.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to present the resolution. And I am 
honored to do so because I know the importance of having people who 
were not of African ancestry who supported causes that made it possible 
for me to be here.
  I have a debt that I owe. I hope that tonight I have made a down 
payment on the retirement of that debt. Because somebody suffered so 
that I could have the opportunity to stand in the Congress of the 
United States of America and make this floor speech. No one could 
have--or would have--predicted at my birth that I would have the 
opportunity to be a Member of the Congress of the United States of 
America.
  For me to be here, somebody had to find out what a 90-pound German 
Shepherd bites like; somebody had to found out what a high-pressure 
water hose stings like; somebody had to find out what going to jail 
feels like; somebody had to find out what losing someone that you love 
dearly to a cause hurts like.
  I am not here because I am so smart. I am here because there are 
people who were willing to make great sacrifices so that I could have 
the opportunities that I have. And because I have them, I have a debt 
that I owe. And I am here tonight to say that I am proud to stand with 
the LGBTQ community to help bring about the kind of justice for this 
community that I have enjoyed.
  Now let me be perspicuously clear about one thing. I am not saying 
that we have reached the panacea as it relates to the African American 
community. There is still great work to be done as evidenced by what 
happened in

[[Page 10368]]

Charleston, South Carolina. There is still work to be done and still 
heavy lifting to do. But I am also very proud of some things that 
happened there.
  I happened to be in a position to be at the bond hearing that took 
place, and as I listened, I could not believe my ears when I heard a 
mother say, ``You took my son''--took her hero, ``but I forgive you. I 
forgive you.'' Time and time again, persons said, ``I forgive you.''
  I had tears well in my eyes because it takes a special person to say 
``I forgive you'' so close to the event that is being forgiven or that 
the forgiveness addresses. It takes a special person.
  And I want to compliment the families of the persons who lost their 
lives in church. My God, in church, lost their lives in church. I want 
to commend those families for having what Dr. Martin Luther King called 
the strength to love. The strength to love. He wrote the book, 
``Strength to Love.'' It is a collection of his sermons. And he makes 
it known to us in that book that it is not easy to love your enemy. It 
is not easy to forgive those who would persecute you. But he also makes 
it known in the book ``Strength to Love'' that that is what love is all 
about: loving those who would do ugly things to you, who would be 
spiteful, who would be evil.
  I think that the family members in Charleston who have shown the 
strength to love are a supreme, superb, sterling example to the rest of 
this country of what we must do if we are to continue to live together 
such that we will have a future that will be void of the kind of 
behavior--the ugly, dastardly deed, if you will--that took place in 
that church.
  Dr. King reminded us also that we have a duty--an obligation, if you 
will--to learn to live together as brothers and sisters. We must learn 
to live together as brothers and sisters. Because if we don't learn to 
live together as brothers and sisters, we will perish together as 
fools.
  I thank the people of South Carolina for exhibiting the ultimate in 
the strength to love, and I thank God that I have been blessed. I pray 
that God will continue to give me the strength to be a blessing to 
others.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________