Original LGBTQIA+ Pride Month Resolution of 2023

Whereas this resolution may be cited as the Original LGBTQIA+ Pride Month Resolution of 2023 Whereas the Honorable Barney Frank, Member of Congress from 1981 to 2013, is recognized as an honorary cosponsor of this resolution; Whereas Members of this Congress support the rights, freedoms, and equality of those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+); Whereas, in August of 1966, the Screaming Queens Whereas those who took a stand for human rights and dignity at the Stonewall Inn Uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969, were led by two brave and visible transgender women of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera; Whereas the LGBTQIA+ protesters at the Stonewall Inn Uprising and Gene Compton’s Cafeteria Uprising were subject to police harassment and invidious discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Whereas within years of these decisive moments in history, LGBTQIA+ rights organizations were created in every major city of the United States; Whereas Brenda Howard, often called The Mother of Pride, Whereas Brenda Howard’s Gay Pride Week and Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade evolved into the annual New York City Pride March and Pride celebrations now known around the world; Whereas the Stonewall Inn Uprising and the Gene Compton’s Cafeteria Uprising have been followed by many historic milestones for the LGBTQIA+ community; Whereas, in December of 1973, the board of the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses of the American Psychiatric Association; Whereas, in 1974, Elaine Noble became the first openly LGBTQIA+ candidate elected to a State legislature in the United States when she won a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives; Whereas, in 1975, the Civil Service Commission eliminated the ban on the employment of gay people in most Federal jobs; Whereas, on January 8, 1978, Harvey Milk made national news when he was sworn in as an openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; Whereas, on June 25 of 1978, gay artist Gilbert Baker debuted a rainbow flag at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade in response to calls by gay elected officials to designate a symbol for the community, and the flag was officially established as a symbol for LGBTQ pride in 1994; Whereas, in October of 1979, 75,000 people participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights to demand equal civil rights for LGBTQIA+ people, which was inspired by the March on Washington in 1963 and the assassination of Harvey Milk in 1978; Whereas Democrats took a stance in support of gay rights at the Democratic National Convention in 1980; Whereas, in 1982, Wisconsin became the first State to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; Whereas, in 1983, after initial refusal from lead organizers to allow an openly LGBTQIA+ person to speak, Audre Lorde was selected by Black LGBTQIA+ groups to speak at the 20th-anniversary commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963; Whereas, in October of 1987, thousands of activists took part in the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights to demand that President Reagan address the AIDS crisis; Whereas, in 1987, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts became the first United States Representative to voluntarily come out as an openly gay Member of Congress; Whereas Urvashi Vaid cofounded the Creating Change Conference in 1988, the largest annual LGBTQIA+ conference convening in the United States; Whereas, in 1991, Monica Helms designed the transgender flag and introduced it at the 2000 Phoenix Pride parade to represent the rights and diversity of transgender people; Whereas, in March of 1991, Glen Maxey became the first openly LGBTQIA+ person elected to the Texas State House; Whereas, on April 25, 1993, more than a million people took part in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, one of the largest protests in United States history; Whereas, on May 20, 1996, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Romer v. Evans that a Colorado constitutional amendment preventing the enactment of nondiscrimination protections for gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons in Colorado was unconstitutional; Whereas, on October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, tortured, and left to die, drawing attention to sexual-orientation related hate crimes and ultimately to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act; Whereas, on November 28, 1998, Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman, was brutally murdered in her home, sparking the advent of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is observed every year on November 20, to remember those who have been killed due to transphobia; Whereas, in 2000, Vermont became the first State in the United States to legally recognize civil unions between same-sex couples; Whereas, on June 8, 2000, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held in Rosa v. Park West Bank that a transgender person had recourse under the prohibition on sex discrimination provided for in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act after being denied a loan for dressing in traditionally feminine attire; Whereas, in December of 2000, the Netherlands became the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage when the States General of the Netherlands passed, by a three-to-one margin, a landmark bill allowing same-sex marriage; Whereas in 2003, David Cicilline became the first openly gay mayor of a United States capital when he was elected to lead Providence, Rhode Island; Whereas, on June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Lawrence v. Texas that under the 14th Amendment, States could not criminalize the private, intimate relationships of same-sex couples; Whereas, on August 5, 2004, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Smith v. City of Salem that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender employees from workplace discrimination; Whereas, in 2008, a Latino transgender man, Diego Miguel Sanchez, became the first openly transgender person appointed to the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee; Whereas, on November 4, 2008, Stu Rasmussen, of Silverton, Oregon, became the first openly transgender person to be elected mayor in the United States; Whereas, in 2009, Diego Miguel Sanchez became the first openly transgender senior congressional staffer on Capitol Hill, appointed by Representative Barney Frank; Whereas, on October 28, 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama, and the bill expanded existing Federal hate crimes laws to include crimes motivated by the actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of a victim; Whereas, on January 4, 2010, Mayor Annise D. Parker was sworn in as the first openly lesbian Mayor of Houston; Whereas, on November 2, 2010, Victoria Kolakowski was elected to the Alameda County Superior Court in California, becoming the first openly transgender woman to serve as a trial court judge in the United States; Whereas, on November 17, 2010, Phyllis Frye was appointed to the City of Houston Municipal Courts as the first openly transgender judge appointed in the United States; Whereas Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the repeal of Defense Directive 1304.26 ( Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Whereas, in October of 2011, the Girl Scouts of America opened membership to a 7-year-old transgender girl; Whereas, in December of 2011, Lane Lewis became the first gay man elected County Chair of the Democratic Party of Harris County, the 3rd largest county in the United States; Whereas 2012 was the first year in which all 50 States in the United States had not less than 1 openly LGBTQIA+ elected official; Whereas, on April 20, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is sex discrimination Whereas, on June 12, 2012, Kylar Broadus became the first openly transgender person to testify in a hearing before the United States Senate; Whereas, on November 6, 2012, Representative Mark Takano of California, a Japanese American, became the first openly gay, person of color elected to Congress; Whereas, in 2013, the first LGBTQ Pride Month resolution was introduced by Representative Al Green of Texas; Whereas, on January 3, 2013, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was sworn in as the first openly gay United States Senator; Whereas, on January 3, 2013, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was sworn in as the first openly bisexual Member of Congress; Whereas, on March 7, 2013, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was reauthorized and included protections for transgender persons; Whereas, on April 29, 2013, National Basketball Association athlete Jason Collins became the first active male athlete in a North American major sports league to come out as gay; Whereas, on June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court held in United States v. Windsor that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and that the Federal Government cannot discriminate against married same-sex couples when determining Federal rights, benefits, and obligations; Whereas, in November of 2013, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia issued a policy designed to protect and guarantee equal treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender inmates, including allowing transgender individuals to be housed based on the gender they identify with instead of their biological sex; Whereas, on November 20, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin, an openly gay Black man who organized the March on Washington in 1963 and presented the crucial 10 demands of the March on Washington in the summer of 1963; Whereas, on June 9, 2014, Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person on the cover of Time Magazine; Whereas, on June 17, 2014, Darrin P. Gayles was the first openly gay Black man to be confirmed as a Federal judge; Whereas, on July 10, 2014, Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy Award; Whereas, on July 21, 2014, President Barack Obama took action to protect LGBTQIA+ workers by signing an Executive order prohibiting Federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; Whereas, on June 8, 2015, Olympic triathlete Chris Mosier became the first transgender athlete to earn a spot on Team USA; Whereas, on June 9, 2015, the equal opportunity policy of the United States Armed Forces was updated to protect servicemembers from harassment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; Whereas, on June 23, 2015, Stonewall Inn in New York City received a landmark designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City so that the Stonewall Inn cannot be torn down or developed without approval; Whereas, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges held in a 5–4 ruling that the 14th Amendment requires all States to license marriages between same-sex couples and to recognize all marriages that were lawfully performed in a different State; Whereas, on July 17, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is sex discrimination Whereas, on July 23, 2015, H.R. 3185, with the short title the Equality Act, was introduced in the 114th Congress by Representative David Cicilline with bipartisan support, which amends the Nation’s Federal civil rights laws to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodation, federally funded programs, and jury service; Whereas, on October 31, 2015, the Obama administration announced that it would approve the spouses of refugees who are approved for resettlement in the United States, including same-sex spouses who come from countries where legal unions are not possible; Whereas, according to a Human Rights Campaign tally, more than 200 items of legislation considered to be anti-LGBTQIA+ were introduced across 34 States during the first 10 weeks of 2016; Whereas threats to the civil liberties of LGBTQIA+ people have increased on the State level since the holding of the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges; Whereas, in February of 2016, the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce launched, becoming one of the leading economic voices in the greater Houston region focusing on economic empowerment and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and professionals; Whereas, on May 13, 2016, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education jointly released guidance to provide educators the information they need to ensure that transgender students attend school in an environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex; Whereas, on May 18, 2016, Eric Fanning was sworn in as Secretary of the Army, the first time a branch of the United States Armed Forces was led by an openly gay person; Whereas members of the LGBTQIA+ community are disproportionately affected by violence and hate crimes; Whereas, on June 12, 2016, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the modern history of the United States occurred at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on Latin night, leaving 49 people dead and another 53 people wounded; Whereas, since 2013, nearly two-thirds of fatal violent activities toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people have involved a gun; Whereas 40 percent of transgender people report having attempted suicide in their lifetime, nearly 9 times the national average; Whereas 54 percent of transgender people responding to a 2015 survey experienced some form of intimate partner violence, including acts involving coercive control and physical harm; Whereas LGBTQIA+ youth experience dating violence at rates significantly higher than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers; Whereas, on June 24, 2016, President Barack Obama designated the first national monument to LGBTQIA+ rights at the site of the Stonewall Uprising, cementing its significance in LGBTQIA+ history as well as the overall history of the United States; Whereas, on June 30, 2016, the Department of Defense announced an immediate policy change allowing transgender servicemembers to serve openly without fear of retribution or penalty; Whereas, on July 5, 2016, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, known as the National PTA, adopted a resolution entitled Recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Individuals as a Protected Class Whereas, on July 28, 2016, Sarah McBride, national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, spoke at the Democratic National Convention, making her the first transgender person to address a major party convention; Whereas, on November 8, 2016, Kate Brown of Oregon became the first openly bisexual person to win a gubernatorial election; Whereas, on January 30, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that they would open membership to transgender boys; Whereas, on April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College that lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees are protected from workplace discrimination under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Whereas, on May 30, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District that transgender students are protected from discrimination under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment; Whereas, on June 27, 2017, residents of the District of Columbia became the first in the United States to be allowed to select a gender-neutral option on their driver license; Whereas the first transgender doll was released in July of 2017, modeled after LGBTQIA+ activist Jazz Jennings; Whereas, on November 7, 2017, the election of Andrea Jenkins to the Minneapolis City Council made her the first openly transgender woman to be elected to public office in a major United States city; Whereas, on November 7, 2017, Phillipe Cunningham’s election to the Minneapolis City Council made him the first openly transgender man to be elected to the city council of a major United States city; Whereas, on November 7, 2017, Danica Roem of Virginia became the first openly transgender person to be elected to and seated in a State legislature; Whereas, on March 4, 2018, Daniela Vega became the first openly transgender person to present at the Academy Awards; Whereas, on June 3, 2018, FX aired the show Pose Whereas, on June 4, 2018, the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission that businesses do not have a broad license to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ Americans; Whereas, on November 6, 2018, Democratic Representative Jared Polis was elected governor of Colorado, becoming the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the United States; Whereas, on November 6, 2018, Democratic Representative Sharice Davids became the first openly lesbian Representative from Kansas in Congress; Whereas, on December 17, 2018, Angela Ponce, Miss Spain, became the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant; Whereas, on February 27, 2019, Navy Lieutenant Commander Blake Dremann, Army Captain Alivia Stehlik, Army Captain Jennifer Peace, Army Staff Sergeant Patricia King, and Navy Petty Officer Third Class Akira Wyatt became the first openly transgender servicemembers to testify before Congress; Whereas, on April 23, 2019, Jane Castor became the first openly LGBTQIA+ person elected as mayor in Tampa, Florida; Whereas, in April of 2019, Morehouse College announced that the historically all-male school would begin admitting transgender men in 2020; Whereas, on May 17, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which amends the Federal civil rights laws of the United States to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodation, federally funded programs, and jury service; Whereas, on May 20, 2019, Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as Mayor of Chicago, becoming the first Black lesbian mayor; Whereas, on May 24, 2019, Taiwan became the first nation in Asia to legally recognize same-sex marriage; Whereas, in May of 2019, the Supreme Court of Brazil held that homophobia and transphobia would become punishable under the same law banning racial discrimination; Whereas, in June of 2019, New York City became the first city in the United States to host the WorldPride conference; Whereas June 28, 2019, marked the 50th anniversary of the courageous uprising at Stonewall Inn; Whereas, in July of 2019, Megan Rapinoe, an openly lesbian co-captain of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team, led her team to victory at the Women’s World Cup in France; Whereas, on September 22, 2019, Billy Porter became the first openly gay Black man to win an Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series; Whereas, on June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court held that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, also applies to sexual orientation and gender identity; Whereas, in November of 2020, 1,006 or more LGBTQIA+ candidates ran for office in the United States, more than ever before; Whereas, in November of 2020, Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender State senator in the United States, making her the highest-ranking openly transgender public official in United States history; Whereas, in November of 2020, Representatives Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, both Members of Congress representing New York districts, became the first openly gay Black persons elected to Congress; Whereas, on February 11, 2021, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a memorandum prohibiting discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity; Whereas, on February 18, 2021, Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island introduced the Equality Act, H.R. 5, in the 117th Congress, which amends Federal civil rights laws to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodation, federally funded programs, and jury service; Whereas, on March 24, 2021, Admiral Rachel Levine became the first openly transgender person to hold an office requiring confirmation by the Senate, and on October 19, 2021, became the first openly transgender four-star officer in the uniformed services; Whereas, on May 16, 2022, Karine Jean-Pierre became the first Black and openly gay White House Press Secretary; Whereas, as of 2023, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 34 Nations; and Whereas the inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ persons in the United States continues to expand, with an understanding that Americans will remain steadfast in pursuing the goal of complete equality and respect for all, regardless of whom they love or who they are: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) rights are human rights and are protected by the Constitution; (2) recognizes that all United States citizens should be treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation, sex characteristics, or gender identity and that LGBTQIA+ history plays an integral role in the history of the United States; (3) acknowledges the struggle of the Stonewall Inn and Gene Compton’s Cafeteria protesters and countless other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people for equality; (4) encourages the celebration of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month to provide a continuing opportunity for all people in the United States to learn about the discrimination and inequality that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people have faced, and continue to face, in tandem with triumphs over tragedy and victories in spite of barriers; and (5) agrees that the United States must continue to strive to ensure that the promise of equality is realized for all people of the United States.

Summary: This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) rights are human rights and protected by the U.S. Constitution; (2) LGBTQIA+ Pride Month should be celebrated; and (3) all Americans should be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation, sex characteristics, or gender identity.