Gillibrand unveils LGBTQ agenda on first day of Pride

The only Democratic candidate for president who has campaigned at a drag club, is now the first candidate to roll an agenda to protect the rights of gay and transgender Americans. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced Saturday — the first day of Gay Pride Month — her agenda for LGBTQ rights. 

Gillibrand’s plan sorts priorities into four categories: equal rights, families and children, health care, and safety. 

To ensure equal rights, Gillibrand would call on two federal agencies to fight LGBTQ discrimination. Upon being elected she would direct the Department of Defense to ban discrimination against HIV-positive or transgender members of the military. Gillibrand would also use the Department of Justice to classify LGBT individuals as a “protected class” and direct specific attorneys in the department to focus on the abolition of LGBT discrimination.

Decreasing the murder rate of transgender people was specifically noted as a Justice Department objective. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 23 trans people were killed in the U.S. in 2016, 29 in 2017, 26 in 2018, and five have been killed so far in 2019.

Regarding families and children, Gillibrand outlined multiple policies focused on gay parents and children. She would codify gay marriage, nominate an Education secretary who focuses on LGBTQ issues and ban conversation therapy – the controversial practice of coaching, sometime aggressively, gay children into believing they are heterosexual.

In the agenda, Gillibrand contrasted her policies with President Trump, claiming the president is “a bigoted, cowardly bully who makes the LGBTQ community more vulnerable.”

Gillibrand called to fully support the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into law by former President Obama in 2009. The bill provides federal funding and assistance for the investigation of hate crimes.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand speaks at Stonewall Inn on June 27, 2016 in New York.  Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty

The senator’s agenda also promised to fight LGBTQ homelessness. A 2017 University of Chicago study found that young people who are gay or transgender are 120% more likely to fall into homelessness than their peers.

Gillibrand – who supports Medicare for All – would require hormone therapy, treatments used to medically assist trans men and women transition, be covered by insurance.

She would also make PrEP, a leading HIV drug, more affordable, and repeal the FDA’s regulation preventing gay men from donating blood if they have had sex within twelve months of intended donation.

An early supporter of same-sex marriage, Gillibrand has touted her positions on gay rights’ on the campaign trail. In addition to the visit to Iowa’s oldest drag club, Marti Gould Cummings, a popular drag queen known from the TV series “Shade: Queens of NYC,” hosted a talk with Gillibrand. She also was the first candidate to call for a third gender option on birth certificates

The proposed agenda marks another marker for Gillibrand, who is working to position herself as a champion for social issues. In May, the senator proposed her “Family Bill of Rights” and has been an outspoken critic of restrictive abortion laws.

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