LGBTQ COMMUNITY
“ Democrats applaud the decision by the Supreme Court that recognized that LGBT people—like other Americans—have the right to marry the person they love. But there is still much work to be done. LGBT kids continue to be bullied at school, restaurants can refuse to serve transgender people, and same-sex couples are at risk of being evicted from their homes. That is unacceptable and must change.” Democratic Party Platform
Democrats stand with the LGBTQ community’s fight for equality. We are committed to ending anti-LGBTQ violence, bullying, and discrimination, and to ensuring that LGBTQ Americans are treated with dignity and respect in their communities, their workplaces, and their schools.
Under President Obama’s leadership, we made tremendous progress: passing hate crimes legislation named for Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., banning discrimination against LGBTQ people by federal contractors, and ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the ban on transgender military service. On President Obama’s first day in office, only two states guaranteed marriage equality. Today, marriage equality is the law of the land in all 50 states.
These milestones are significant and historic, but our work is far from complete. Experience tells us that progress is incremental — just as President Obama said, “step by step, law by law, mind by changing mind.”
Democrats are ready to continue to strive for progress. Leaders in Congress and around the country will fight alongside the LGBTQ community for full equality under the law, ending harmful conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth, and full legal protection for transgender Americans.