Life

US Congress is on path “to improve the lives of millions of LGBTQ+ people”

By Zoya Raza-Sheikh

4th January 2021

The Human Rights Campaign believes the 117th United States Congress should pledge its support to furthering the civil liberties and rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.

The new U.S Congress members were sworn in yesterday (3 January) which showcase an impressive number of historically diverse candidates as well as bringing a record collective of women and LGBTQ+ members into the U.S. House of Representatives.

As the U.S political state remains in transition from President Trump to presidential-elect Biden, the Human Rights Campaign has issued a set mandate of recommendations which they hope will be considered as the leading administrations exchange political power.

The Blueprint for Positive Change 2020 is a brief put together by the Human Rights Campaign which includes 85 individual policy recommendations across the federal government which aims to better the lives of LGBTQ+ people at home and abroad.

While these recommendations do not require any action by Congress, the document has been shared with the Biden transition team as they hope it will aid in the evaluation of incoming policy from the Democrat administration.

Below are a few listed examples of what the blueprint highlights for the Biden team:

  • Ensure consistent administrative implementation of Bostock v. Clayton County across all agencies enforcing civil rights statutes and provisions.
  • Revise restrictions on transgender individuals to return to an inclusive policy of military service.
  • Establish an interagency working group to address anti-transgender violence.
  • Appoint openly-LGBTQ justices, judges, executive officials and ambassadors.
  • Rescind and replace regulations restricting coverage of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act
  • End discrimination against gay and bisexual blood donors.

Following the new suggestions posed by the Human Rights Council, president of the LGBTQ+ campaign, Alphonso David, has voiced his support for the Biden Administration to take notice of the blueprint.

“With support for LGBTQ equality continuing to increase among the American public, the 117th Congress is poised on a path to move equality forward and advance policies to improve the lives of millions of LGBTQ people,” he said in an online statement.

“Over the last four years, the Trump-Pence administration has systematically attacked the most vulnerable of communities and enacted policies that have undermined our fundamental civil rights.

“The 117th Congress has the opportunity to not only put our democracy back on track but deliver real positive change for LGBTQ people’s daily lives — including prioritizing passage of the Equality Act, crucial federal legislation that would finally guarantee explicit protections for LGBTQ people under our nation’s existing civil rights laws.

“As we welcome the 117th Congress, the Human Rights Campaign looks toward the critical Georgia Senate runoff elections, in just two days, to ensure that we have a pro-equality working majority in the United States Senate for the 117th Congress to end the road blocks put up by our opponents.”