Congressional Equality Caucus Announces Congressman Mark Pocan as its Chair for the 118th Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, announced Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02) as its new Chair for the 118th Congress. The Equality Caucus is led by its Chair, a position which rotates every Congress between the Caucus' openly LGBTQI+ members based on seniority. The other openly LGBTQI+ members of the Caucus help lead the Equality Caucus as Co-Chairs, whose duties include setting the Caucus' agenda. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), who served as Chair of the Equality Caucus for the duration of the 117th Congress, will return this Congress as a Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus. Additional announcements about the Equality Caucus leadership and membership for the 118th Congress will be made in the coming month.
"It has truly been my honor to Chair the Congressional Equality Caucus during the 117th Congress. With the support of our 175 members, we were able to celebrate many accomplishments in our pursuit towards achieving full equality for LGBTQI+ people, including House passage of the Equality Act and the Global Respect Act, increased funding for LGBTQI+ priorities at home and abroad, and, most recently, the President signing the Respect for Marriage Act into law. I look forward to continuing the important work of the Equality Caucus as a Co-Chair this Congress," said Outgoing Chair Cicilline. "Our Caucus is in especially great hands with my good friend Congressman Pocan, who not only brings his experience fighting for LGBTQI+ equality for more than a decade in Congress to this position, but also years of experience leading various caucuses in the House. His time on the House Committee on Appropriations fighting for inclusive government funding legislation and his recent introduction of bills to create a National Museum of American LGBTQ+ History and Culture are a testament to his dedication to being a representative for all people in this country. I am confident that he will serve the Equality Caucus with conviction while continuing to represent his district and this country with pride."
"I am honored to be the next Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and to build upon the Caucus' accomplishments from over the past 14 years. I am grateful to my good friend, Rep. Cicilline, for his work as Chair and I look forward to continuing to work with him in this new role," said Chair Pocan. "We are witnessing a dangerous increase in anti-LGBTQI+ hate, legislation, and violence that we must forcibly push back against and defeat. The Equality Caucus will do everything in our power to defeat anti-LGBTQI+ bills and amendments proposed by extremist anti-LGBTQI+ politicians this Congress, especially those targeting our transgender and nonbinary community members. As we push back on these attacks, we will also continue to push forward a positive vision for full inclusivity and equality of LGBTQI+ people in this country."
Congressman Cicilline served as Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus throughout the 117th Congress and will serve as one of its Co-Chairs in the 118th Congress. During his tenure, the Equality Caucus helped ensure the passage of 10 Equality Caucus-endorsed bills in the House—with four being signed into law, coordinated member comments to proposed federal regulatory changes, held the first-ever Equality Caucus meeting with the President of the United States, organized a congressional amicus brief in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, and hosted dozens of educational briefings and events, among other activities. During his time in Congress, Congressman Cicilline has been a leader in ensuring explicit nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQI+ community as the lead sponsor of the Equality Act, which passed the House in the 117th and 116th Congresses. He has also been a leader in the fight for global LGBTQI+ equality; he introduced the Global Respect Act, which also passed the House last Congress, and successfully led efforts to increase international LGBTQI+ funding throughout the 117th Congress. Congressman Cicilline co-led the introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act and ensures critical protections for same-sex and interracial marriages at the federal level and helped shepherd the bill through the House. It was signed into law in December 2022.
Congressman Pocan served as a Co-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus throughout the 117th Congress and will serve as its Chair in the 118th Congress. Congressman Pocan has been a leader in addressing bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as the sponsor of the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, a bill to address bullying and harassment at colleges and universities, and in addressing the impact of the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, as the sponsor of the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, a bill to restore the status and benefits of service members discharged due to their sexual orientation. Congressman Pocan has also introduced two bills to begin the process of creating a National Museum of American LGBTQ+ History and Culture. In the 117th Congress, the President signed into law Congressman Pocan's 21st Century President Act to make commonsense updates to gendered language in the U.S. Code, reflecting that a woman or LGBTQ+ person will someday hold the office of the presidency. As Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Congressman Pocan will bring his decade of experience helping previously lead the Equality Caucus as one of its Co-Chairs, as well as his previous experience leading other caucuses. Among other caucus leadership positions, Congressman Pocan spent two terms as Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and, most recently, Congressman Pocan co-founded the Congressional Labor Caucus, which he currently co-chairs.
Founded in 2008, the mission of the Congressional Equality Caucus is to promote equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. The Caucus is strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for LGBTQI+ people in the U.S. and around the world.
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