Equality Caucus Statement on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Decision to Step Down as Speaker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus celebrates the legacy and impact of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-12). Today, Speaker Pelosi announced her plans to step down as Speaker and serve in a new capacity in the 118th Congress.
"Speaker Pelosi has been the most pro-LGBTQ+ Speaker of the House in our country's history and our community has benefited greatly from her leadership. In her first speech on the House floor as a newly elected member of Congress, Speaker Pelosi called for leadership to end the AIDS crisis—at a time when most of the country was ignoring the AIDS crisis and the plight of the LGBTQ+ community. She has never stopped fighting for our community since," said Equality Caucus Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01). "As Speaker, she has always prioritized LGBTQ+ equality, including the Equality Act and most recently, the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act. I am proud to have had the privilege to work closely with her in my role as Chair of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and see up close her commitment to full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Her leadership will be greatly missed, but her impact on the LGBTQ+ community will be felt for generations to come."
During her time as Speaker, Speaker Pelosi shepherded several landmark LGBTQ+ bills into law, including the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Under her leadership, the House has twice passed Rep. Cicilline's Equality Act to explicitly prohibit LGBTQI+ discrimination in all key areas of life. Both this and last Congress, she designated the bill as H.R. 5, reflecting its priority for her and the Democratic caucus.
Most recently, Speaker Pelosi helped shepherd the Respect for Marriage Act through the House to ensure critical protections for same-sex marriage. This was just the latest chapter in Speaker Pelosi's work to protect marriage equality. She was one of only 67 Representatives to vote against the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" and vocally opposed California's Proposition 8.,
Under her leadership this Congress, the House has passed numerous Equality Caucus endorsed bills in addition to the Equality Act and Respect for Marriage Act, including the Global Respect Act, the 21st Century President Act, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, H.R. 49 to Designate the National Pulse Memorial, the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act, and the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act.
Founded in 2008, the mission of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus is to promote equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Caucus, which is led by the nine openly LGBTQ+ members of the House of Representatives, is strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. and around the world.
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