National Pride Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I greatly appreciate your yielding the time, and I greatly appreciate your work in the Congress of the United States of America to bring equality to all persons, regardless of who they are, where they are from, or where they happen to be at a given point in time.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that one God created all of humanity to live in harmony, regardless of sexuality. I believe that human rights are not conferred by a State. I don't think they are accorded by a constitution. I think that human rights are birthrights, and these are rights that one acquires simply by being born a child of God.

As such, I believe that all human beings deserve dignity and respect and that all human beings deserve equality under the law, regardless of who you are, regardless of your race, creed, color, national origin, familial status, or sexuality.

I believe that we, who hold ourselves out as people of goodwill, should do all that we can to make sure that every person on the planet Earth is treated fairly and with a great degree of dignity.

To this end, I am proud to have filed in the Congress of the United States of America H. Res. 416, which recognizes the month of June and celebrates it as LGBT Pride Month.

I am proud to say that this resolution has been cosponsored by 25 Members of Congress, including all seven cochairs of the Equality Caucus. I am also proud to tell you that the Honorable Barney Frank, who was an openly gay Member of Congress and chaired the Financial Services Committee, is an honorary sponsor of this legislation.

I would like to, if I may, my dear friend and brother, I would like to just give some indication as to what the resolution does, so that persons who may not be familiar, who may not have an opportunity to peruse certain records and documents, will at least hear some of what it does.

This resolution specifically recognizes the protesters who stood for human rights and dignity at the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1968, as some of the pioneers of the movement.

It celebrates the creation of gay rights organizations in major cities in the aftermath of the Stonewall uprising. It highlights the importance of the American Psychiatric Association removing homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in December of 1973.

It recognizes Elaine Noble as the first LGBT candidate elected to a State legislature in 1974 and Barney Frank as the first Representative to come out as an openly gay Member of Congress in 1987.

It highlights the importance of the Civil Service Commission eliminating the ban on hiring gay persons in most Federal jobs in 1975.

It celebrates Harvey Milk making national news when he was sworn in as an openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, 1978.

It praises the thousands of activists who participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights to demand equal civil rights in 1979 and the National March on Washington to demand that President Reagan address the AIDS crisis in 1987.

It highlights the importance of the 1980 Democratic National Convention, where Democrats took a stance in support of gay rights. It highlights the importance of the Supreme Court ruling in Romer v. Evans, in May of 1996, which found a Colorado constitutional amendment preventing the enactment of protection for gays and lesbians unconstitutional.

It celebrates Vermont becoming the first State to legally recognize civil unions between gay and lesbian couples in 2000.

It highlights the importance of the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, in June of 2003, which found that, under the 14th Amendment, States could not criminalize the private, intimate relations of same-sex couples.

It goes on to do many other things, but I want to focus now on something that I think the resolution should do. It is my hope that I will live to see the day that this resolution will not only be spoken of in Congress in the month of June, but that it will actually come to the floor of the Congress of the United States of America and that it will pass the Congress of the United States of America because, on that day, we will have taken one more step toward equality for all of humanity.

Mr. Speaker, on that day, we will have taken another step toward making real the great and noble American ideal of liberty and justice for all.

On that day, we will have taken a step toward making real the concept that all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

On that day, when we pass this resolution in the Congress of the United States of America, we will have said to the world that the United States of America understands and recognizes the human rights of persons, regardless of their sexuality.

I thank the gentleman for the opportunity to give these expressions, and I pray to live to see the day that this resolution will pass the Congress of the United States of America.

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I thank you very much, and I look forward to working with you and other Members of Congress to give us the opportunity to have a vote on the resolution.

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