When I grew up, my parents instilled in me the Golden Rule: “Do to others what you want them to do to you.” I grew up Catholic and I still remember singing in Catechism class: “They will know we are Christians by our love.” I have tried to live up to those ideals my entire life.
I’m not a newcomer in the fight for the rights of the LGBTQIA community. Between 1989 and 1991, as a young lawyer, I helped represent a young gay woman who was publicly shunned and humiliated by a right wing church in Lincoln. Because I was a young lawyer, I wasn’t the lead counsel in the case but my legal research led to the overruling of a motion to dismiss the case filed by the church. That laid the foundation for the eventual favorable settlement of the case during the trial.
If elected to Congress, I would take that fight to Washington. As a starting point, I’m deeply disturbed by the rollback of rights won by the LGBTQIA community during the Obama Administration. I would stand up to the Trump Administration’s reactionary policies.
As a member of Congress, I would take action to roll back Trump Administration rules on so-called “conscience clauses” that allow medical providers to discriminate against LGBTQIA patients. Nobody should be denied medical care because of who they love.
I would also support banning conversion therapy. This is harmful and counter-productive. As Hillary Clinton said: “LGBT kids don’t need to be cured of anything. They just need to be accepted and embraced and respected.”
In the employment area, I support the Equality Act. We need to extend the protections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to provide non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQIA community in employment, credit, housing, public spaces, public services, education, federally funded programs and jury service.
As a member of Congress, I would be a friend and ally of the LGBTQIA community. This is an area of disagreement I have with Representative Fortenberry. If you want different results out of Washington, you have to vote for different people. That’s why I’m running for Congress.