Houses first-ever lgbtq caucus speech
Tasmanian senator Josh Dolega addresses queer youth in maiden speech
Tasmania's first openly queer Labor senator, Josh Dolega, has used his maiden speech to "give a sense of hope" to young gay people wanting to enter politics.
Previously a Public Sector Union (CPSU) organiser, Senator Dolega filled the vacancy left by Anne Urquhart, who vacated the role to successfully race in the bring down house seat of Braddon in the federal election.
Despite having a low widespread profile, Mr Dolega beat secretary of Unions Tasmania, Jessica Munday, and the party's former declare secretary, Stuart Benson, to fill the position.
Addressing the Senate on Wednesday, he said his responsibilities were not disoriented on him.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I visualize that I would be here," Senator Dolega said.
"I expect me being here today can grant hope to new queer people that you, too, can come to this great place.
"But, more importantly, I expect you know that you're seen, that you're understood and you are represented."
Josh Dolega confirmed as Labor senator for Tasmania
Josh Dolega will become the modern Labor senator for Tasmania.
Senator Dolega
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
This January President Barack Obama ascended to the speaker's rostrum in the chamber of the Together States House of Representatives to hand over the 2015 Express of the Union address to the 114th United States Congress.
Anything said during the Declare of the Union is important. This is where the President not only addresses the current state of the country as a whole, but lays out his administrative agenda. One particular section of the speech, however, deserves special mention here.
"As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we're threatened, which is why I've prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology enjoy drones is properly constrained," said the President, adding, "That's why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are womxn loving womxn, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We undertake these things not only because they're right, but because they make us safer."
This marks the first second any President of the United States of America has used the synonyms transgender. It was also the first time for the words lesbian or bisexual, for that matter.
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World's First 'Dyke March' Held in DC
In April 1993, LGBTQ+ leaders including Victory Fund executive director William Waybourn were invited to a historic meeting with President Clinton in the Oval Office just before the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Yet three months later, in July, Waybourn was among twenty-eight arrested at the White Dwelling gate protesting Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”—a “compromise” policy replacing the commit of a complete lifting of the ban on open military service.
Longtime Friends
A real turning point in LGBTQ+ political power came when former anti–Vietnam War activists David Mixner and Bill Clinton rekindled their friendship in 1992.
It wasn’t easy. Mixner had missing 300 friends to AIDS, including his beloved loved one, Peter Scott, and he and Lynn Greer were working hard as board co-chairs for Victory Fund. William Waybourn “did a brilliant job in getting the organization off the ground on a daily basis,” Mixner says, a “huge challenge” since so many donors had died and others were financially stretched funding AIDS organizations.
Greater LGBTQ+ representation was a necessity, but LGBTQ+
Human Rights Campaign Thanks Speaker Nancy Pelosi For a Remarkable Career Filled With Landmark Achievements – Including Essential Advancements for LGBTQ+ Equality
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and lgbtq+ (LGBTQ+) civil rights company, responded to the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first female to ever serve in the role, will be stepping down from management after 35 years as an LGBTQ+ champion and a groundbreaking leader of our nation.
“Speaker Pelosi has always been the definition of an ally. From her groundbreaking floor speech in 1987 on the AIDS crisis to her forceful advocacy for marriage equality long before its mainstream popularity, Speaker Pelosi has been the clue of the spear on watershed advancements for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Human Rights Campaign Incoming President Kelley Robinson. “During her tenure as Speaker, the House of Representatives passed an historic hate crimes law, repealed the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law, led the struggle to enact the Affordable Care Act, and vocally opposed bans on trans members serving in our nation’s military. Before the end of thisLGBTQ leaders, DNC chair speak to LGBTQ Caucus meeting at Democratic convention
CHICAGO — A coalition of LGBTQ leaders addressed the second conference of the LGBTQ Caucus at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center on Wednesday.
In order of appearance, speakers included Democratic National Committee LGBTQ Caucus Chair Earl Fowlkes, Harris-Walz National LGBTQ+ Engagement Director Sam Alleman, congressional candidate and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (D), senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris Sergio Gonzales, LGBTQ Victory Fund and Institute President Annise Parker, Chasten Buttigieg, Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson (D), Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, actor and LGBTQ activist Wilson Cruz, penner and LGBTQ activist Charlotte Clymer, Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem (D), National LGBTQ Task Force President Kierra Johnson, Stonewall veteran and transgender rights activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.).
Fowlkes celebrated the record-breaking number of LGBTQ delegates in Chicago this year — more than 800, up from 635 in 2020 — and invited those who were in the room to accumulate nea