Evergreen Reporter

Washington, D.C. — This Pride Month, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate President Pro Tempore, led legislation to ban harmful so-called “conversion therapy” and cosponsored legislation that would outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans, provide married same-sex couples with the tax refunds they always should have been able to claim, and officially recognize this June as Pride Month. Murray also spoke forcefully on the Senate Floor against the increasing and dangerous attacks on transgender Americans and the hatred directed at transgender people—especially kids—from right-wing legislators and provocateurs. Video of Senator Murray’s speech on the Senate Floor is HERE.

“Far-right lawmakers are using their megaphones and their positions of power to bully kids. That’s what it comes down to. They are attacking people—attacking kids—for being different. For being themselves,” Murray said on the Senate Floor this month. “Some far-right provocateurs have been twisting the most basic, mundane gestures of inclusion into so called ‘controversies’ through blatant distortion and demonization. I’ve got a newsflash for everyone who’s trying to act like companies selling their products to every community they can is something new, or some nefarious conspiracy. Get this: gay and trans people drink beverages, they eat food—they buy things! And for suddenly everyone to be outraged over some cute baby clothes? You know what? LGBTQ people have families too! They are parents, they are aunts, and uncles, and grandparents! I mean—where have you been? They are queer, they are here—and they have been for years. And get used to it! They are not going anywhere.”

“Let’s be clear, these attacks on the LGBTQ community aren’t just ridiculous—they are dangerous. Because we aren’t just talking about a handful of far-right voices complaining about companies. There is a truly insidious and ugly effort to demonize, and ostracize, and erase the LGBTQ community—and our trans friends, neighbors, and loved ones, in particular. Far-right lawmakers—across our nation and across different levels of government—are spewing some of the most hateful rhetoric, peddling some of the most bigoted conspiracies, and passing some of the most hateful anti-LGBTQ laws, I have seen in a long while,” Murray said. “It’s extreme, cynical, and hateful—to a degree that is even hard to believe.”

Murray’s full remarks on the Senate Floor are available HERE.

This Pride Month:

• Murray joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and other colleagues in reintroducing the Equality Act, historic and comprehensive legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans—just as religious, racial, and ethnic discrimination are illegal everywhere in the United States. This legislation would amend the landmark federal anti-discrimination laws to explicitly add sexual orientation and gender identity to longstanding bans on discrimination in employment, education, housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, federal funding assistance, and more. It would also add protections against sex discrimination in parts of anti-discrimination laws where these protections had not been included previously, such as public accommodations and federal funding. The full text of the Equality Act can be found here and a summary of the bill can be found here.
• Murray led her colleagues in the House and Senate in introducing bicameral legislation to ban so-called “conversion therapy.” The fraudulent practice seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity based on bunk science and has been recognized by a national community of professionals in education, social work, health, and counseling as a dangerous and useless practice.
• Murray joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in introducing the bipartisan Refund Equality Act to ensure that legally married same-sex couples have the tax refunds they always should have been able to claim. The bill would allow these couples—who, until the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor, were barred from filing federal taxes jointly—to file amended tax returns back to the date of their marriage, helping them secure an estimated total of $55 million in refunds. Senator Murray said of the legislation: “The Refund Equality Act will help same-sex married couples get the refunds they rightfully deserve after being forced to file their federal taxes separately for years after being legally married. This is just common-sense—and it’s so important for LGBTQ people in Washington state, where same-sex marriage was recognized years before it was established nationwide.”
• Murray joined Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and other Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution recognizing June 2023 as LGBTQ Pride Month. The resolution highlights the contributions LGBTQ Americans have made to our country, notes several major milestones in the fight for equal treatment of LGBTQ Americans, and resolves to continue efforts to achieve full equality. The resolution also recognizes the progress that has been made with the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act and the legal recognition of workplace protections for transgender people while acknowledging the continued attacks on the rights of LGBTQ people taking place in our legal institutions. The full text of the resolution is HERE.

Federal recognition of same-sex marriage received a huge boost across the nation last year when President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law—legislation Senator Murray helped pass—enshrining into federal law protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.

Original source can be found here.