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Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the D.C. Equality Begins at Home Efforts

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HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 18, 1999

MR. SPEAKER. I rise today to pay tribute to the local Equality Begins at Home events here in the District of Columbia that will take place during the week of March 21-27, 1999. I will be at the Bipartisan Congressional Retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 21st, when the District of Columbia's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents kick off a week of lobbying and conscience raising at Freedom Plaza.

These events, with an emphasis on local needs, are taking place throughout the United States, but no jurisdiction has experienced more bigotry associated with sexual orientation than the nation's capital. This prejudice, I am happy to say, does not come from the people of the District of Columbia, or their locally elected representatives, who have enacted the most progressive and far-reaching protections in the country. Residents of every background in the District feel particular anger when, in violation of all of the principles of self-government, Congress injects itself to enact measures at odds with principles of equality and anti-discrimination that the residents of this city hold especially dear.

Each year, under congressional attack, I am forced to defend the District's domestic partnership law, a very modest provision designed to afford relatives or partners who live in the same household the opportunity to qualify for health benefits at no additional expense to the District government. Last year, I spent ten hours on the House floor defending the District's appropriation from anti-democratic attachments, more of them seeking to impose sexual orientation discrimination than any other type of attachment that was proposed and passed. We must keep these and other anti-gay provisions off of this year's appropriation. The right to adopt children or to qualify for health insurance has everything to do with kids in need of homes or residents in need of health care, and nothing to do with the sexual orientation of our residents. The bigoted mischief done by Congress to the District in the name of homophobia has known no bounds. The city is now in court seeking to overturn the congressional attachment that prevents the release of the November ballot results determining whether District residents who are ill can use medically prescribed marijuana for medicinal purposes. Another amendment brimming with discrimination last year all but destroyed the District's successful needle exchange program, leaving this vital, life-saving program to a totally private group with little funding.

I very much appreciate the efforts of our dedicated and energetic LGBT community to educate Members concerning the injury done to individuals and the insult to self-government rendered by congressional anti-gay attachments. With Equality Begins at Home rallied to fight back, we will yet make the Congress understand that it must back off-- back off bigotry against District residents whose sexual orientation differs from the majority, and back off the annual assault on the legislative prerogatives of the City Council.

Sadly, Mr. Speaker, this bigotry is not limited to anti-democratic legislation aimed at the LGBT community of the District. In the past year, this nation has been outraged at the inexplicable cruelty of the murders of two gay men in Alabama and Wyoming. These hate-inspired murders underscore the need to pass the Hate-Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) immediately. Another session of Congress must not go by without addressing both the crimes and the employment discrimination that emanate from sexual orientation. No other response is acceptable.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movementís premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.