Sunday, October 29, 2017

Hillary Clinton Warns of "Tough Battles Ahead" for LGBTQ People


From Politico

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Saturday [October 28, 2017] blasted the Trump administration’s record on civil rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people during its first nine months, telling an audience of LGBT advocates in Washington “we have some tough battles ahead.”

Clinton took aim at the White House’s efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act and ban transgender service members, as well as its silence on international LGBT issues, during her remarks at the national dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights organization.

“The attacks on the LGBT community here at home and around the world are striking and scary. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in the position that so many people still find themselves in in our country,” Clinton said.

In July, President Donald Trump declared, via Twitter, that transgender troops would be barred from serving in the military. The unexpected move caught the Defense Department off guard and drew the immediate ire of LGBT advocates.

"You know and [Trump] knows that transgender people have fought and died for this country," Clinton said, adding that it was "insulting and wrong” for his administration to suggest transgender troops are unfit to serve.

Trump's Justice Department has also argued in court that LGBT people are not protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, reversing a legal position trumpeted by the Obama administration. It also voted against a United Nations resolution that condemned use of the death penalty against those who engage in consensual, same-sex relationships.

“We cannot rely on this administration or the Supreme Court to uphold LGBT rights,” Clinton said.


See full story here. See a video of Clinton's speech from the Human Rights Campaign dinner below. 

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