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"Our nation’s laws must protect the civil and human rights of all our communities, including the LGBTQ community. I am committed to protecting and progressing the rights of LGBTQ individuals and working to end discriminatory laws that hurt all Americans."
- Congressman Mike Honda
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PROVEN RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ON LGBTQ ISSUES
Mike has been a consistent ally of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community throughout his career in local and federal government. As a Santa Clara County Supervisor in the 1990s, he fought to extend employment benefits to same-sex partners of county employees. Since coming to Congress, he has fought for equal rights for the LGBTQ community on the federal level, developing strong relationships with many LGBTQ community leaders. Mike has consistently received a 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign every session since being elected to Congress for his support of LGBTQ rights. He is a public and vocal defender of equal-rights for all, including holding the position of Vice Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus.
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MARRIAGE EQUALITY | STANDING UP FOR CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS
Mike has fought for marriage equality in Congress, believing that a couple’s decision to join their lives together is a special, private, and joyous choice that should not be limited by the government to heterosexual couples. Mike is adamantly against the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — the discriminatory Federal law that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman — and has worked to bring its unconstitutional provisions to the attention of the public and his fellow lawmakers. As the top Democrat on the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, Mike led effort in Congress to expose and try to stop the use of over a million taxpayer dollars by House Republican Leadership for defending provisions in DOMA that have already been ruled unconstitutional. Mike is also a vocal opponent of California’s Proposition 8. |
REUNITING FAMILIES ACT | LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
Mike has worked hard to ensure that comprehensive family immigration reform is inclusive of all families by authoring the Reuniting Families Act (RFA). RFA would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents to sponsor permanent partners for immigration purposes, regardless of gender. It is one of the first comprehensive family immigration bills to include same-sex partners.
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LGBTQ CIVIL RIGHTS | ENDING DISCRIMINATION | REPEALING "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"
Mike has consistently supported Congressional efforts to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prevent employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. In addition to co-sponsoring the bill every session it has been introduced since he entered Congress, Mike has served on the Democratic Leadership’s whip — or vote securing — team for passage of the bill. Rep. Honda has also worked closely with the Transgender community to push back on discriminatory pilot licensing requirements placed Transgender pilots. Mike opposed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) since its inception and worked to successfully overturn the discriminatory policy in 2011. |
COMBATTING HATE CRIMES AND BULLYING | PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES
Mike was a proud co-sponsor of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act) and supported its passage in the House. As a former teacher and school principal, and as someone who was bullied as a child, Mike is the founder and chair of the Anti-Bullying Caucus in Congress, which works to forge solutions to bring an end to bullying. Mike founded the Anti-Bullying Caucus as a result of leading the successful effort in Congress to get the Motion Pictures Association of America to lower its rating of the movie Bully from an R rating to PG-13, so that the target audience — young adults — could experience the movie’s anti-bullying message. |
SECURING LGBTQ FAMILY RIGHTS & ENDING HEALTH DISPARITIES
Mike has been a fervent supporter of LGBTQ family rights. He has co-sponsored bills prohibiting discrimination against same-sex couples for adoption, hospital visitation rights and small business investments. As a proud cosponsor of the Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act and the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, Mike has been outspoken in addressing LGBTQ health disparities. |
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