[ad_1]
Pete Buttigieg has suggested the next decade could see a leap forward in LGBT+ rights if America elects Joe Biden.
The gay former presidential hopeful and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
The final night of the convention also saw contributions from other out politicians – Tammy Baldwin, Danica Roem, and Robert Garcia.
Buttigieg dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Biden in March. At the time, Biden likened his former rival to his late son Beau.
In his speech yesterday at the convention. Buttigieg said that, like Beau, he served in the military.
‘Just over 10 years ago, I joined a military where firing me because of who I am wasn’t just possible – it was policy.
‘Now in 2020, it is unlawful in America to fire someone because of who they are or who they love.
‘The very ring on my finger – the wedding we celebrated – reflects how this country can change.
‘Love makes my marriage real, but political courage made it possible — including that of Joe Biden, who stepped out ahead of even this party when he said that marriage equality should be the law of the land.
‘If this much can change between 2010 and 2020, imagine what could change between now and 2030.’
‘Every American must now decide’
Moreover, Buttigieg clearly contrasted Biden and his vice-presidential choice Kamala Harris with Donald Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence:
‘Every American must now decide. Can America be a place where faith is about healing and not exclusion? Can we become a country that lives up to the truth that Black Lives Matter?
‘Will we handle questions of science and medicine by turning to scientists and doctors? What will we do to make America into a land where no one who works full time can live in poverty?
‘The day I was born, the idea of an “out” candidate seeking any federal office at all was laughable.
‘Yet earlier this year I campaigned for the presidency, often with my husband at my side, winning delegates to this very convention. Now I proudly support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.’
Tammy Baldwin shares her healthcare story
Meanwhile fellow LGBT Democrat, Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin, addressed healthcare in more detail.
She recalled: ‘When I was nine years old, I got sick. Really sick. I was hospitalized. But since my grandparents were the ones raising me – and our family’s health plan didn’t cover grandkids – they were forced to pay out of pocket for my three-month hospital stay.
‘I got better. But the insurance companies didn’t. They refused to cover me at any cost – because I was marked “child with a preexisting condition.”
‘We all have stories like this, stories about a time when the system was rigged against us.’
Moreover, she said things changed when she worked with Joe Biden and Barack Obama passed the Affordable Care Act.
That meant kids – and grandkids if they’re dependents – can stay on their parents’ health insurance until they are 26. Passing this, she said, was ‘a big effing deal’.
Meanwhile Baldwin asked: ‘Do we want to be a country where millionaires get to dodge taxes? Or one where working families get a break?’
And she said Biden and Harris will make America ‘a nation that builds back better’:
‘Most of us want the same things: good schools in our neighborhoods, racial justice, the freedom to love who we want, dignity in our work, and an economy where small businesses and working families thrive. And over the past months, we’ve added to that list: a nation free from COVID.
‘That’s why Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the only answer in this election.’
Both the Democrat ticket and Biden’s own platform promise the most extensive package of improvements to LGBT rights in US election history.
It’s a sharp contrast to Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence who have consistently attacked LGBT+ rights. The current administration has hardened it’s anti-LGBT+ stance as it prepares for re-election.
[ad_2]
Source link
