Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she refused calls to remove transgender protections from federal hate-crimes legislation, even when told it would make the bill easier to pass. In an interview with the Washington Blade, Pelosi recalled lawmakers urging her to compromise on trans inclusion. Pelosi said, “People told me, ‘You can pass this in a minute if you take out trans…I said, ‘I won’t pass it in 100 years because I’m not ever taking out trans.’”
Pelosi reflected on nearly four decades of LGBTQ advocacy and argued that public activism played a key role in advancing federal protections. She said, “Anything that we accomplished, whether it was fighting HIV and AIDS, ending discrimination, passing hate crimes legislation, or ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ would never have happened without outside mobilization.” The longtime Democratic leader also shared HIV/AIDS crisis was one of the defining issues early in her congressional career after taking office in 1987.
She added that the epidemic changed attitudes in many American families. She said that “when families learned that a son or daughter was HIV-positive and gay, barriers started to break down.” Pelosi also addressed the stalled Equality Act, which would expand federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans. Despite the challenges, she said she believes the Equality Act will eventually become law.
