VIDEO: Heinrich Statement on Pride Month
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement in commemoration of Pride Month.
VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich Pride Month Statement, June 27, 2024.
“All New Mexicans deserve to live openly and freely as their authentic selves. I am proud that our state has led the way, for decades, in providing legal protections and support to our LGBTQ+ community.
“I've fought for full equality for LGBTQ+ Americans for my entire tenure in Congress. Nearly 15 years ago, I helped lead the call to repeal the military’s 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. More recently, I was proud to cast a vote to pass the historic Respect for Marriage Act, which enshrined legal protections for same-sex marriages.
“Our work remains unfinished. LGBTQ+ kids continue to face bullying and harassment, school boards and public libraries are banning books, and many LGBTQ+ Americans still live in fear walking around their communities. This needs to change now.
“I will always stand with the LGBTQ+ community. Together, we will work toward a future where all of us have the freedom to make our own decisions about our own bodies, to love openly, and to live with pride.”
Background on Heinrich’s Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality and Rights:
Heinrich cosponsored a Senate resolution recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month. Heinrich has cosponsored a similar resolution every year since the first-ever Senate Pride Month Resolution in 2017.
In this Congress, Heinrich is an original cosponsor of the Equality Act, legislation that would amend the landmark federal anti-discrimination laws to explicitly add sexual orientation and gender identity to longstanding bans on discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, federal funding, and more.
Heinrich has cosponsored the Transgender Bill of Rights, a landmark resolution to recognize the federal government’s duty in protecting and codifying the rights of transgender and nonbinary people, as well as to ensure trans people have access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security. The resolution creates a comprehensive framework for these protections to ensure that trans and nonbinary Americans are not discriminated against on the basis of gender identity or expression.
Heinrich has also cosponsored the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, which bans so-called “conversion therapy” that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity based on bunk science. The fraudulent practice has been recognized by a national community of professionals in education, social work, health, and counseling as having devastating health risks, particularly for LGBTQ+ young people. New Mexico passed a state law protecting LGBTQ+ youth from “conversion therapy” in 2017.
Heinrich has cosponsored the Safe Schools Improvement Act to safeguard against bullying and harassment in K-12 schools. That bill would require school districts to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics, disability, and religion.
Heinrich has cosponsored the Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act, bipartisan legislation to provide equal dignity in the tax code for all legal marriages by removing gender-specific references to marriage in the tax code.
Additionally, Heinrich cosponsored the Refund Equality Act, which would ensure that legally-married same-sex couples have the tax refunds they always should have been able to claim. The bill would allow these couples – who, until the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor, were barred from filing federal taxes jointly – to file amended tax returns back to the date of their marriage, helping them secure an estimated total of $55 million in refunds.
Heinrich has cosponsored the Do No Harm Act, bicameral legislation that would address the increasing use of religious freedom as a justification to undermine civil rights protections. The bill restores the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to its original purpose, which is to protect religious exercise while respecting every person’s civil rights.
In 2022, Heinrich voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which provided certainty that the marriages of same-sex and interracial couples will be protected under federal law and given equal recognition across our nation.
Last year, Heinrich supported the New Mexico Legislature’s passage of the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Healthcare Act, which prohibits public entities in the state from discriminating against individuals seeking reproductive or gender-affirming health care.
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