Kamala Harris Criticizes State Anti-LGBTQ Laws
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | June 14, 2022
During a surprise Pride Month appearance, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized state anti-LGBTQ laws backed by Republicans.
According to the Washington Blade, Harris spoke from the main stage of D.C.'s Capital Pride Festival on Sunday.
Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, received thunderous applause when introduced to the crowd.
“Happy Pride everyone!” Harris told the crowd. “Oh, what a glorious day. Listen, we have so much to celebrate, and we celebrate each other every day.”
“We celebrate the progress we have made. And we celebrate the fact that we are in this to stand for what we stand for and fight for what we stand for.”
Harris marked the sixth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. Forty-nine people died and dozens more were injured when a lone gunman opened fire in the gay nightclub on June 12, 2016. She also appeared to refer to a foiled plot by white supremacists targeting a Pride event in Idaho.
“Because no one should fear going to a nightclub for fear that a terrorist might try to take them down,” Harris said. “No one should fear going to a Pride celebration because of a white supremacist. No one should fear loving who they love. Our children in Texas and Florida should not fear who they are. Black and brown and women of color, transgender women cannot fear for their lives.”
The vice president also criticized the dozens of state bills introduced this year targeting the LGBTQ community.
“We should not have to be dealing with 300 laws in states around our country that are attacking our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. For we know what we stand for and therefore we know what we will fight for. And we will do what we have always done in this movement, in this community, which is collectively, we will continue to build unity. We will continue to build coalitions.We will always be fueled by knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us. We will be fueled by saying no one will be made to fight alone. We will be fueled by knowing we are all in this together. And we will fight with pride,” she said.
Harris last year became the first U.S. vice president to participate in an LGBTQ Pride event when she and her husband joined hundreds in D.C.'s Capital Pride Walk.