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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 550 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 550
Encouraging the celebration of the month of June as LGBTQIA+ Pride
Month.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2025
Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Mr. Amo, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Balint, Ms.
Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bera, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Boyle of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Bynum, Mr.
Carbajal, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Case, Ms. Castor of
Florida, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr.
Cisneros, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Costa, Ms.
Crockett, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. DeLauro, Ms.
DelBene, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Dexter, Mrs. Dingell, Mr.
Doggett, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mrs.
Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Frost, Mr. Garamendi, Mr.
Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr.
Gomez, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Ivey, Ms. Jayapal,
Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr.
Latimer, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Lieu, Mr.
Lynch, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. Matsui, Ms. McBride, Mrs. McClain Delaney,
Ms. McClellan, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver,
Mr. Meeks, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr.
Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Mr. Olszewski,
Ms. Omar, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Peters, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan,
Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms.
Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Scholten, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms.
Simon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury,
Mr. Stanton, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thanedar,
Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Torres of New York, Mrs. Torres of California,
Mr. Tran, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams
of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Tonko, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Goldman
of New York, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Encouraging the celebration of the month of June as LGBTQIA+ Pride
Month.
Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Original LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
Resolution of 2025'';
Whereas the Honorable Barney Frank, Member of Congress from 1981 to 2013, is
recognized as an honorary cosponsor of this resolution;
Whereas Members of this Congress support the rights, freedoms, and equality of
those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and
asexual (LGBTQIA+);
Whereas, in August of 1966, the ``Screaming Queens'' of the Gene Compton's
Cafeteria Uprising in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco led one
of the first recorded transgender uprisings that erupted in response to
police harassment, and continued to protest against police brutality and
improper policing of the LGBTQIA+ community;
Whereas those who took a stand for human rights and dignity at the Stonewall Inn
Uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969, were led by two brave and
visible transgender women of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera;
Whereas the LGBTQIA+ protesters at the Stonewall Inn Uprising and Gene Compton's
Cafeteria Uprising were subject to police harassment and invidious
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity;
Whereas, within years of these decisive moments in history, LGBTQIA+ rights
organizations were created in every major city of the United States;
Whereas Brenda Howard, often called ``The Mother of Pride,'' helped to plan a
Gay Pride Week and the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade in June
of 1970 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Inn
Uprising;
Whereas Brenda Howard's Gay Pride Week and Christopher Street Liberation Day
Parade evolved into the annual New York City Pride March and Pride
celebrations are now known around the world;
Whereas the Stonewall Inn Uprising and the Gene Compton's Cafeteria Uprising
have been followed by many historic milestones for the LGBTQIA+
community;
Whereas, in December of 1973, the board of the American Psychiatric Association
voted to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses of the
American Psychiatric Association;
Whereas, in 1974, Elaine Noble became the first openly LGBTQIA+ candidate
elected to a State legislature in the United States when she won a seat
in the Massachusetts House of Representatives;
Whereas, in 1975, the Civil Service Commission eliminated the ban on the
employment of gay people in most Federal jobs;
Whereas, on January 8, 1978, Harvey Milk made national news when he was sworn in
as an openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors;
Whereas, on June 25, 1978, gay artist Gilbert Baker debuted a rainbow flag at
the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day, and the flag was officially
established as a symbol for LGBTQ pride in 1994;
Whereas, in October of 1979, 75,000 people participated in the National March on
Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights to demand equal civil rights for
LGBTQIA+ people;
Whereas, in 1982, Wisconsin became the first State to ban discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation;
Whereas, in 1983, after initial refusal from lead organizers to allow an openly
LGBTQIA+ person to speak, Audre Lorde was selected by Black LGBTQIA+
groups to speak at the 20th-anniversary commemoration of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington in 1963;
Whereas, in 1987, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts became the first
United States Representative to voluntarily come out as an openly gay
Member of Congress;
Whereas Urvashi Vaid cofounded the Creating Change Conference in 1988, the
largest annual LGBTQIA+ conference convening in the United States;
Whereas, in 1991, Monica Helms designed the transgender flag and introduced it
at the 2000 Phoenix Pride parade to represent the rights and diversity
of transgender people;
Whereas, on April 25, 1993, more than a million people took part in the March on
Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, one of
the largest protests in United States history;
Whereas, on October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of
Wyoming, was beaten, tortured, and left to die, drawing attention to
sexual-orientation related hate crimes and ultimately to the passage of
the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act in
2009;
Whereas, on November 28, 1998, Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman, was
brutally murdered in her home, sparking the advent of Transgender Day of
Remembrance, which is observed every year on November 20th to remember
those who have been killed due to transphobia;
Whereas, in 2002, David Cicilline was elected mayor of Providence, Rhode Island,
and became the first openly gay mayor of a State capital;
Whereas, on June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States held in
Lawrence v. Texas that under the 14th Amendment, States could not
criminalize the private, intimate relationships of same-sex couples;
Whereas, in 2008, a Latino transgender man, Diego Miguel Sanchez, became the
first openly transgender person appointed to the Platform Committee of
the Democratic National Committee;
Whereas, on November 4, 2008, Stu Rasmussen of Silverton, Oregon, became the
first openly transgender person to be elected mayor in the United
States;
Whereas, on October 28, 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate
Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by
President Barack Obama, expanding existing Federal hate crimes laws to
include crimes motivated by the actual or perceived gender, sexual
orientation, gender identity, or disability of a victim;
Whereas, on November 17, 2010, Phyllis Frye was appointed to the City of Houston
Municipal Courts as the first openly transgender judge appointed in the
United States;
Whereas Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the repeal of Defense
Directive 1304.26 (``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'') in December of 2010,
allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons to serve openly in the
United States Armed Forces;
Whereas, in October of 2011, the Girl Scouts of America opened membership to a
7-year-old transgender girl;
Whereas, in December of 2011, Lane Lewis became the first gay man elected County
Chair of the Democratic Party of Harris County, the third largest county
in the United States;
Whereas, on April 20, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled
that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is ``sex
discrimination'' for purposes of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964;
Whereas, on November 6, 2012, Representative Mark Takano of California, a
Japanese American, became the first openly gay person of color elected
to Congress;
Whereas, in 2013, the first LGBTQ Pride Month resolution was introduced by
Representative Al Green of Texas;
Whereas, on January 3, 2013, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was sworn in as the
first openly gay United States Senator;
Whereas, on January 3, 2013, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was sworn in as the first
openly bisexual Member of Congress;
Whereas, on March 7, 2013, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was
reauthorized and included protections for transgender persons;
Whereas, on June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court held in United States v. Windsor
that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and
that the Federal Government cannot discriminate against married same-sex
couples when determining Federal rights, benefits, and obligations;
Whereas, on November 20, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded a
Presidential Medal of Freedom to civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin, an
openly gay Black man who organized the March on Washington in 1963 and
presented the crucial 10 demands of the March on Washington in the
summer of 1963;
Whereas, on June 17, 2014, Darrin P. Gayles was the first openly gay Black man
to be confirmed as a Federal judge;
Whereas, on July 21, 2014, President Barack Obama took action to protect
LGBTQIA+ workers by signing an Executive order prohibiting Federal
contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity;
Whereas, on June 8, 2015, Olympic triathlete Chris Mosier became the first
transgender athlete to earn a spot on Team USA;
Whereas, on June 9, 2015, the equal opportunity policy of the United States
Armed Forces was updated to protect servicemembers from harassment and
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
Whereas, on June 23, 2015, Stonewall Inn in New York City received a landmark
designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City so
that the Stonewall Inn cannot be torn down or developed without
approval;
Whereas, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges held in a
5-4 ruling that the 14th Amendment requires all States to license
marriages between same-sex couples and to recognize all marriages that
were lawfully performed in a different State;
Whereas, on July 17, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled
that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is ``sex
discrimination'' for purposes of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964;
Whereas, since the 114th Congress, the Equality Act has been introduced every
Congress, first by Representative David Cicilline and most recently by
Representative Mark Takano, to amend the Nation's Federal civil rights
laws to explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex
characteristics among the prohibited categories of discrimination in
employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodation, federally
funded programs, and jury service; it passed the House of
Representatives with bipartisan support in both the 116th and 117th
Congresses;
Whereas the American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 575 anti-
LGBTQIA+ bills that have been introduced in State legislatures across
the United States thus far in 2025;
Whereas, in February of 2016, the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce
launched, becoming one of the leading economic voices in the greater
Houston region focusing on economic empowerment and inclusion for
LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and professionals;
Whereas, on May 13, 2016, the Department of Justice and the Department of
Education jointly released guidance to provide educators the information
they need to ensure that transgender students attend school in an
environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex;
Whereas, on May 18, 2016, Eric Fanning was sworn in as Secretary of the Army,
the first time a branch of the United States Armed Forces was led by an
openly gay person;
Whereas members of the LGBTQIA+ community are disproportionately affected by
violence, including fatal violence with guns, intimate partner violence,
and hate crimes;
Whereas, on June 12, 2016, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the modern
history of the United States occurred at the gay nightclub Pulse in
Orlando, Florida, on Latin night, leaving 49 people dead and another 53
people wounded;
Whereas, between 2013 and 2024, nearly 70 percent of known fatal violent
activities toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people have
involved a gun;
Whereas, more than 42 percent of transgender adults report having attempted
suicide in their lifetime;
Whereas, according to a 2020 systematic review, transgender people are 1.7 times
more likely to experience some form of intimate partner violence
compared to cisgender people, and 2.5 times more likely to experience
sexual intimate partner violence;
Whereas LGBTQIA+ people are 5 times more likely than non-LGBTQIA+ people to be
victims of violent hate crimes;
Whereas LGBTQIA+ youth experience dating violence at rates significantly higher
than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers;
Whereas, on June 30, 2016, the Department of Defense announced an immediate
policy change allowing transgender servicemembers to serve openly
without fear of retribution or penalty;
Whereas, on July 28, 2016, Sarah McBride, national press secretary for the Human
Rights Campaign, spoke at the Democratic National Convention, making her
the first transgender person to address a major party convention;
Whereas, on November 8, 2016, Kate Brown of Oregon became the first openly
bisexual person to win a gubernatorial election;
Whereas, on January 30, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that they
would open membership to transgender boys;
Whereas, on June 27, 2017, residents of the District of Columbia became the
first in the United States to be allowed to select a gender-neutral
option on their driver's license;
Whereas, on November 7, 2017, the election of Andrea Jenkins to the Minneapolis
City Council made her the first openly transgender woman to be elected
to public office in a major United States city;
Whereas, on November 7, 2017, Phillipe Cunningham's election to the Minneapolis
City Council made him the first openly transgender man to be elected to
the city council of a major United States city;
Whereas, on November 7, 2017, Danica Roem of Virginia became the first openly
transgender person to be elected to and seated in a State legislature;
Whereas, on November 6, 2018, Democratic Representative Jared Polis was elected
Governor of Colorado, becoming the first openly gay man to be elected
Governor in the United States;
Whereas, in April of 2019, Morehouse College announced that the historically
all-male school would begin admitting transgender men in 2020;
Whereas, on May 20, 2019, Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as mayor of Chicago,
becoming the first Black lesbian mayor;
Whereas, on May 24, 2019, Taiwan became the first nation in Asia to legally
recognize same-sex marriage;
Whereas, on June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court held that title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,
also applies to sexual orientation and gender identity, and President
Joe Biden took steps to enforce all sex nondiscrimination laws to
prohibit anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination;
Whereas, in November of 2020, Representatives Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones,
both Members of Congress representing New York districts, became the
first openly gay Black persons elected to Congress;
Whereas, on March 24, 2021, Admiral Rachel Levine became the first openly
transgender person to hold an office requiring confirmation by the
Senate, and on October 19, 2021, became the first openly transgender
four-star officer in the uniformed services;
Whereas, on May 16, 2022, Karine Jean-Pierre became the first openly lesbian
African American White House Press Secretary;
Whereas, on January 2, 2023, Zooey Zephyr became the first openly trans woman to
serve in the Montana State legislature and was later barred from the
Montana House floor after her comments rebuking proposed legislation
that would ban gender-affirming care for children;
Whereas, on October 1, 2023, Laphonza Butler was appointed to the United States
Senate, becoming the first openly lesbian Black Senator;
Whereas, on February 8, 2024, Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Indigenous TNB+
(transgender and nonbinary) student in Oklahoma, died following a
physical altercation in school that resulted in hospitalization;
Whereas, on January 3, 2025, Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender
Member of Congress, making her the highest ranking openly transgender
public official in United States history; and
Whereas the inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ persons in the United States
continues to expand, with an understanding that United States citizens
will remain steadfast in pursuing the goal of complete equality and
respect for all, regardless of whom they love or who they are: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) rights are human rights
and are protected by the Constitution;
(2) recognizes that all United States citizens should be
treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation,
sex characteristics, or gender identity and that LGBTQIA+
history plays an integral role in the history of the United
States;
(3) acknowledges the struggle of the Stonewall Inn and Gene
Compton's Cafeteria protesters and countless other lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people
for equality;
(4) encourages the celebration of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month to
provide a continuing opportunity for all people in the United
States to learn about the discrimination and inequality that
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and
asexual people have faced, and continue to face, in tandem with
triumphs over tragedy and victories in spite of barriers; and
(5) agrees that the United States must continue to strive
to ensure that the promise of equality is realized for all
people of the United States.
<all>
Submitted in House
Submitted in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H3027-3028)
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