LULAC Tells Washington Lawmakers, Following A Week Of Intense LGBTQ+ Lobbying To Pass The Respect For Marriage Act
Nation's Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Calls 2022 LULAC LGBTQ Summit A Resounding Success and Salutes Texas LULAC's First Openly Gay State Director
Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is urging Congress to advance equality in America by passing the Respect for Marriage Act and embracing the celebration of Transgender Awareness Week. The call for legislative support comes when opposition groups across the country aggressively promote unprecedented policies that would block the passage of both initiatives. The LULAC LGBTQ+ 2022 Summit, celebrated in Washington, DC, successfully focused on these and other related issues.
"LULAC strongly urges Congress to support passage of legislation essential to secure marriage equality in the United States," says Domingo Garcia, LULAC national president. "Our nation can and must move beyond discrimination that targets 'the other' simply because of who they love and to whom they are committed to sharing their lives. Our children deserve to live in a country where they can be accepted and embraced, not targeted, and bullied, as though they are broken and need fixing. We celebrate individuals like Rodolfo Rosales Jr. at Texas LULAC for coming out following his election as the first openly gay LULAC state director," says Garcia.
H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, would repeal the unconstitutional and discriminatory law called the 'Defense of Marriage Act.' This bill also establishes provisions prohibiting states and territories from denying the full faith and credit of a marriage between two individuals based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. And further prohibits states and territories the authority to deny the realization of marriage between people of the same sex.
"More than 21 percent of the LGBTQ+ population in the United States are Latino, and 11 percent of Same-sex couples in the United States are Latino," says Rodolfo Rosales Jr., Texas LULAC State Director. "No person, including same-sex and interracial couples, should fear that the federal government will not recognize their marriage, or their employment benefits threatened. This legislation will ensure that all LGBTQ+ and interracial couples can marry in any state or territory and maintain the validity of their marriage throughout the United States," Rosales said.