Elizabeth Warren Promises to ‘Fight Tooth and Nail’ for LGBTQ+ Rights

Elizabeth Warren has come out with a bunch of specific, pro-LGBTQ+ policy commitments in her effort to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

In a statement to NewNowNext contributor Nico Lang, the Massachusetts senator pledges her support for the Equality Act, the nondiscrimination bill that would extend existing federal protections to queer and trans people nationwide.

"Our LGBTQ[+] friends across the country continue to face discrimination at work, at school, and in their communities," said Warren, who tied with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for second among all of the Democratic 2020 hopefuls in a new Florida voters poll released Wednesday. "[I will] fight tooth and nail to get laws passed like the Equality Act."

Along with pledging her support for the Equality Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives, Warren has promised to take on the discriminatory laws that prevent queer men and trans women from donating blood, ban conversion therapy nationwide, pass the Refund Equality Act, and reverse the Trump administration's trans military ban.

"[I will] protect civil rights for transgender people and reverse the Trump administration's transgender military ban," she said. "The only thing--only thing--that matters when it comes to allowing military personnel to serve is whether or not they can handle the job."

A Massachusetts senator since 2013, Warren has a strong record when it comes to protecting and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. She publicly supported same-sex marriage as early as 2011, and, once in Congress, supported the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Warren's LGBTQ+ record isn't spotless, however. Last year, she voted for FOSTA-SESTA, a bill package that claimed to combat online sex trafficking but has largely only succeeded in putting sex workers' lives and livelihoods at risk since becoming law. She also spoke out against the state funding incarcerated trans people's gender-affirming surgeries while campaigning for Scott Brown's Senate seat in 2012, but she came out in support of such practices earlier this year.

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