Elizabeth Warren: the vocal LGBTQ+ rights advocate who schools Donald Trump on Twitter
Elizabeth Warren is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and leading figure in the Democratic Party.
Warren is popular among American progressives and was cited by pundits as a strong potential candidate in the 2016 presidential election, despite repeatedly saying she would not run.
She has also ruled herself out of the 2020 election.
One of the reasons many progressives are fans of Warren is her position on LGBTQ+ rights.
A summary of her voting record shows that she supports LGBTQ+ rights 100 percent of the time.
For example, voting to treat same-sex spouses the same as opposite-sex spouses with regard to veteran’s benefits, to protect LGBTQ+ victims of domestic violence, and various policies on the protections of LGBTQ+ youth.
She has proposed that gay couples forced to pay more tax than their straight counterparts should be refunded and spoken out against the ban on gay and bisexual people giving blood.
Elizabeth Warren with CNN host Jake Tapper (Getty)
As well as her voting record, Warren is extremely vocal about her support of the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2017 she was asked to write “a love letter to the LGBTQ community” for Billboard’s Gay Pride Month. She responded with a joyful message, including:
“I dance with people young and old, black and white, Latino and Asian, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight.
“And this year I’m happy to dance in the parade once again with my friends from the Boston Alliance of Gay Lesbian Bisexual & Transgender Youth (BAGLY), a terrific group working to support and empower members of the Boston LGBTQ youth community.
“Pride shows our country at its best: diverse, inclusive, united, and strong. We’ll cheer the progress we’ve made toward building a more welcoming society for all, and we’ll recommit to protecting the rights of all Americans, so that everyone in this country is treated with dignity and respect – so everyone gets a chance to dance!”
Warren also served up a strong response to Donald Trump’s ban on most transgender people serving in the military when he announced it in 2017.
“By attacking thousands of troops, @realDonaldTrump makes clear that he cares more about extreme ideology than military readiness,” she stated on Twitter.
“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.”
Elizabeth Warren (Getty)
Warren was equally unflinching in her response to Republican Party suggestions in 2016 that: “Natural marriage between a man and a woman is most likely to result in offspring who do not become drug-addicted or otherwise damaged.”
On Twitter Warren responded:
“The GOP platform says overturn marriage equality & it supports parents putting their LGBT children through conversion therapy. Disgusting.
“The GOP platform even says that children not from “natural marriage” are more likely to be drug addicts. Hateful AND disgusting.”
She also laid into Donald Trump’s then pick for Vice President, Mike Pence, known for enacting an anti-LGBT religious freedom law that cost his state millions in investments.
Warren fumed: “OF COURSE Donald Trump – a guy who “[doesn’t] feel good” about marriage equality – picked a VP famous for LGBT discrimination.
“Terrifying to think of Mike Pence being a heartbeat from presidency – but the direction GOP wants to take our country is MORE terrifying.”
Fighting for LGBTQ+ rights is nothing new for Elizabeth Warren. In 2011 she joined a group of lawmakers calling for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act – which prevented the federal government from recognising married gay couples and offering them federal benefits – as well as reiterating her support for same-sex marriage and greater equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the workplace.
Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally (Tim Pierce)
“I’m deeply proud to be from Massachusetts because the Commonwealth has been the nation’s leader in protecting and promoting equality — from marriage equality to the recently passed Transgender Equal Rights Bill,” she said.
“As other states grapple with whether to support marriage equality, I’m ready to move to the next step: End the two-tiered system created by the Defense of Marriage Act.
“Our federal government should not be in the business of selecting which married couples it supports and which it treats with contempt.
“States define marriage among couples, and, once married, all those couples and their families should have the same protections, the same benefits, and the same tax treatments.
“Fairness and equality are foundational values in our country, and nowhere is that more important than in our families.”
Last year Warren published a book called “This Fight Is Our Fight. The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class”, in which she rallied against the growing concentration of income and wealth in the hands of a tiny elite, and the growing insecurity and diminishing opportunities facing ordinary families.
She also posted a photo of herself next to a statue in New York called the “Fearless Girl”, with the accompanying Tweet: “Fight like a girl.”
She may claim to have no interest in running for the presidency, but one thing’s for sure: Elizabeth Warren is a fighter.
