Today, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who will join Senate leadership next year, discussed how she will work with Senate colleagues to protect equality under the Trump administration.

Tammy Baldwin

In a conversation with Victory Institute President & CEO Aisha Moodie-Mills, Sen. Baldwin said that one of her top priorities will be protecting the incredible progress for LGBT equality made under President Obama. She assured the crowd that Senate Democrats plan to bolster the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and enforce hate crime laws – especially given recent anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant violence post-election – and will push forward with the Equality Act.

Asked what she would say to aspiring leaders who are discouraged by the election, Sen. Baldwin said: “I understand how difficult it is to hear the anti-LGBT rhetoric and I understand why that would potentially be a turn off for getting involved in public life. Do not listen to those voices. Do not listen to the cynics and the naysayers and the keepers of the status quo.”

Sen. Baldwin’s conversation is part of the larger three-day Victory Institute International LGBT Leaders Conference – which has convened more than 500 LGBT elected officials, appointees and leaders determined to continue progress on LGBT equality.

The International LGBT Leaders Conference takes place in Washington, DC through Saturday, Dec. 10. For a complete agenda and speakers, visit www.lgbtleaders.org.

Photo By Amy Mathers for the Department of Justice [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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