LOS ANGELES — President-Elect Joe Biden Sunday is poised to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra has been a staunch defender and ally of the LGBTQ+ community and equality for decades dating back to his service in Congress and continuing to this day.
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur:
“We are thrilled to hear President-Elect Joe Biden will nominate our friend and pro-equality champion, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “I am immensely proud to say that I have known Xavier since 1994, soon after he began his first term in Congress. Then, as now, he has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community, standing up for true, lived equality when it was not common nor popular to do so, especially for a young member of Congress. During his early service in Congress, Xavier was one of 67 of the 435 members who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He cosponsored and voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2005, and voted in favor of ending the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the United States military in 2010. “His support for our LGBTQ+ community continued when he was sworn in as California Attorney General in 2017. Xavier stood up for transgender youth by filing an amicus brief in a case involving discriminatory bathroom policy. Since then he’s been one of our community’s most ardent allies, filing lawsuits and amicus briefs defending LGBTQ+ rights. Xavier filed a motion for the state of California to intervene in Stockman v. Trump, a federal case brought by Equality California and other plaintiffs challenging the Trump-Pence Administration’s unconstitutional ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. “For more than 20 years, Xavier has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our LGBTQ+ community in advancing protections against hate crimes, has fought for funding for HIV services and research, has defended and fought to keep the protections for LGBTQ+ people – and especially transgender people – within the Affordable Care Act and was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act. We could not ask for a stronger ally.”
“I am immensely proud to say that I have known Xavier since 1994, soon after he began his first term in Congress. Then, as now, he has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community, standing up for true, lived equality when it was not common nor popular to do so, especially for a young member of Congress. During his early service in Congress, Xavier was one of 67 of the 435 members who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He cosponsored and voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2005, and voted in favor of ending the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the United States military in 2010.
“His support for our LGBTQ+ community continued when he was sworn in as California Attorney General in 2017. Xavier stood up for transgender youth by filing an amicus brief in a case involving discriminatory bathroom policy. Since then he’s been one of our community’s most ardent allies, filing lawsuits and amicus briefs defending LGBTQ+ rights. Xavier filed a motion for the state of California to intervene in Stockman v. Trump, a federal case brought by Equality California and other plaintiffs challenging the Trump-Pence Administration’s unconstitutional ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
“For more than 20 years, Xavier has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our LGBTQ+ community in advancing protections against hate crimes, has fought for funding for HIV services and research, has defended and fought to keep the protections for LGBTQ+ people – and especially transgender people – within the Affordable Care Act and was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act. We could not ask for a stronger ally.”
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
