LGBT ally Elizabeth Warren launches Presidential bid
Senator Elizabeth Warren at Boston Pride 2018. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren featured a same-sex wedding and a Pride parade in a video launching her bid to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential election.
The Senator from Massachusetts announced on December 31 that she is launching an exploratory committee for a Presidential challenge, putting her name in contention for the Democratic nomination.
In a video posted to social media, Warren took aim at the Trump administration’s economic policies and divisive approach to minorities.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren dancing at Boston Pride in 2018
She said: “The whole scam is propped up by an echo chamber of fear and hate designed to distract and divide us. People who would do or say anything to hold onto power point the finger at anyone who looks, thinks, prays or loves differently than they do. But this dark path doesn’t have to be our future.”
The clip included footage of same-sex weddings and shots of Warren dancing at Boston’s Pride parade.
“Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, and take care of themselves and the people they love.”
— Elizabeth Warren
Warren added: “Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, and take care of themselves and the people they love. That’s what I’m fighting for, and that’s why I’m launching an exploratory committee for president.”
A large number of Democrats are expected to put their names in contention for the party’s nomination.
Elizabeth Warren LGBT rights record
The references to LGBT+ rights in Warren’s announcement come after years of fighting for equality.
Warren was among Democrats to back equal marriage in 2011 while President Barack Obama was still ‘evolving’ on the issue, also backing backed federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBT+ people.
The Senator has maintained a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard, meaning she has voted in favour of every single LGBT+ rights reform since her election to the Senate in 2013.
In the Senate, Warren put forward a bill to seek tax refunds for gay couples who were forced to pay higher rates due to discriminatory laws, and also sponsored a bill to make the US Census LGBT-inclusive.
Warren has also spoken out against the ban on gay and bisexual people giving blood, and has repeatedly taken Donald Trump to task for his extreme record.
In 2016, Warren laid into Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President, Mike Pence, pointing out he enacted an anti-LGBT religious freedom law that cost his state millions in investments.
Elizabeth Warren: ‘We’ll protect the rights of all Americans’
Warren wrote a letter marking Pride Month in 2017, in which she said: “Every year [at Boston Pride] I dance!
“I dance with people young and old, black and white, Latino and Asian, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight.
“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.”
She added: “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!”
