Elizabeth Warren doubles down on commitment to LGBT community, vows to stop imprisoning trans women with men
Elizabeth Warren (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty)
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has said she will stop the US from imprisoning trans women in men’s prisons if she becomes the country’s next president.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Marshallstown, Iowa, Warren – who is one of the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination – said the US must protect “all of our people.”
“One of the things we have to think about as a nation – we have to stop putting trans women who are incarcerated into prisons with men where they are at risk. It is our responsibility,” she said, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
She continued: “I will direct the Bureau of Prisons to end the Trump Administration’s dangerous policy of imprisoning transgender people in facilities based on their sex assigned at birth and ensure that all facilities meet the needs of transgender people, including by providing medically necessary care, like transition-related surgeries, while incarcerated.”
Elizabeth Warren has made a number of pledges to the LGBT+ community, and has focused her efforts on trans people.
Warren also made the commitment to trans prisoners in her LGBT+ rights manifesto, which was released in October of last year.
The Senator has made a name for herself among LGBT+ people for her commitment to queer rights. She has repeatedly spoken out in defence of trans people and has made a number of pledges throughout her campaign.
We have to stop putting trans women who are incarcerated into prisons with men where they are at risk. It is our responsibility.
Last month, Warren revealed that – if she becomes the next president – she would read the names of all the trans people murdered every year in the White House rose garden. Trans people – particularly trans women of colour – face disproportionate levels of violence in the United States, with a significant number killed every year.
Warren: ‘The transgender community has been marginalised in every way possible.’
Speaking at a Democratic debate, she said: “The transgender community has been marginalised in every way possible. One thing that the President of the United States can do is lift up their potential, lift up their voices, lift up their lives.
She added: “Here is a promise I make. I will go to the Rose Garden once every year to read the names of transgender women, of people of colour, who have been killed in the past year.”
A poll released in November found that Warren is the most popular Democratic candidate among LGBT+ voters in the United States.
