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Caucus in the U.S. Congress promoting LGBTQ+ rights From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus, was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank on June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights.[1][2] The caucus is chaired by the most senior member and is co-chaired by nine of the United States House of Representatives' ten current openly LGBT members; during the 118th Congress, the caucus is chaired by Representative Mark Pocan and is co-chaired by Representatives Becca Balint, Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Robert Garcia, Chris Pappas, Mark Pocan, Eric Sorensen, Mark Takano, and Ritchie Torres.[3]
Congressional Equality Caucus | |
|---|---|
| Chair | Mark Pocan |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Ideology | LGBTQ rights |
| Seats in the House | 195 / 432 |
| Seats in the House Democratic Caucus | 195 / 212 |
| Seats in the House Republican Caucus | 0 / 220 |
| Seats in the United States Senate | 0 / 100 |
With 195 members, the Congressional Equality Caucus became the largest caucus during the 118th United States Congress session.
The mission of the caucus is to work for LGBTQ rights, the repeal of laws discriminatory against LGBTQ persons, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and improved health and well-being for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.[4] The caucus serves as a resource for Members of Congress, their staffs, and the public on LGBTQ issues.[4] Unlike the Congressional Black Caucus, famous for admitting only black members, the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus admits any member who is willing to advance LGBTQ rights, regardless of their sexual identity or orientation; it has historically been co-chaired by every openly-LGBTQ member of the House.
In February 2016, the caucus formed the Equality PAC to support candidates running for federal office who are LGBTQ or seek to advance LGBTQ rights. On March 14, 2016, the board of the Equality PAC voted to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election.[5]
During the 114th United States Congress, the caucus formed the Transgender Equality Task Force (TETF) and the LGBTQ+ Aging Issues Task Force. The TETF is currently chaired by Pramila Jayapal and Sara Jacobs and is committed to pushing for legislative and administrative action to ensure that transgender people are treated equally and with dignity and respect. The LGBTQ+ Aging Issues Task Force is currently chaired by Suzanne Bonamici and works to push for legislative and administrative action to protect the dignity and security of elderly LGBTQ people.[6]
The below table summarizes the number of caucus members by party over a number of legislative sessions; the drop in membership numbers in the 114th congress was predominantly due to this being the first year that caucus members were charged fees for their membership ($400 per member, $2,100 per vice chair, $7,500 per co-chair):[7]
List of Caucus members in the 118th Congress:
In addition to all House Republicans, 17 House Democrats are not members of the Caucus.
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