One New York State Rep is Trying To Help Save LGBTQ Lives
US Representative Sean Patrick Maloney is New York state’s first ever openly gay Congressman, and it looks like he’s working hard to support his LGBTQ constituents.
Yesterday, Maloney reminded the House of a bill he introduced last year, the LGBT PRIDE Act. The congressman introduced this bill to help LGBTQ crime victims. Specifically, the Act is focused on protecting LGBTQ lives from violence and suicide by collecting more info on them.
How the bill will work is by collecting more data and information on the sexual orientation and gender identity of victims to violent crime. In fact, the PRIDE in the bill’s title is actually an acronym and stands for Provide a Requirement to Improve Date Collection Efforts.
When asked about the bill, Maloney said, “Pulse wasn’t an isolated occurrence.”
‘Anti-LGBTQ violence is way too common – it happens when a transwoman of color is gunned down in the street, it happens when a young gay person is bullied into depression or takes his own life.’
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‘We have to get more information on where this violence is happening and we have to be more aggressive about doing something to stop it – and this bill is a necessary first step.’
One way that the bill will aggressively advocate for that information is by handing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an increase in funding (by $25 million).
This will then entice the group to work harder in reporting the deaths of LGBTQ crime victims.
With these numbers collected, efforts towards protecting LGBTQ citizens can advance.
With real statistics and numbers, politicians and public safety officials can not ignore the great and many crimes committed against LGBTQ people.
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney’s bill has been on the floor for at least a year now, but got no traction before. Hopefully this reminder of Pulse can help wake up the other Congressmen and help them pass the Act on to the executive branch.
h/t: GayStarNews
