Casten Calls on Congress to Celebrate Pride Month with Actions to Protect LGBTQ Americans and Investments in Programs to Support At-Risk Youth
Downers Grove, IL. – Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement today celebrating the beginning of Pride Month and calling for Congressional action to protect the LGBTQ community and invest in programs supporting LGBTQ youth at increased risk of homelessness, mental health issues, and suicide amid the surge of GOP-led attacks.
Casten said, "Across America, our kids are taught the Pledge of Allegiance, which ends with a promise of liberty and justice for all. But in most states, a person can legally be denied housing, education, or the chance to serve on a jury simply for who they are and who they love. Until the Equality Act is law, LGBTQ Americans in half the country can get married one day and be denied service at a restaurant or be evicted from their apartment the next. Every Senator celebrating Pride this month must commit to ending the filibuster so that we can finally sign the Equality Act, passed by the House over a year ago, into law."
In March, Casten delivered $3,000,000 for 360 Youth Services - one of two major LGBTQ+ homeless and at-risk youth housing organizations in Illinois – as part of the FY2022 appropriations package signed into law by president Biden. The $300,000,000 in Community Project Funding will be used for a Youth Affordable Housing Resource Center to provide youth-specific housing and homelessness prevention services in DuPage, Kane, Will and surrounding counties. The Center will be a regional access point for trauma-informed mental health care, crisis intervention, family services, vocational training, educational support, rental assistance, legal aid, and LGBTQ+ affirming services.
Congressman Casten said, "Not only are LGBTQ youth over fifteen times as likely to experience homelessness due to not being accepted by their families, but they're four times as likely to commit suicide. I fought tirelessly to secure $3,000,000 for an Affordable Housing Resource Center at 360 Youth Services because it's one of only two organizations in Illinois that provides the kind of crucial community intervention and homelessness prevention services that has been proven to effectively de-escalate suicidal ideations for LGBTQ youth in more than 90% of cases. As we heard today, this funding will allow for 360 Youth Services to assist hundreds more at-risk youth in our community that desperately need these services."
Dawn Melchiorre, interim CEO of 360 Youth Services said, "The Pandemic revealed the critical need for youth-focused housing, mental health care and job training. This project will benefit our community for years to come because it's an investment in youth and families,"
In April, Casten hosted a roundtable on LGBTQ homelessness where 360 Youth Services Leadership shared testimonials from individuals served and discussed how newly funded Affordable Housing Resource Center will help address the increased mental health and affordable housing needs of LGBTQ youth in Chicagoland exacerbated by ‘Don't Say Gay' bills introduced in surrounding states, hate crimes against the trans community, and other attacks.
Link to photos and videos here.
Despite the success of the LGBTQ equality movement over the years, millions of LGBTQ Americans can still be discriminated against depending on the state they live in. In 27 states, a person is at risk of being denied housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBTQ people are also at risk of being denied access to education in 31 states, and the right to serve on a jury in 41 states. The Equality Act remedies these disparities by amending existing federal civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment education, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and federal funding.
Casten is a proud member of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, committed to furthering LGBTQ+ equality, working tirelessly this Congress to move numerous bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community and to fight back against attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. The Caucus has endorsed dozens of bills this Congress, with several priority bills having passed the House and two signed into law:
- The House passed -- and the President signed into law -- S. 937, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act. The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act provides for grants to improve data collection of hate crimes -- including hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity -- and for grants for states to create hotlines to assist victims of hate crimes, among other provisions.
- The House passed -- and the President signed into law -- H.R. 49 to designate the Pulse Nightclub as a National Memorial.
- The House passed H.R. 5, the Equality Act, to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in key areas of life, including employment, housing, public accommodations, federally funded programs, education, jury selection, and credit.
- The House passed H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act, to deny visas to those who commit human rights abuses against LGBTQI+ people abroad and codify reporting requirements on these issues in the State Department's annual Human Rights Report.
- The House passed H.R. 1443, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, to require the collection of small business loan data related to LGBTQ-owned businesses.
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