Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement in honor of LGBT Pride Month, which Brooklynites will celebrate with a parade on June 7, 2014 on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.
 
“There is much to celebrate in 2014: in seventeen of the United States, we have achieved equality in marriage, a number almost certain to increase in the next several months as lawsuits in Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, and other states are resolved. Even the Republican Governor of Pennsylvania, himself an opponent of marriage equality, has refused the defend the prohibition of same-sex marriage,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who co-sponsored the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act, and who continues her work on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
 
“This nation has been called to its conscience by activists who insisted that the promise of equality in the Declaration of Independence and the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution protects every person from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or their gender identity. But even after this recent success, we must continue in our efforts and remain vigilant We must remember that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains a serious problem, particularly in employment and in education.. We should remember that, despite considerable support in the public for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have refused even to allow a vote on the matter. The rate of change we have experienced in recent years will continue only if we continue our efforts, if we maintain our resolve to insist from each other a commitment to the dignity of and respect for every human being , to secure for every person in this civil society the rights we would want for ourselves.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.