BROOKLYN, NY – Representative Yvette D. Clarke issued the following statement on Monday to announce her participation in the NOH8 campaign:

A charitable organization dedicated to support for marriage, gender and human equality through education, the NOH8 campaign asked Members of Congress to demonstrate their support on these issues. Representative Clarke participated with sixty-six of her colleagues.

“We have much to celebrate this year -from the enactment of hate crimes legislation to the establishment of marriage equality in my home state of New York, as well as, eleven other states and the District of Columbia, “ stated Representative Clarke. “The achievements in recent years have been extraordinary – and will continue in the future. However, much more work remains in the struggle for equality and human dignity”.

“These achievements have been crucial in our effort to fulfill the promise of the Fourteenth Amendment that every person has a right to the equal protection of the law,” stated Representative Clarke.

Representative Clarke’s participation in the NOH8 campaign coincides with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, which raises awareness and promotes their self-affirmation, dignity, equality rights, and an increased visibility as a social group within our civil society.

“It is my honor and privilege to add my portrait to the tens of thousands who have posed for the NOH8 Campaign. I am compelled to stand for justice and equality for all of humanity,” said Representative Clarke. “Who among us can accept the immorality of a society in which our children and our relatives and friends are allowed to become victims of legalized discrimination and relegated to something akin to less than second-class citizenship? This campaign is part of the forward march in recognition of all loving relationships and an embrace of all humankind.

“NOH8, Appreciate, Celebrate!”

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