Beto O’Rourke Presents LGBTQ Policy Proposal: ‘Current Administration Is Encouraging’ Discrimination

Democratic 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke presented his policy proposal concerning the LGBTQ community, Wednesday, describing an agenda to reverse Trump Administration policies he says infringe upon LGBTQ rights.

“LGBTQ+ Americans have made incredible progress over the past decade, thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of activists and advocates — but too many LGBTQ+ people still lack protection under many states’ laws and the current Administration is encouraging rather than stamping out discrimination,” O’Rourke said in a statement outlining the proposal, Reuters reports.

O’Rourke laid out his new proposal at the New York City “Pride Run” event, Wednesday, recognizing Pride Month, as well as marking the third anniversary of the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando in which an ISIS terrorist shot and killed 49 people.

O’Rouke’s proposal was broken down into three parts, consisting of several executive orders designed to overturn Trump administration policies such as the transgender military ban, a policy allowing federally subsidized adoption agencies to refuse considering gay parents, as well as policies that bar gay men from donating blood, Reuters reports.

Additionally, he proposed to allow gay migrants to be able to qualify as a “vulnerable population” when seeking asylum on account of their stated sexual orientation, according to Reuters.

Another proposal in the plan was to use the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate crimes against transgender people, but more specifically transgender women of color, CBS News reports.

“The impunity with which this violence and these murders are taking place is provoking a courageous response and I’m inspired by that and that’s reflected in this plan.” O’Rourke said.

He also says he will push legislation in Congress to stop various other forms of discrimination against the LGBTQ community, including housing discrimination, employment discrimination, and limited access to public services, according to Reuters.

The final part n his proposal is to fight discrimination abroad by establishing an office in the State Department to promote advocacy for LGBTQ rights internationally.