U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.). (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) will chair the LGBTQ Congressional Equality Caucus in the newly seated 119th Congress, he told Axios Jan. 3.
“Over the next several years, we will see a constant barrage of attacks on the rights and dignity of the queer community—especially against our transgender siblings,” Takano said. “I will lead our coalition of openly-LGBTQI+ members and our allies in the fight to both defend the queer community and push equality forward, including by reintroducing the Equality Act.”
The caucus was founded in 2008 by then-U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Badwin (D-Wis.), the latter going on to represent The Badger State in the U.S. Senate since 2013, when she became the first LGBTQ member to serve in the upper chamber.
Led in the last Congress by U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), the caucus’s chair and eight co-chairs are out and LGBTQ. There are a couple dozen vice-chairs and more than 160 other members, all Democrats.
In recent battles over must-pass appropriations bills, the caucus opposed House Republicans’ insistence on including anti-LGBTQ “poison pill” policy riders, meticulously chronicling their efforts to politicize government funding.
The caucus has also fought against and documented legislation proposed by House GOP members that takes aim at LGBTQ and especially transgender rights.
Takano’s tenure as chair will begin just as Republicans plan to push forward a bill that would prohibit transgender women and girls from competing on women and girls’ sports teams, and just after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) enacted a new policy that would ban transgender people from bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol building.
“Our community will have a strong defender against Republicans’ incoming attacks with Representative Takano as our chair,” Pocan said.
First elected in 2013, the California congressman is the first gay Asian member to serve in either chamber. He is also the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
