Endorsed Candidates 1 : Don Beyer is Strong on LGBT Issues

We are planning to bring our readers a series of short articles on the candidates that we have endorsed this year.  Please take a moment to read these and then head to the candidates’ website through a link we have provided at the end of the article.

 

As a businessman, diplomat, and public servant, Don Beyer has a 28 year history of involvement with the community. Elected to the US House of Representatives in 2014, he handily beat Republican opponent and is poised to do it again in 2018.

As the US Ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein from 2009 to 2013, Beyer received a Thomas Jefferson award from American Citizens Abroad, for his outstanding service to Americans overseas, where he ran town hall meetings to let Americans living abroad voice their concerns directly to the State Department.

He has come out strongly against Trump’s proposed rolling back of environmental policies. He was also the first legislator to come out publicly in opposition of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, receiving a security clearance.

Don Beyer also strongly supports the Affordable Care Act and has voiced opposition to any chipping away at the law. He opposes “short term” health insurance policies, saying they are “shameful and designed to trick people.”

A vocal supporter of equality for all Americans, he expressed his feelings of concern about racism in an interview with WNYC Studios on August 13th regarding the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, saying that despite the progress we’ve made, “We also can’t forget all the subtle racism that’s built into our interactions with the law, the gaps in employment, the differences in family wealth, the differences in educational opportunities. And we’ve come a long way…but we still have a long way to go before we have a society that actually feels equal.”

Most importantly, he strongly supports marriage equality, and supports a ban on workplace discrimination based of gender identity and sexual orientation.

In a statement released in honor of Pride month in June, he said, “Because of the tireless advocacy of LGBTQ leaders, we live in a more just society, and we are closer to confirming the Commonwealth’s old adage, ‘Virginia is for Lovers.’”

Learn more about Congressman Beyer at http://friendsofdonbeyer.com/.