Five times Nancy Pelosi stood up for LGBTQ people

Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Taylor Testifying Before the House Budget Committee on HIV/AIDS Funding
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Last Thursday, 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) said that she’ll step down next year from her congressional leadership role to make room for a younger generation.

Pelosi has led the House Democrats since 2003 and made history in 2007 when she became the first woman ever to serve as House Speaker. But throughout her political career, Pelosi has also been a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community. Here are five times in her tenure when she stood out as a vital political ally.

1. She was an early HIV advocate at a time when few politicians were

In her first House floor speech — delivered June 9, 1987 — Pelosi said she had come to Congress to fight the AIDS epidemic.  “Now we must take leadership, of course, in the crisis of AIDS. And I look forward to working with you on that,” she said, speaking to then-President Ronald Reagan (R).

The comment was particularly critical, seeing as Reagan had barely mentioned AIDS for the first time ever only two years earlier, despite the fact that nearly 10,000 Americans had died of it since the epidemic’s start.

Pelosi went on to continually fight for increased HIV/AIDS funding for research and treatment, even testifying alongside celebrity advocate Elizabeth Taylor…

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/11/five-times-nancy-pelosi-stood-lgbtq-people/