Jason proudly represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jason serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the Small Business Committee, and he is honored to serve as Vice-Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and the National Security Task Force. Every day in Congress, Jason is fighting for common sense solutions for all Coloradans.
No American should face discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. In 2012, I was honored to speak at the Democratic National Convention in support of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I was extremely proud to speak on behalf of President Obama and to stand up for equality in the military. Since the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the LGBTQ community has won several critical legal battles, including marriage equality.
However, our LGBTQ neighbors continue to be a target of hate, discrimination, and unequal treatment under the law. It is no coincidence that LQBTQ youth have the highest rate of suicide in the nation. Retaliating against the success of marriage equality in 2015, many states are enacting draconian legislation that will allow businesses to refuse services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious freedom, and in 28 states there are no laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in their employment, housing, or other matters.
We should continually strive to expand marriage equality, workplace protections, enforcement of hate crime laws, and protections for LGBTQ military personnel and veterans. In Congress, I am fighting to ensure that LGBTQ Americans have the same rights and protections that all Americans should have, cosponsoring the Equality Act.