Interesting. I will say that youre saying the end of the year between the end of the year and the actual election itself as many would hope that this is all done before that. Thank you also very much. Thank you all for joining us. Our special with the 2020 town hall begins now. [ cheers and applause ] good evening and welcome to the cnn democratic president ial town hall equality in america. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world from the novo in los angeles. Im dana bash. It has been 50 years since the riots had stonewalled and the riots against Police Oppression that became the Turning Point in
the lgbtq Civil Rights Movement in america, but for advocates, the fight for equality is far from over. Tonight were partnering with the Human Rights Campaign for the largest ever town hall on these issues. In the audience are members are members of the lgbtq communities, and allies from the los angeles areas and across the country who are eager to ask the members running for president their top questions. You will hear from former Vice President joe biden and senator Elizabeth Warren and senator Pete Buttigieg and joining me now is cory booker. Welcome, senator. [ cheers and applause ] welcome. Dana, thank you very much. Thank you. Great to see you. Great to see you. Hello, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] all right, senator. Bee have a lot of questions. We want to start with the audience. We are excited to hear from
rachel gonzalez who is from dallas, texas, and she is the mother of three children including a 9yearold transgender daughter. Rachel is a member of the Human Rights Campaign parents for Transgender Equality council. Rachel . We know that the civil rights legislation did not end racism, and we know that the equality act will not end homophobia, transphobia or bias. As a leader, what will you do to change hearts and minds across the country to have true equity, safety and inclusion . Thank you very much, rachel. So king spoke to this, Martin Luther king in the Civil Rights Movement that says i cant pass a law to make someone love me, but i can stop them from lynching me. I cant pass a law to change the heartless and i can change the law to restrain their violent actions. I dont want to discount how important it is to have a federal government to stand up and say we affirm the rights and dignities and those are not just words of all americans. We will do those in actions from the Department Of Education, the Department Of Justice. We will stand up, but my whole life as a kid that was raised to understand that my rights and privileges are not enshrined in the constitution. Originally, heck, africanamericans were fractions of human an beings. Im here because people of all races and all backgrounds stood up for them. Working at a Crisis Center with the focus on lgbtq youth, as a mayor at a time when my own party was passing things like the Defense Of Marriage Act and saying they still had to evolve on the issue. As mayor the second flag i raised was the pride flag and i said i wouldnt conduct marriages until everyone could be married. You can be sure [ applause ] that as president of the United States i will be focused every day not just on executing the laws of the land that should
protect all, but i will be setting an example that we are a nation of love of all people. You cant lead the people if you dont love the people, all the people. [ cheers and applause ] senator, i want to follow up with you. Youve talked about your brothers child and you have said that your brothers child is a transactivist. How has that shaped your views on this topic . Well, i have to express frustration sometimes where people evolve on issues because suddenly they visit upon their own lives and they say when i found out that i had an lgbtq child suddenly i became in favor of these issues. If we wait for our empathy to expand in that way we will never get to being the nation of liberty and justice for all, you know . [ cheers and applause ] if youre a man and you see assaults on the rights of not just women, but the rights of people that control their own body you shouldnt say because i have a wife or a daughter no. You are a human being. You have a body. You should be able to understand
as king said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and so my views have have not evolved because of family members. Theyve evolved because they are james baldwin, proud, Guy Americans stood for my rights and people of all backgrounds and i was taught as a christian, i was taught that we must bring forth the radical love of all people and thats what has always made me be an advocate for justice and i will continue to be so regardless of the incredibly beautiful, wonderful family they have. So you talked about evolving. I want to bring up somebody in the audience who wants to ask you. Tom bellino, an urban planner from los angeles who currently supports Elizabeth Warren. How are you . Im well, thank you. Thanks for being here. You wrote an article for the Stanford Daily newspaper that detailed your personal journey to accept lgbtq plus people as
equals and friends. It must have been controversial at the time and made people uncomfortable, can you talk about what that was like before that article was published. If i can help illuminate the audience. One line from in 1992 Opinion Piece that you wrote you said i was disgusted by gays. The thought of two men kissing each other was about as appealing as a Frontal Labott me. Allow me more direct escaping the euphemisms of my past i hated gays. The point of the piece was that you changed your view. Back to toms question, what was it like when the article came out. Raising a family speaks toward justice. Growing up as a young man in a toxic environment of football and the like, as a Campus Activist i wanted to try to push people to understand the absurdities of homophobia, and became a Campus Activist on those issues, and so i wrote this article to challenge people about their homophobia and about
their hatred and to say the euphemisms we use for hatred is just wrong, and so my activism started as a teenager, trying to push the limits because it is god, at that Point In My Life i was sitting as appear counselor on a Crisis Hotline and we would get calls of people considering suicide because of their bullying or because of being outed by someone else. The calls of people dropping out of school who were going through coming out which is not a onetime thing, but something people have to do time and time again, constantly feeling like theyre risking their personal safety or their job, and so i will always be someone that tries to push the lines of comfort, often talking about my own experiences. And i am so proud of that column, and i am proud that this doesnt start for me when i decided to get into politics and it started as a teenager that saw growing up in the 80s, an
environment that was hostile and physically dangerous to my peers and friends who my faith taught me to love no matter what. Thank you, senator. Our next question comes from brandon wolf from orlando, florida. Brandon is an advocate for gun safety and lgbtq equality. Thanks for being here. On june 12, 2016, i was present as a man with an Assault Weapon murdered 49 mostly lgbtq people of color at pulse nightclub. I was very lucky to make it out. Unfortunately, my friends were not. That night we were reminded that lgbtq people specifically those of color are often, too often, the targets of hate violence. With the rise of violence against transwomen of color, how will you ensure that Law Enforcement is equipped to treat marginalized victims of crime with dignity and respect . [ applause ]
so first of all, very clearly, it is a national emergency, the majority of the terrorist attacks in this country since 9 11 had been rightwing Extremist Groups and the majority of them had been white supremacist and hate groups, and i will elevate as president of the United States an office on hate crimes and White Supremacy to make sure it is a president ial level effort to protect our country as a whole, but im not stopping there, and we need a Department Of Justice that investigates hate crimes. We must we must take the steps necessary to keep these weapons out of the hands of people that are doing those crimes, but we cant stop there. 30 of lgbtq youth, 30 have reported missing school in the last month because of fears for their physical safety. We live in a country where we
still see regular, everyday violence and intimidation and bullying against americans because of who they are, and so, number one, i am going to appoint a secretary of education, first of all, that sees the dignity and the worth and the value of every one of our children, and i will have [ cheers and applause ] a Department Of Education that takes the steps necessary to protect all children in america. [ applause ] thank you, senator. I want to get straight to gavin grim, a 20yearold transgender activist. Gavin . [ applause ] i sued my school after it banned me from using the boys restroom because im transgender. My case was going to be heard by the Supreme Court and then the Trump Administration took the position that title 9 does not protect lgbtq students and my case went back to the lower courts. Do you believe that title 9 should protect students on the
basis of gender Eade Intiidenti What will you do as president to protect lgbtq. Senator, im sorry. Title 9 is a federal law that forbids discrimination on the basis of sex under education. I know you know that, but i want to clarify. [ laughter ] thank you very much for this question. So first of all, pointblank, this is a real problem in america and i will, number one, change the Trump Administrations guidance back to what the obamas administrations guidance was that schools should allow people to use the bathrooms that conforms with their Gender Identity, but we cannot stop there. We must use our Department Of Justice and the Department Of Educations Civil Rights Division to go after schools that are denying people equal rights and equal protections and thats the last point i want to make. Again, this is very personal to me, because there was a time that people used every excuse
possible to deny rights to women in this country, to minorities in this country and folks literally had to march and fight and struggle to allow there to be laws that govern equal protection. My parents and grandparents had stories of being denied the ability to stop at restaurants traveling across country or use restrooms and bathrooms and had people look down on them and there are associations that the bible didnt justify their associations. We as a society now reject that kind of bigotry and hate. As your president , i will actively, as much as people who are activists who fought for that equality for black americans, ill fight for it with the same verocity, and with the same sense of urgency every single day for Lgbtq Americans. I will stand up and call this country to remember the patriotism is love of country and you cannot love your country unless you love all of your countrymen and women and love is not a sentiment. It is not saccharin, it is snot anemic and it demands the sacrifice and understanding that if your rights are denied then my rights are compromised and thats the kind of leadership i will provide in the white house. [ applause ] senator, on this topic of the Supreme Court, just this week the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether current laws protect lgbtq people from being fired over their Gender Identity and orientation. If the Supreme Court does not rule to protect these workers rights what will you do as president . These issues, what will you do. I have spent my life working on lgbtq issues. We just talked about the security and safety of young people. When i was mayor of newark, we live in a nation where theres violence of lgbtq youth. As mayor in 20062007 i created safe spaces for lgbtq youth and i opened up those safe spaces. I dont need to run for
president to be fighting on these issues. I am one of the lead, Original Spopsors Sponsors of the equality act, and so again, i will not wait for the Supreme Court because with the rightwing justices that this president has appointed, theyre not just looking to roll back lgbtq right, but we see it already. A rollback of civil rights. A rollback of Voting Rights. A rollback were seeing across this country because of federal judges on a womans right to control their own body, and so we have got to make sure we enshrine everything from roe v. Wade to the Voting Rights act. We need to do legislation in congress once and for all and the equality act is essential. It is essential that nowhere in america, right now the majority of states in america, you can post your pictures of your wedding on your facebook page, but the next day you can be fired just because you are gay. That goes against every one of our core values in this nation,
and we are not free when we swear an oath, all of us, swear an oath that well be a nation for liberty and justice for all. Those are aspirational words right now until every Lgbtq American has equal rights and i will get the equality act passed and into law in our country. Senator, thank you for that. I want to bring in sandra who is a recent graduate from uc berkeley and she received a masters in City Planning and a masters in public health. Hello, senator. I worked as a Health Educator providing hiv education and screenings at an lgbt center. I told my clients about a drug called truvada which taken daily can provide absolute protection against becoming hivpositive. A monthly supply of truvad accosts less than 6 to make, however its manufacturers, gilead charges more than 1,600. This severely limits access to preventive care. What actions would you take as
president to address this cost barrier . So thank you. That was a great question. That is a really great question. And i live in a lowincome black and Brown Community and in fact, when it comes to hiv and aids we see often the communities are most seeing the expansion, the ones that are least able to access a lot of the drugs that can do preventative prep. For me its unacceptable that companies would profit in this way to prevent lifesaving drugs. We will lower Prescription Drug costs right away by using medicaid and medicare to negotiate down prices and taking patents away from companies that unjustly raise prices and creating a law in this country that you cannot raise the price higher in this country than youre selling in others. Prep is so important in this country right now and ill make sure like gavin newsom did to have it be over the counter
without a prescription. Thats a great step in the right direction and more than that, were going to fight to make sure that Health Insurance companies actually cover this so more people are accessible. Medicaid and medicare, to cover this as well, and i want to say one last thing because this idea of preventing the spread of hiv and aids is so critical, and thats why legislation ive introduced as the United States senator we need to get back to. Number one, we need to do more Sex Education in this country that is science based which is something thats really important. Thank you, senator. [ applause ] the next question is from aisha schecker, a sophomore from ucla and originally from new jersey. Its great to see a jersey girl out here. Fantastic. I attended an allgirls Catholic High School in new jersey where during my years there proposals for an lgbtq club and alliance were routinely
rejected despite messages of love. A female teacher was fired for being married to a woman and how would you juxtapose the freedom and lgbtq rights. Great question, and thank you very much. Look, this is something that ive been dealing with all my life as a christian. People who want to use religion as a justification for discrimination and often are creating environments that are contrary to my religious beliefs. What do you want from your lord or what do you want from your people come is to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly, walk humbly. So for me, i cannot allow as a leader that people are going to use a religion as a justification for discrimination. I can respect your religious freedom, but also protect people from discrimination and as i said in an earlier answer. I grew up in a household where my parents talked to me about how people used to use religion
to justify discrimination against africanamericans. This is why the equality act is one of them, that puts parameters that do not allow people to discriminate, and i will take this not just in making sure that happens in our schools and in education, but it also has to make sure it happens in healthcare which we now see discrimination being done around insurance and to make sure we do this globally. Why is the United States of america not using its power on the world to begin to stand up on the global stage against the outrageous violence and discrimination against lgbtq citizens around the world. So my faith as well as my American Values will make me fight on every front to make sure that people are not discriminating against someone because of who they are. Thank you. Senator, a followup on this. Do you think that religious education institutions should lose their taxexempt status if they oppose lgbtq rights . [ cheers and applause ]
i see the Trump Administration turning against what the Obama Administration did. Whether youre a school and are providing health care for folks, whether you are a bakery. You cannot discriminate. Fundamentally, no. So again, we must stand up as a nation to say that religion cannot be an excuse to deny people Health Insurance, education, or more. This cannot happen. And i will make sure that i assert the laws to make sure. So would they lose their Tax Exempt Status . Again, i will press this issue. Im not saying, because i know this is a long legal battle. Im not dodging your question. Im saying i believe fundamentally that discrimination is discrimination. And if you are using your your position to try to discriminate others, there must be consequences to that. And i will make sure to hold them accountable using the doj or whatever investigatory. You cannot discriminate. No yes or no there . That is a process and ill make sure i will hold them accountable. If it means losing your tax status. Thank you. Private organizations that do not have tax status, there has to be consequences for discrimination, whether youre a bakery or a school. Thank you. Lets get back to the audience. Our next question comes from nicholas bloom. Nicholas works in Community Health for cedarssinai medical community and helps anyone looking to start a family through threw nontraditional methods, and he currently supports mayor Pete Buttigieg. Good evening. Buttigieg. Samesex male couples are losing out on paid parental leaf when compared to both samesex female and differentsex couples. A recent study compared paid parental leave in 34 countries. In 19 of them, samesex female couples received equal amounts of paid leaf to different sex couples, while samesex male
couples got equal amounts of leave in only four of those countries. As president , what is your plan to make paid parental leave equitable amongst all new parents . Thank you very much. [ applause ] first of all, i want to be clear. We are a nation that has a long way to go in catching up with other countries in just having paid leave period. And i will be a champion of making sure we are a nation with paid family leave. Afghanistan and the congo have paid family leave. The United States of america should have paid family leave. And again, it should be equal in terms of what that paid family leave. And i will fight for that. But i want to go further, because we know that samesex male couples have a lot of challenges when it comes to parenting. First of all, theyre discriminatory laws in adopting in this country still, and we need to make sure that samesex couples have equal access to adoption as well. Parenting is such a fundamental urgency in this country. And end to see the challenges that parents are having,
struggling to hold down a job, struggling to find affordable child care, we need to be a country that goes from amongst developed nations to one in the last to helping and empowering parents to being up at the irs if. From paid leave to expanding the Child Tax Credit are really urgent, and those plans are going to apply equally to everyone. [ applause ] thank you. I want to bring in gino mahalek who works for ucla Student Affairs with a focus on student health. Good evening, senator. That is one of the most handsome haircuts. Were you about to say the same thing . I was. I was going to say thank you very much. You are a beautiful man. All right. Many people have no idea make our president bald again. Yes. Im here for it. Many people have no idea that for decades, gay men were permanently deferred from donating blood in the u. S. Because of outdated draconian
regulations not supported by science. The fda has only recently reduced the ban to one year after intercourse. Gay folks should never be discriminated against, but its particularly painful when our Community Wants to help after a disaster or a mass shooter targeting our community as in the case with pulse. Will you commit to working with the fda to remove this harmful ban . Two words, absolutely yes. And one statement. When youre president of the United States, you have to set the tone and the temperature. We should be using our platforms, the new generation of president s. We see a president every day using his platform in unorthodox ways to demean, to degrade, to put out misinformation and outright lies. If im your president , im going to be using my platforms every day to dispel ignorances, to
challenge people, to have a more courageous empathy, to create a more revival of civic grace. Thats why even on this campaign ive gone out and been tested for hiv, trying to get rid of the kind of stigmas that still undermine this society. We have a whole lot of truth telling to do in this country, and weve got a lot of work to do to pull pull Out Of The Shadows people who are often relegated, their struggles, their injustices. Weve just seen yet another Black Transgender American murdered in this country just last month. This makes the 19th this year. The suffering of so many people in the lgbtq community, the truth about them is shrouded in the ignorance and hate that we see in this world. So not only am i going to change policies, change laws, get an activist Department Of Justice, but im going to be using my platform every day to tell the truth, to heal, to bring the truth forward to solve that we can be a nation that is far more progressive on these. Thank you, senator. Thank you so much. And well see you next week. Thank you very much. At cnns debate in ohio. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. One down, eight to go. In minute, former Vice President joe biden will be right here. Dont go anywhere. The final horn doesnt have to mean the end of the action. Because with Nhl Center Ice on xfinity you get up to 40 outofmarket games per week. And with the allnew xfinity sports zone, you get everything nhl all in one place, even notifications about your favorite teams. Watch every barn burner, barreling check, and all the top shelf action. Plus get instant access to your teams with the power of your voice. Thats simple, easy, awesome. Say Nhl Center Ice into your voice remote to upgrade for a great low price, or go online today