1987 was Nancy Pelosi’s first year in Congress. When elected minority leader of the Democrats in 2004, she made history as the first woman to lead a major party in either house of Congress. She served as party head for 20 years and was the first female House speaker twice. While in New York City last week, a writer for The Advocate, John Casey, met with Pelosi.
Pelosi recalled the significant role that The Advocate has played in the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights over the past half-century and was curious about the publication’s longevity. Casey notes that Pelosi often uses her hands to emphasize her points and show her passion for what she’s talking about. He adds that it was those hands, after Trump’s 2020 State of the Union, that she demonstrated her unyielding power by tearing up Trump’s speech.
Casey explains that the LGBTQ+ community is terrified because of the toxic rhetoric of Republicans and the nasty legislation being passed in state legislatures. The trans and drag communities, as well as the right to abortion, are also losing ground in the speaker’s estimation.
Pelosi said she is also frightened because “it’s about hate.”
She explained that when the left did the hate crimes legislation several years ago, they had the majority but couldn’t get the bills to come to the floor. She said people came to her and said if she took out trans, she could pass the bill in one minute.
She said if they take out trans, they’re not passing the bill because she’s not taking out trans. “That’s just the way it is.”
She said this was probably like 2008 and 2009, so it was a while ago, “but here we are again today,” lamenting that bills are being passed that are supposedly anti-trans.
Casey said he has a niece in college, and she transitioned, and now she’s doing very well. “But my niece says, any time any of you say something positive about us, it means so much to us,” the writer told Pelosi.
“And I hear that same thing from drag queens, too,” he noted.
Read the interview HERE.
