Equality
Rep. Pocan is Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, where he helps lead the more than 100 caucus members on civil rights and equality issues. Rep. Pocan is a leading co-sponsor of the Equality Act, legislation that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex. He is also the sponsor of the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, a bill to prevent discrimination at colleges and universities, and the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, a bill to restore the status and benefits of service members discharged due to their sexual orientation.
Rep. Pocan has strongly opposed the Trump Administration’s numerous attacks on the LGBTQ community, including speaking out against the Administration’s transgender military ban, the Department of Justice’s support for the defendant in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the stripping of protections for LGBTQ Americans. Rep. Pocan has also spoken out against the Trump Administration’s attacks on transgender students and support for discrimination against LGBTQ students by voucher schools. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Pocan vocally opposed the Aderholt Amendment, which would allow providers to discriminate against the LGBT individuals and couples in adoption and foster care services.
More on Equality
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Bill Pascrell, Jr, (D-NJ), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), and James P. McGovern (D-MA), released the following statement in response to recent reports of increased violence against Burmese trade unions and workers by the Burmese military.
MADISON, WI— “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a necessary step forward for a nation that continues to fail to protect the LGBTQ community under a bigoted and prejudiced Trump administration. On the heels of recent murders of Black trans women—Riah Milton and Dominique “Rem’Mie” Fells—and the Trump’s administration decision to legalize healthcare discrimination against LGBTQ people, this ruling is monumental progress to protect the rights of LGBTQ people nationwide.
MADISON, WI—As the nation mourns the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black Americans at the hands of police violence, Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI) is introducing the Police Training and Accountability Act. The bill would establish a national training standard for all law enforcement officers and a Civilian-Law Enforcement Bill of Rights for anyone having contact with law enforcement. A civilian commission would be named to set standards of training for police, to bridge the wide gaps of what training for law enforcement looks like nationwide.