國會議員詹姆斯“吉姆”麥戈文：共和黨對 LGBTQI+ 群體的無情攻擊

In today's political climate, the performance of the Republican Party in the 118th Congress has generated a great deal of attention and discussion. As a founding member and Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, it is important for me to share my perspective on this situation, particularly regarding the Republican attack on the LGBTQI+ community.

眾所周知，共和黨內部的混亂使得第118屆國會成為近代史上效率最低的國會之一。由於眾議院共和黨人無力治理，我們才勉強避免了政府關閉和國債違約。共和黨多數派的缺乏生產力對我來說並不奇怪。作為眾議院規則委員會的高級成員，我親眼目睹了共和黨人將他們的優先事項放在攻擊LGBTQI+群體上，而不是致力於解決所有美國人面臨的挑戰。

在過去的九個月裡，規則委員會沒有考慮過任何一項法案簽署成為法律。這種無效和無能的表現，在共和黨的控制下，成為了我國史上最糟糕的國會會議之一。當民主黨掌權時，我作為上屆國會規則委員會主席，我們提出了許多重要法案，如《薪資公平法案》、《兩黨背景調查法案》和《約翰·R·劉易斯投票權促進法案》。我們還致力於保護LGBTQI+群體的立法，如《尊重婚姻法》和《平等法》。

然而，現在在反平等的共和黨人掌權下，我們看到規則委員會的大多數成員加班加點地安撫MAGA極端分子。這些右翼共和黨人發誓要投票否決任何不符合他們意願的法案，並始終希望限制LGBTQI+人群的權利。我震驚地看到，提交給規則委員會的文件中超過95項反LGBTQI+修正案，並且共和黨人向眾議院提出了50多項反LGBTQI+法案和修正案。

Some of the most shocking and morally repugnant attacks by Republicans have been against the transgender community, especially transgender youth. They have passed amendments requiring schools to forcibly expel transgender students and banning transgender girls from participating in school sports teams in kindergarten. These actions reflect Republicans' relentless attack on the LGBTQI+ community.

We've also seen dozens of anti-equality amendments proposed by Republicans in government appropriations bills that not only target necessary medical care, but also encourage discrimination against the LGBTQI+ community. These actions show that Republicans are simply throwing their cruel, anti-equality gimmicks against the wall and seeing how it works.

The Congressional Equality Caucus released a report called Obsession: House Republicans' Relentless Attacks on the LGBTQI+ Community in 2023, which tracks all of the anti-equality attacks we've seen in the last year. As a founding member and Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, I am fully committed to protecting the LGBTQI+ community and advancing a pro-equality agenda, and 2023 taught us that we have a lot of work ahead of us in 2024 and beyond.

Despite these attacks, know that many of us will not stand by while Republicans target the LGBTQI+ community. I'm proud to work with the largest caucus in the U.S. Congress to fight for equality because I know that in order for America to keep moving forward, we must be inclusive of the LGBTQI+ community.

Congressman James "Jim" McGovern.
Represents Massachusetts' 2nd Congressional District and is a founding member and Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.