House passes Ayanna Pressley’s amendment to Violence Against Women Act to support LGBTQ+ people
"Until now, Congress’s efforts have overlooked the hurt and harm felt by LGBTQ+ survivors, especially trans women of color."
The latest version of the Violence Against Women Act would establish a new grant program designed to help members of the LGBTQ+ community as part of an amendment from U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and her House colleague Rep. Marie Newman of Illinois.The amendment would create the grant program to help LGBTQ+ people who have survived dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, according to a press release from Pressley’s office.The maneuver passed the House on Wednesday.“The Violence Against Women Act is about saving lives and ensuring justice for survivors who have suffered in silence for too long,” Pressley said in the release. “But until now, Congress’s efforts have overlooked the hurt and harm felt by LGBTQ+ survivors, especially trans women of color. I’m proud that this year’s Violence Against Women Act included my provision to create grants and services dedicated to serving members of the LGBTQ+ community.”While domestic violence was said to have declined by over 50 percent since 1994 due to the act, it’s estimated that one in three women in the country experiences domestic violence, the release says.For LGBTQ+ people, that number is higher, and transgender women, particularly trans women of color, “face mistreatment and discrimination from law enforcement or crisis centers that do not have dedicated services for LBGTQ+ individuals,” the release says.Eleven trans people have been murdered this year alone, and over half of them were Black trans women, according to NBC News. Murders of transgender people are also up 266 percent compared to the same time last year.While LGBTQ people were included in the 2013 Violence Against Women Act, the grant program is new. The act had expired in 2018 and while the House had voted to reauthorize it in April 2019, it wasn’t brought to the Senate floor by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, NBC News reported.
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