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Rep. Gutierrez: ‘America is Having a Very Good Week’


“I am extremely proud that my country is moving in the right direction.” – Rep. Gutiérrez

Washington, DC –(ENEWSPF)–June 26, 2015.  Today, Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) reacted to news that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in favor of “justice and humanity” in the landmark decision about same-sex marriage.  The following is a statement by Rep. Gutiérrez:

“America is having a very good week.  The Supreme Court came down on the side of justice and humanity and affirmed what is so great about our nation: our inclusiveness, our sense of equality, and our thirst for laws that honor and respect everyone.

My support of the LGBTQ-plus community goes back to my earliest days on the City Council of Chicago when the city was on the cutting edge of recognizing gay rights.  I was one of only 65 Democrats who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 in the House of Representatives, and it was one of the most important votes I ever cast. 

Courts sometimes slow down the march towards progress as every major step towards inclusion is challenged using all the tools in the democratic arsenal, but that is what makes such achievements more momentous as they testify to the value of a thriving democracy.  In the end, history and justice and fairness usually win out.  With the President’s health care law, with the ruling on housing discrimination, and with this historic ruling on love and marriage, the Supreme Court is affirming what Dr. Martin Luther King taught us about the arc of the moral universe.  It is indeed long and bends towards justice, sometimes in ways even he could not have imagined.

I am proud that the Supreme Court and the rest of the nation have finally caught up with the American people by making the right decision.

I expect to celebrate a similar common-sense ruling if and when the President’s immigration executive actions reach the Supreme Court because the law and history are clear and the underlying issues of justice and fairness are equally clear.

I am extremely proud that my country is moving in the right direction.”

Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez represents the Fourth District of Illinois, is a Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is a Member of the Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, and is the Co-Chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Source: Gutierrez.house.gov

Related Article:

Supreme Court Delivers ‘Transformative Triumph’ for Marriage Equality

 


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