Congresswoman Opens Up About LGBTQ Child

While fighting back tears, Rep. Pramila Jayapal revealed why LGBTQ equality is so personal to her and her child.

Transcript

00:00My beautiful, now 22-year-old child told me last year that they were gender non-conforming.

00:08And over the last year, I have come to understand from a deeply personal mother's perspective.

00:16And it occurred to me that we're talking about fear versus love.

00:33We're talking about fear versus freedom.

00:36And I didn't intend to say this today, but...

00:39Excuse me.

00:47I've always been a civil rights activist.

00:49I've always fought for my constituents and my communities to have equal rights.

00:53But from a mother's perspective, I came to understand what their newfound freedom...

01:00It is the only way I can describe what has happened to my beautiful child.

01:05What their newfound freedom to wear a dress, to rid themselves of some conformist stereotype

01:14of who they are, to be able to express who they are at their real core.

01:20And since this deeply impactful moment last year, my child, who has always done well in school,

01:25but has carried what a mother can only describe as a heavy burden of conflict in their own being

01:34that I could not fully identify or help to express.

01:39Since this deeply impactful moment last year, my child's embracing of their non-conforming gender identity

01:47and all that it has allowed, all that it allows in terms of their creativity, their brilliance,

01:53their self-expression, the only thought I wake up with every day is, my child is free.

02:02My child is free to be who they are.

02:06And in that freedom comes a responsibility for us as legislators to protect that freedom,

02:13to be who they are, and to legislate, as Dr. Wiley so beautifully said,

02:19to legislate our behavior towards all people in our society.