(Openly gay California Assembly Speaker John A. Perez addressed the DNC Sept. 5, 2012)
Continuing with the DNC undercurrent of taking back the theme of “family values” so often used against LGBT Americans, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez spoke about how Democrats are fighting for “opportunities” – including the opportunity for gay people who come from working class backgrounds as he does to train for and hold a job (see the full speech below):
This convention gives us a chance to discuss how or where we fight. It gives us a chance to reflect on the question of why we fight. And the answer to that fundamental question is summed up in one word: opportunity.
Opportunity is why we fight. Across the country there are parents who want nothing more than the opportunity to have a job and the ability to put food on the family table. We fight for them. In too many states, even folks who have jobs wake up every morning worrying that they may lose their job simply because they’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We fight for them.
Here’s Perez’s speech, slightly upcut at the top:
This convention gives us a chance to discuss how or where we fight. It gives us a chance to reflect on the question of why we fight. And the answer to that fundamental question is summed up in one word: opportunity.
Opportunity is why we fight. Across the country there are parents who want nothing more than the opportunity to have a job and the ability to put food on the family table. We fight for them. In too many states, even folks who have jobs wake up every morning worrying that they may lose their job simply because they’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We fight for them.
On our nation’s campuses, students are seeking the opportunity to go to college, earn a degree, find a career that will unleash their full potential. We fight for them.
Women across our country are fighting for the opportunity that comes with equal pay for equal work and the respect that comes with having control of thei medical decisions. We fight for them.
(Speaks in Spanish about immigrants) Yes, we fight for them.
And we fight for President Obama. And we know he fights for us. President Obama has fought for the opportunity for Americans every moment of his time in office – to protect opportunities that already exist, and create new opportunities for all Americans.
When the jobs of auto workers were threatened in 2009, some said, ‘Let Detroit fail.” But President Obama said that failure was not an option. And today, American auto workers can sleep securely knowing their jobs and opportunities for a brighter future exist because President Obama fought for them.
President Obama has reformed student loans, cut out the big banks and lowered the cost of education for millions of students. And he’s fighting to extend that investment for millions more.
He helped repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, giving LGBT Americans the opportunity to openly and proudly serve our nation in uniform. And he’s standing up for those of us in the LGBT community to say, ‘I do.’
He’s fought for policies that unleash the opportunities that come with 21st century jobs that will remake our economy and restore prosperity for the middle class.
President Obama is leading us through a challenging era by recognizing that the strength of America is measured in the opportunity everyone has to work hard and succeed. That’s the spirit of our party and the guiding principle of our president.
This election is our opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to that commitment. Our pathway to victory is to fight for everyone to have the opportunity to live their American Dream. To fight for our proud national tradition of ensuring that our children always enjoy more opportunities than their parents had.
To fight to ensure that every person has the opportunities that come with being treated with dignity, respect and equality in the eyes of the law.
We fight to restore opportunity across this country because, as Democrats, we understand the poignancy, the power, and the truth of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s observation that America is another name for opportunity.
Opportunity is why we fight for our country. Opportunity is what our President fights for. And in 61 days, opportunity is why President Barack Obama will win a second term in office.
But we have a lot of work to do between now and then. So let’s get to work!
Thank you.
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Actually, the end of DADT only helped LGB people, trans people are excluded under different criteria.