More than 1,000 LGBTQA attendees gathered with reps from more than 50 exhibiting companies at Boston Marriott Copley Place Thursday night at Boston Spirit’s 2019 Executive Networking Night. In addition to featured speaker, US Congressman David Cicilline (Rhode Island), there were several professional and personal development sessions tailored for LGBTQ professionals.
Congressman Cicilline, who tried valiantly to catch a plane from DC on a stormy night that blocked flights up and down the eastern seacoast, delivered his remarks live via broadcast onto a big screen behind the podium. Citing the civil rights background of his colleague US Congressman John Lewis (Georgia) and Lewis’s support for LGBT-rights legislation, he delivered an inspiring message in dark times.
The Congressman is the most senior gay member of Congress and a cochair of the Congressional LGBT Equality caucus. In 2015, he introduced the Equality Act to extend comprehensive anti discrimination protections to the LGBT community in public accommodations, housing, employment, federal funding, education, credit, and jury service. In most states, it is legal for employers, renters, and educational institutions to discriminate against Americans based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equality Act prohibits discrimination across all 50 states by expanding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other existing civil right laws.
As its first act of business after the election of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House in early January, the newly elected, Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives voted to take up the Equality Act.
Congressman Cicilline introduced the legislation.
“Government at its best works for the benefit of all Americans, not just the powerful and privileged,” Congressman Cicilline said in a written statement. “Protecting the rights of LGBT employees is just the right thing to do.”
