The question and response:

Question: …Last Summer, uh, I spent some time in the Philippines, for, and, uh, one of the things I noticed was the number of, uh, LGBTQ in the Philippines that were very free to express who they were and be who they were without any fear. And so, when I come here I see so many that have to hide. And so, just my one question, there, you know, what more could you hope to do for our LGBTQ?

[….]

…to marry an immigrant, uh, this coming Summer. I’d like to invite you to come. [cheers][applause]

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D): Well, let me know what the dress is, whether I can wear my sneaks or we’re really gonna go for it. Okay, sounds great. Thank you, Michael. And thank you for being here.

Um, so. let’s start the question about our LGBTQ youth. Uh, What do we do to provide better support? For me, this, this starts at a foundational place. And that is the statement of our values. What kind of a country we want to be, what kind of a people we want to be. The thing? This is very straightforward. I believe in the worth of every single human being in this country. [applause][cheers] And I believe we can support that in a million ways, large and small. But let’s start, I’ll talk about it in just a second, let’s start with where we are right now. And that is, we have a President who traffics in hate…It is a strategy, a strategy, and the strategy is, turn people against people. Turn people against people. Turn white against black and brown. Turn, uh, um, straight against gay, and particularly trans, and particularly trans people of color. Um, turn Christian against Muslim. Turn everyone against immigrants, particularly black and brown immigrants. And his hope is that enough people are fighting with each other, nobody will notice that Donald Trump and his corrupt buddies are stealing this country blind. [applause][cheers]

And here’s the benefit we’ve got as we start rolling into 2020, it’s about what we’re out there fighting for, but it’s also how we’re fighting. How we are building a grass roots movement together to pick up each others’ fights. Not to state, well, that’s your fight, and then your fight is the other one, and your fight is about Social Security, your fight is about student, that’s ’cause you’re different ages, your fight is about what’s happening in criminal justice where there’s such a heavy race component. It’s to say, no. We’re gonna pick up each others’ fights. We’re all gonna make this America that works, not just for a thinner and thinner slice at the top, we’re gonna make this an America that works for everyone. That is our goal…[cheers][applause].

So, I have, as you’re not surprised, lots of plans around LGBTQ plus, and LGBTQ plus youth. Uh, LGBTQ plus youth are more likely to be homeless. We need to put real resources in. And that means counselors, sending people into the field…in the streets, so that we can help families, and places for people to go, if that’s what they have to do.

Uh, it’s powerfully important that every policy we think about we take a step back and think about how it’s felt by people of different sexual orientation, different identification, uh, people who are non-binary. How does it, how does it work? And nowhere is that more true than for our youth.

So, it’s about health care, it’s about immigration, it’s about every time we want to make sure as a country that we’re building opportunity, that opportunity is not a narrow bridge, that you gotta be just one way, to cross that bridge. That it’s a bridge that’s got a whole lot of on-ramps to it for a whole lot of people. ‘Cause, here’s the deal, we are a country that will be the country of our best values when every single one of our children is valued, gets a good education, and has lots of opportunities available to them. [applause][cheers]

Previously:

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) – Town Hall – Indianola, Iowa – October 20, 2019 (October 20, 2019)