In the past four years, we've already witnessed a dramatic increase in hate crimes and public hate speech. Immigrant communities are being targeted by opportunists who seek to divide us for political and monetary gain. Meanwhile, LGBTQIA+ and gender-equality activists are on the frontline defending some of our most vulnerable communities from attacks on reproductive rights, gender based violence, and harmful conversion-therapy practices in our state. As your representative, I will actively call out prejudice at the Capitol and in our district. We must stand up for each other as we stand up for ourselves.

DEFEND THE UNDOCUMENTED

  • For the safety of our roads and our vulnerable populations, we need driver's licenses and state-issued IDs for all, including undocumented immigrants.
  • Minnesota is the heartland of opportunity. We need to pass a severance law that will prohibit state/local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
  • We need accessible advocacy centers for folks navigating the immigration process.
  • Hennepin County has voted to make legal representation a right for immigrants facing deportation. Let's make this a state-wide policy.
Organizers fill the capitol in support of driver's licenses for all ─ from twitter @WomensMarchMN 4/5/2019

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE

  • We will improve standards for reproductive education in our schools to include contraception, gender/LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, and a component on consent and healthy relationships. Require all curriculum to be medically, not just technically accurate.
  • We will preserve state funding for healthcare clinics, which provide vital services to women and families, and end the closure of clinics.
  • We must pass legislation to allow minors to make healthcare decisions with their provider without a requirement to notify parents when no emergency is taking place.
  • We must eliminate the 24 hour waiting period to terminate a pregnancy and allow providers to counsel their own patients without state directed counseling, which is harmful and intended to scare patients.
  • I am a coauthor on Senator Port's Patients' Right to Know Act as well as Senator McEwen's Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act which would codify reproductive freedom into Minnesota Law in spite of decades of legal precedent protecting the right to choose being undone by the US Supreme Court.

PROTECT LGBTQIA+

  • While we have come a long way on civil rights for LGBTQIA+ folks, there is still work to be done to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our residents.
  • Thanks to the advocacy of groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, gay conversion therapy was recently banned by executive order. Let's put this into statute so that it cannot be easily reversed.
  • LGBTQIA+ youth and seniors suffer disproportionately from mental illness, chemical dependency, homelessness, and suicide. We need to provide healthcare for all and treat housing as a basic human right.
  • In 2019, at least 25 transgender Americans were murdered. This is unacceptable. We need to change a culture that tolerates violence towards transgender and other LGBTQIA+ people, starting by banning the gay and trans panic defenses.
Omar Fateh and Campaign Manager Dawson attend OutFront's lobby day and pick up a sticker from the Human Rights Campaign ─ from our archives 4/19/2018