At a Transgender Day of Visibility event, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) spoke out in support of trans people.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today is a very important day because it is all about making clear that trans people have
00:12a right to live freely just like everybody else.
00:19It's about a very basic idea that everyone is already in possession of and deserves dignity.
00:30That everybody is a child of God and that in this country everybody has a right to be
00:36left alone.
00:40Now what is more American than the belief that people get to live the life that they
00:45want so long as it's not hurting anybody.
00:49This is what this is about.
00:53Leave people alone.
00:58Donald Trump and his administration are waging an assault on trans people like never before.
01:07The ability to travel freely.
01:11The ability to get health care.
01:14The ability to work in the private sector or for the United States military.
01:19It's all under attack.
01:23They are literally searching lists of federal programs for the word gender to cut essential
01:30services that support trans people and other communities.
01:35But here's the thing, this stuff only works if we don't fight back.
01:46If you retreat in fear and if the rest of us don't stand with you, that's not going
01:52to happen.
01:54We have your back today, tomorrow and every day after that.
02:04We're going to keep fighting back against the attacks that infringe on your fundamental
02:11freedoms.
02:12There is nothing more fundamental enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of
02:16America that everybody gets to live their lives how they want.
02:22We fought hard fights in this country before.
02:25Civil rights.
02:27Women's voting rights.
02:29Marriage equality.
02:31And it can feel depressing or overwhelming and the trajectory of progress is often terrible.
02:38We make a little progress, we lose a lot of progress.
02:40We make a little progress, we lose a lot of progress.
02:43That's where we are right now.
02:44We're in one of those moments where people are honest to goodness terrified for themselves,
02:52for their communities, for their families, for their co-workers, for their friends, for
02:56their very country.
02:59But I want you to know that we are in this fight with you.
03:04We are in this fight for you and we understand that trans rights are human rights.
03:12Thank you very much.