Equality California Responds to Congressional Passage of Extremist Reconciliation Bill that Targets LGBTQ+ People, Cuts Medicaid and SNAP, and Defunds Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, after the U.S. House joined the Senate in passing an extremist and deeply harmful reconciliation bill, Equality California-the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization-issued the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang:

"Today, Congress passed one of the most cruel and dangerous bills in modern history at the direction of Donald Trump and on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans.

Congressional Republicans gutted Medicaid, slashed food assistance, and defunded Planned Parenthood. They imposed extreme new restrictions on programs that LGBTQ+ people-especially transgender people, immigrants, low-income families, people living with HIV, and LGBTQ+ people of color-rely on to survive.

In the dead of night, Republicans slashed healthcare access for an estimated 18 million Americansby gutting Medicaid and sabotaging the Affordable Care Act-leaving millions without coverage in the name of tax cuts for the rich.

Let's be crystal clear-This bill is a coordinated, multi-pronged attack on LGBTQ+ people and all Americans, cutting off access to care, food, safety, and economic security:

• Strips life-saving healthcare from LGBTQ+ people by gutting Medicaid - a program that 1.8 million LGBTQ+ adults, including over 185,000 transgender people, rely on as their primary source of health insurance.
• Slashes food assistance by cutting SNAP benefits and imposing harsh new work requirements, putting more than 2 million LGBTQ+ adults at risk of deeper food insecurity, including nearly 1 in 5 transgender people.
• Defunds Planned Parenthood, threatening access to gender-affirming care, HIV prevention, STI testing, contraception, and reproductive health services that LGBTQ+ people-especially youth and people of color-depend on.
• Escalates attacks on LGBTQ+ immigrants, with $80 billion in new funding for ICE and CBP - putting asylum seekers and undocumented LGBTQ+ people in even greater danger of detention, deportation, and violence.
• Cuts incomes for the poorest Americans, who are disproportionately LGBTQ+, while handing tax breaks to billionaires - a direct hit to the most marginalized in our community.

In California, the consequences will be catastrophic. One in three Californians rely on Medi-Cal, and over 5 million use CalFresh to feed their families. This bill will leave people sicker and hungrier-just to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

Shame on every lawmaker who voted for this bill and against the wellbeing of their constituents-especially Reps. Calvert, Kim, Kiley and Valadao. We will remember. And we will make sure voters do, too.

The gloves are off, and we urge every American to join our fight and hold their representatives accountable for the harm they've inflicted and the lives they've put at risk."

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