Friends, 

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

I’m so proud of the strides we have made as Mainers and Americans to recognize love in all its forms. 

Not long ago, there was a time in this country when it wasn’t safe for everyone to love who they were born to love. The LGBTQIA+ community that was once threatened for simply living our lives, are now able to marry, have families, and even run for office. 

That is something for all of us to be proud of. But there is still work to be done.

Transgendered people still face discrimination. There is no cure for HIV, and medication can be prohibitively expensive. Queer children still suffer from bullying and intimidation from a young age. Suicide rates are high among our youth and homicide of transgendered people is alarming.  To me, this is unacceptable. 

In order to achieve a society with equal protection and justice for all, we need laws that explicitly extend those protections to cover gender identity and sexual orientation. We can’t settle for less. We need to continue training of educators, health care personnel and youth in addressing bias - intentional or unintentional.  And we need to stop the new efforts to reverse all the gains we’ve made in its tracks. 

And we must elect leaders that will stand up and speak out fearlessly, from our hearts.

Today and everyday, let love be the force that guides you. 

Happy Valentines Day, 

Betsy Sweet

Betsy Sweet for U.S. Senate
PO Box 487
Hallowell, ME 04347
United States

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