Senator Wiener of California and Senator Holyman of New York to Host National LGTBQ Town Hall with Governor Jared Polis and other LGBTQ Elected Officials

San Francisco -  Tomorrow, Thursday April 30th at 6pm EST/3pm PST, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) will host a National LGTBQ Town Hall, featuring LGTBQ elected state officials from across the country. The LGBTQ leaders speaking virtually include Governor Jared Polis (D-Colorado), Representative Julie Johnson (D-Dallas), Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), and Representative Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia). This town hall will highlight the specific challenges that COVID-19 poses to the LGTBQ community, and panelists will share relevant resources.

Because rates of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and respiratory issues (due to smoking) are higher in the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ people are likely experiencing greater health impacts from COVID-19. But there is currently no state or national effort to collect data on how COVID-19 is impacting the LGTBQ community. Additionally, LGTBQ people are experiencing significant financial hardship because of COVID-19’s economic impacts, as they are more likely to work in impacted sectors like the service industry, and are more likely to experience housing insecurity. As part of this town hall, these state elected officials will discuss the need for federal and state governments to collect data on COVID-19’s impact on LGBTQ individuals, the need for the FDA to loosen its restrictions on gay and bisexual men giving blood, the cancellation of in-person Pride celebrations locally, and state efforts to support the LGBTQ community economically through this challenging time.

This town hall will be streamed live on Zoom, registration is available here. It will also stream from both Senator Wiener and Senator Hoylman’s Facebook pages.

Senator Wiener said: 

“Our community is resilient, and we’ve faced and survived a plague. But we need more government support - including data collection and focused resources - to ensure that LGBTQ people make it through this pandemic and that we aren’t invisible. Very few governments are currently focusing on the pandemic’s unique impacts on LGBTQ people, and that needs to change.”

Senator Hoylman said: 

“Nothing is more important than protecting our constituents from the current pandemic. Senator Wiener and I are hosting this coast-to-coast National LGBTQ Town Hall to enable our community to hear from Governor Polis and our LGBTQ colleagues from state capitols across the nation. We’ll discuss how COVID-19 is impacting our community and share our proposals to address this devastating pandemic at the state level.”

Representative Johnson said:
"The impact of the COVID-19 has really highlighted the need for expanded access to affordable health care — especially to communities who are less likely to seek care but are more susceptible to poor health conditions, such as smoking and autoimmune diseases."