Last week, the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal released an open letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and Chairman Ron Johnson and Ranking Member Gary C. Peters of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. This LGBTQ USPS Senate letter calls for protections for the USPS from President Trump's recent efforts to undermine the postal service, citing its importance to LGBTQ+ and other minority communities.
"On behalf of the 87 LGBTQ civil rights and community organizations listed below," the letter states, "we write to urge you to immediately bring the Senate back into session and take up the bipartisan House-passed Delivering for America Act (H.R. 8015)."
For older people, people with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses, and those living in rural and Native communities, the postal service provides affordable delivery services that otherwise wouldn't be available to them. LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender people undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and HIV-positive persons, rely on the postal service to deliver life-saving medicine and medical supplies. The impact of COVID-19, moreover, has made the USPS indispensable to marginalized communities.
"There are nearly 4 million LGBTQ people living in rural America and 3 million LGBTQ people 50 years of age and older. It is no overstatement to say that the health and well-being of millions of people depends on a secure and reliable USPS."
As an organization that works to support LGBTQ+ communities and individuals, PowerOn is proud to support HRC's and Lambda Legal's letter to members of the Senate.
Download the full letter: