Takano to take helm of Congressional Equality Caucus

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) will take the reins of the Congressional Equality Caucus, a coalition of House Democrats supportive of LGBTQ rights, in the 119th Congress, the group announced Friday.

Takano will lead the caucus, founded in 2008 by then-Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), through what is likely to be a tumultuous era for transgender rights in the U.S.

Republicans, including President-elect Trump, made trans people and issues a central part of their 2024 campaigns and are already eyeing legislation and administrative rules that would restrict transgender rights and roll back nondiscrimination protections instituted by the outgoing Biden administration.

“Over the next several years, we will see a constant barrage of attacks on the rights and dignity of the queer community — especially against our transgender siblings — by the Trump Administration and the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate,” Takano said Friday in a statement.

“As Chair of the Equality Caucus, I will lead our coalition of openly-LGBTQI+ members and our allies in the fight to both defend the queer community and push equality forward, including by reintroducing the Equality Act,” he said, referring to a proposal he reintroduced last year to make gender identity and sexual orientation federally protected classes.

House Democrats have filed iterations of the Equality Act, which would extend existing civil rights protections to LGBTQ Americans, since at least the 1970s. Former Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who led the Equality Caucus between 2021 and 2022, introduced the bill in its modern form in 2015. It is largely unpopular among Republicans, including Trump, who say the measure will undermine religious liberty.

Takano, the first out gay person of color elected to Congress and the first openly LGBTQ lawmaker of Asian descent, will replace Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) as Equality Caucus chair. In a statement, Pocan called Takano “a strong defender” of LGBTQ rights against legislative attacks launched disproportionately by Republicans.

“I look forward to continuing to work with him — and every member of the Equality Caucus — in defending the rights of all Americans from Republican extremists in every branch of government,” Pocan said Friday.

Republicans, who will control both chambers in the new Congress and the White House, have signaled that legislation targeting transgender Americans’ access to transition-related health care and restrooms, changing rooms and sports teams that match their gender identity will be a top priority over the next two years.

The House GOP included a measure to ban transgender student-athletes nationwide from competing in women's and girls' sports in an initial package of rules for the 119th Congress, suggesting an early floor vote on the issue could be on the horizon.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who made history in November as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, has already faced some hostility from Republicans ahead of her swearing-in Friday.

In the days following McBride’s election, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) filed a resolution to bar transgender women from women's single-sex facilities on Capitol Hill, a move she said was "absolutely" driven by the Delaware lawmaker's arrival to Washington. Later in November, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced a new policy barring transgender people from restrooms and changing rooms that match their gender identity on the House side of the Capitol complex.

Johnson made the announcement on Transgender Day of Remembrance, recognized each year to memorialize trans people who died because of anti-trans violence.

McBride has said she will follow Johnson’s rule, even though she disagrees with it. “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” she said in a statement after Johnson announced the new policy.

Including McBride, 11 openly LGBTQ House Democrats — including new members Reps. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) and Emily Randall (D-Wash.) — will serve as co-chairs of the Equality Caucus in the new Congress.

Takano in the 119th will also serve as ranking member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, a member on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, first vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and a vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.