Clinton: LGBT Progress ‘May Not Be As Secure As We Once Expected’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives an acceptance speech after accepting the Trailblazer Award during the LGBT Community Center Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street on Thursday, April 20, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks after accepting the Trailblazer Award during the LGBT Community Center Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street on Thursday, April 20, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
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Hillary Clinton rallied a crowd of LGBT rights advocates Thursday, encouraging her audience to organize to protect what she said were increasingly insecure protections for the community.

Clinton spoke at a fundraiser for The Center, an LGBT community center in New York.

“We’ve learned something important,” she said, according to video from CNN. “The progress that we fought for, that many of you were on the front lines of, and that we’ve celebrated, and maybe even taken for granted, may not be as secure as we once expected.”

According to the network, she tallied the anti-LGBT steps already taken by the Trump administration: lifting the Obama-era protections for transgender students at public schools, proposing cuts to HIV/AIDS research and nominating the anti-LGBT Tennessee legislator Mark Green to be Army secretary.

“I also really appreciate that, after the election, you came together and decided unanimously to invest in advocacy and organizing,” she said separately, according to video from Alexandra Bergstein. “This is the right step. This is absolutely essential, that you do this.”

Clinton also highlighted reports out of Chechnya that gay and bisexual men were being rounded up and killed, despite government denials.

“The United States government — yes this government — should demand an end to the persecution of innocent people around the world.”

“But I think we have to face the fact that we may not ever be able to count on this administration to lead on LGBT issues,” she added later. “Let’s remember, 2018, the midterm elections!”

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