Saud Anwar

Senator Anwar Releases Statement After Bill Signings Increasing Protections for the LGBTQ Community

State Senator Saud Anwar, center, applauds as Governor Ned Lamont shakes State Representative Jeff Currey’s hand after signing legislation supporting the LGBT community.

HARTFORD, CT – Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) issued the following statement after Governor Ned Lamont signed several bills supporting and increasing protections for the LGBTQ community. The bills in question include legal and health protections for members of the community.

“There should be no place for discrimination in Connecticut, and with the Governor’s signing of these bills today, we put more protections in place for the LGBTQ community,” said Sen. Anwar. “By banning the so-called “gay panic” defense, an legal strategy that depends on discrimination and victim-blaming, we protect individuals from violence against them. Increasing minors’ access to medication preventing HIV protects young members of the LGBT community from the fatal illness by giving them the ability to seek their own treatment. And by creating the LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, we provide a new resource to too many youths in our community who may find themselves homeless or underprivileged because of discrimination against them for simply being the person they are. I commend these advances, which will benefit so many across our state.”