Rep. Mark Takano got a promotion to the front lines of the LGBTQ culture war.
For the next two years, Takano, D-Riverside, will chair the Congressional Equality Caucus, a group of lawmakers dedicated to to promoting “equality for all people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics,” the caucus’ website states.
The executive director of Equality California, an LGBTQ civil rights group, lauded Takano’s new role.
“Rep. Takano has long been a trailblazer, not only as the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color and Asian American elected to Congress but now as the first person of color and Asian American to lead the Equality Caucus,” Tony Hoang said in an email.
“As we face this new administration’s attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, we have peace of mind knowing that the Equality Caucus has a leader who will fight for the safety, dignity and rights of all members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Hoang added.
Takano will lead the caucus during what many see as a perilous time for LGBTQ Americans.
Shortly after taking office Monday, Jan. 20, President Donald Trump repealed several Joe Biden-era directives on racial and ethnic equity and LGBTQ rights, including orders preventing government discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation and an order expressly allowing transgender persons to serve in the military.
Trump also signed an executive order requiring that the U.S. government recognize two genders only — male and female — on passports, visas, Global Entry cards and all other forms and documents, and in all programs and communications.
LGBTQ advocates condemned Trump’s orders.
“President Trump does not have the power to erase LGBTQ+ people or deny them the right to exist freely and safely,” Hoang said in a news release.
One of Takano’s first acts as chair was to decry the House’s passage this month of a bill banning transgender student-athletes from women’s sports in schools receiving federal funds.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Florida, said on the House floor: “The distinction between men and women is clear and evident, and the erasure of this division has been promulgated by those in the radical left who seek to dismantle the core foundation of our society.”
In a phone interview, Takano said Republicans, “in their zeal to exploit this issue over trans participation in sports … created a bill that would open the door to girls and women athletes being exposed to invasive physical examinations — an inspection of their private parts.”
The bill, he added, could lead to people being harassed “solely on their physical appearance.”
First elected in 2012, Takano, whose district includes Perris, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley and most of Riverside, has consistently advocated for the LGBTQ community during his time on Capitol Hill. He is a sponsor of the Equality Act, which would add LGBTQ Americans to those protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The caucus had 197 members — all Democrats — in the last Congress. A co-chair in the previous caucus, Takano, 64, became chair through a rotating process based on how long lawmakers have served in the House.
Takano said LGBTQ Americans have made “amazing progress” in recent decades, including the overturning of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring openly LGBTQ people from serving and same-sex marriage being codified in federal law.
At the same time, “LGBTQ equality and freedoms are under attack because of Republican extreme right ideology,” Takano said.
Spending bills in the last Congress, he said, “were all hijacked for the purpose of attacking basic rights of LGBTQ-plus Americans and their dignity.”
Takano’s new role comes amid several fights over LGBTQ children, especially those who identify as transgender, in several Inland Empire public school districts.
Since 2022, the Chino Valley, Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley districts have passed policies requiring staff to tell parents if their children identify as transgender on school grounds. A state law barring such policies is being challenged in court and the Temecula district later rescinded its policy.
The Redlands school board is considering a policy, similar to one passed by Temecula’s school board in 2023, that could bar LGBTQ pride flags and other banners on school property. Earlier this month, Riverside school trustees rejected a proposal to ask state lawmakers to repeal a law letting transgender athletes play sports.
Those types of actions are “being motivated by the same sort of Washington extremism we’re seeing,” Takano said. “The Republicans in Washington are very much aligned and these things just don’t pop out of nowhere.”
Supporters of transgender notification policies say it’s wrong from schools to withhold information about children from their parents. Flag policy backers argue it’s inappropriate and divisive for flags other than the U.S. and state flags to be displayed on campuses.
Takano himself has been targeted in political campaigns.
When he first ran for Congress against Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, in 1994, Takano was the subject of pink fliers questioning whether Takano would be a congressman for Riverside or San Francisco.
The “stigmatizing and the vilification of of trans people and trans kids today … is very reminiscent of what happened generally to lesbians and gays 30 (and) 40 years ago,” Takano said.
Americans’ acceptance of LGBTQ people rose as they watched relatable gay and lesbian characters in TV shows such as “Ellen” and “Will and Grace,” Takano said.
“As lesbians and gays became more humanized, they cease to be so easily stigmatized and vilified.”
For the transgender community, “it’s going to be a process similar to the decades-long process that it took for Americans generally to come to accept and embrace lesbian and gay people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
