A press release by the Windy City Times said the weeklong labor federation’s quadrennial national convention in Pittsburgh was what LGBT activists called “historic.”
The 3,000 elected delegates and guests at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center represented about 11.5 million members across the country voicing for marriage equality and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Former United Mine Workers president Richard L. Trumka and recently elected president of AFL-CIO spoke Wednesday, issuing a full inclusion of LGBT in the American labor movement.
“What does labor want?” Trumka asked. “We want a nation where it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is…or what sex or religion you are…or whether you’re gay or straight or what country your family’s from because here, in America, we believe everyone ought to have their chance to step into the winner’s circle.”
Earlier in the week, the people of the convention issued a resolution entitled “A Diverse and Democratic Labor Movement” encouraging LGBT involvement in the labor force. The document included statements like, “LGBT workers make a tremendous contribution to the labor movement. We must include LGBT brothers and sisters in all our efforts to achieve diversity within the labor movement.”
Those in attendance were also reminded of the Nov. 3 referendum on marriage equality in Maine. People against same-sex marriage have a spot on the November ballot to fight against the law signed earlier in the year that made Maine the sixth state to allow marriage equality.
Other prominent figures and speakers at the convention included President Barack Obama, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Caroline Kennedy.
The full story can be read here at Windy City Media Group.
-Kim Brown
