Eric Morrison is a Democrat serving Glasgow in the Delaware House of Representatives.
LGBTQ+ Delawareans continue to live in one of the best states in the nation in terms of equality.
I think every day about how lucky I am, as a gay man, to live in Delaware. In recent months, other LGBTQ+ legislators and I have been contacted by families who are very scared by legal changes in their resident states, and they want to move to Delaware.
The progress we’ve made in this state for LGBTQ+ individuals has not come easy. I’m proud to have been part of that progress for 33 years. It has been a fight each and every step of the way, and our victories have been made possible not just by members of our community but by cherished allies.
At a national level, LGBTQ+ Americans are certainly not living in the best of times for our community.
Today, many members of that community — including me — are scared and angry.
In state legislatures across the nation, over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced this year — many of them having passed or on their way to passing.
What we see happening at the federal level is discouraging and cruel. Over three-quarters of the items outlined in Project 2025 targeting LGBTQ+ Americans have been implemented. President Donald Trump and his administration are erasing LGBTQ+ freedoms by rolling back protections, mandating discrimination and weaponizing federal law against members of my community.
Recently, on what would have been his 95th birthday, I presented a resolution on the House of Representatives’ floor honoring the life and legacy of LGBTQ+ hero and Navy veteran Harvey Milk, after whom a Navy ship was named in 2016. A few days later, the Trump administration renamed that ship, then admitted that it did so during Pride Month on purpose.
The administration is trying to erase our history, and we will not let that happen.
President Trump, his administration and elected officials of his ilk are attacking LGBTQ+ people legislatively, culturally, socially, psychologically and emotionally. Also, we see a record number of hate crimes being committed against members of our community.
That includes the recent killing of actor Jonathan Joss in front of his husband; the beating of young lesbian Katie Grass at a McDonald’s in Carpentersville, Illinois, last month; and earlier this month, the assault upon a 25-year-old Philadelphia trans woman, who had battery acid thrown in her face in the street on the day of the Philadelphia Pride March and Festival.
More than ever since the 1969 Stonewall riots, my community needs allies who will publicly and loudly condemn such attacks at local, state and national levels. This is important — literally — for our survival.
At the recent Delaware Pride Festival, I spoke to someone with tears running down her face, as she told me about her friend who is a transgender disabled veteran. The Trump administration has cut all gender-affirming care for military members and veterans. Now, her friend is so despondent, she will not leave her home, and she often talks about committing suicide.
For months, I have turned off the comments on every social media post I make regarding the LGBTQ+ community or related legislation because I cannot post without receiving a slew of comments calling me ugly things, like a pedophile or a pervert, or being told I should die of AIDS or warning me to “stay away from the little boys.”
We also need allies who will support every member of our community — and we as LGBTQ+ individuals must support every member of our community. No one gets to pick and choose which members of our community to support, and to which degree. We do not get to ignore certain members of our LGBTQ+ community, leaving out any of those letters.
This month, LGBTQ+ Delawareans celebrate. And we send a strong message that those who attack and devalue our community will not steal our joy. We also send a strong message that we will not be silenced, we will not abandon who we are, and we will not stop fighting.
During the Stonewall riots, we used bricks, bottles, trash cans, fists and voices to beat back the cruelty to which we were subjected. We will not return to where we’ve come from. Whatever is necessary to have our equality and human dignity recognized and honored, we will do it again and again and again, just as we have done throughout history.
In the words of gay writer, activist and civil rights leader James Baldwin: “We can disagree and still love each other — unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
