RI General Assembly Needs Proven Leaders for LGBTQ+ Community
By Senator Tiara Mack
In previous legislative sessions, legislators from Woonsocket to Westerly have overwhelmingly voted to protect LGBTQ rights and healthcare. The stakes this year were higher than ever, but I can’t help but ask: Did we do everything we could to protect trans kids and their families, gender affirming health care providers, and other LGBTQ+ Rhode Islanders from the cruelty of the Trump administration?
The Department of Justice, under Trump’s direction, has made erasing transgender people from public life and rolling back LGBTQ+ rights the centerpieces of his administration. Yet in 2026, Rhode Island legislators not only failed to expand LGBTQ+ rights, they failed to pass essential and popular protections for LGBTQ+ healthcare, healthcare providers, or provide additional funding for LGBTQ+ organizations that have been at the center of federal legal attacks.
This hostile environment demands bold, unwavering leadership. Senator Dawn Euer has the track record to prove she is one of those leaders.
A few years ago, the Rhode Island General Assembly was a national leader on many issues protecting LGBTQ+ people for years, and much of that was led by Senator Euer.
In 2013, she helped pass marriage equality in RI as an organizer with Marriage Equality Rhode Island. In 2019, she advocated for the restoration of state benefits for veterans who received less-than-honorable discharge status solely for their sexuality under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which was successful (S 0837). In 2021, she supported the passage of Gender Inclusive public bathrooms (S 0755) and the removal of an exemption that allowed discrimination on the basis of gender identity in housing (S 0563).
As Judiciary chair from 2023-2024, Senator Euer was able to defend our rights and push for some of the strongest bills in the nation protecting LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare, anticipating increasing attacks. Under her leadership, Rhode Island became the 13th state to pass a SHIELD Law, protecting abortion providers and gender affirming care, years before the DOJ, directed by Trump, attempted to gain access to protected healthcare information at Rhode Island Hospital.
When Senator Euer was replaced as Judiciary Chair in 2025, the impact was apparent by the end of that session. As the DOJ subpoenaed RI Hospital for protected health care information, and Rhode Island organizations faced funding cuts because of the clients they served, State House leaders failed to pass any new legislation in 2025 or 2026.
Rhode Island deserves leaders in the General Assembly who will fight each session for everyone in our community, especially those being targeted federally like LGBTQ+ groups. Senator Euer has the bold legislative leadership required to ask what more can be done next year and make that change possible.
Unfortunately, this legislative session fell short of protecting the constituents we are elected to serve. That is why it is imperative to vote for changemakers and allies like Senator Dawn Euer.
