Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), longtime advocate for the LGBT community, announced in a tweet Wednesday that he is a "proud grandpa" to his transgender granddaughter.
Marsha Aizumi, a member of the PFLAG National board of directors, celebrated Honda's support for his granddaughter in a Huffington Post blog post published Wednesday. Aizumi said the congressman was invited to speak at a symposium for school superintendents called Courageous Conversation; though he did not attend the event in person, Honda sent a video with his remarks.
"As both an individual, and as an educator, I have experienced and witnessed bullying in its many forms. And as the proud jichan, or grandpa, of a transgender grandchild, I hope that my granddaughter can feel safe going to school without fear of being bullied. I refuse to be a bystander while millions of people are dealing with the effects of bullying on a daily basis," Honda said in the video, according to Aizumi.
Honda co-founded the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus in 2008, along with openly gay Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.). He also founded and heads the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, which launched in 2012.
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