; Whereas, on October 31, 2015, the Obama administration announced that it would approve the spouses of refugees who are approved for resettlement in the United States, including same-sex spouses who come from countries where legal unions are not possible; Whereas, according to a Human Rights Campaign tally, more than 200 items of legislation considered to be anti-LGBTQIA+ were introduced across 34 States during the first 10 weeks of 2016; Whereas threats to the civil liberties of LGBTQIA+ people have increased on the State level since the holding of the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges; Whereas, in February of 2016, the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce launched, becoming one of the leading economic voices in the greater Houston region focusing on economic empowerment and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and professionals; Whereas, on May 13, 2016, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education jointly released guidance to provide educators the information they need to ensure that transgender students attend school in an environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex; Whereas, on May 18, 2016, Eric Fanning was sworn in as Secretary of the Army, the first time a branch of the United States Armed Forces was led by an openly gay person; Whereas members of the LGBTQIA+ community are disproportionately affected by violence and hate crimes; Whereas, on June 12, 2016, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the modern history of the United States occurred at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on Latin night, leaving 49 people dead and another 53 people wounded; Whereas, since 2013, nearly two-thirds of fatal violent activities toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people have involved a gun; Whereas 40 percent of transgender people report having attempted suicide in their lifetime, nearly 9 times the national average