Gillibrand marks start of Pride Month with plan to protect LGBTQ rights

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, speaks during the 2019 California Democratic Party State Organizing Convention in San Francisco, Saturday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand has unveiled a comprehensive plan to protect the rights of LGBTQ people to mark the start of Pride Month.

If elected, the New York senator says she'd direct the Justice Department to consider gender identity and sexual orientation a protected class. She would also ban discrimination against transgender members of the military and federally recognize a third gender in identification documents, denoted by an "X'' on ID cards.

In a platform announced Saturday, Gillibrand said she'd prohibit gay conversion therapy nationwide and direct public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their identity.

Her proposal would further require health insurance plans to cover hormone therapy for transgender patients, and it would recognize U.S. asylum claims for LGBTQ people fleeing persecution in their home countries.