(CNN) — Adapting a line from her mother, Chelsea Clinton said Sunday that shedding light on LGBTQ issues should be a major focus for human rights advocates this century.
“My mother has often said that the issue of women is the unfinished business of the 21st century,” she said of Hillary Clinton, the former New York senator and secretary of state. “That is certainly true. But so too are the issues of LGBTQ rights the unfinished business of the 21st century.”
Chelsea Clinton was tapped as the keynote speaker for a Human Rights Campaign conference in Las Vegas — another appearance in a series of high-profile events for the former first daughter.
Despite her famed political lineage, Clinton, 33, has said she has no plans to run for public office, unlike her mother, who is seriously considering running for president in 2016.
“I am unapologetically biased towards both of my parents. I am glad there are some people in the audience who agree. I am unlimitedly their daughter,” Clinton said in response to a question about her mother’s political aspirations. “I will support my mother in whatever she chooses to do. And my crystal ball is no more clear than yours.”
In her address, Clinton pushed for more progress in combating bullying of gay youths. She pointed to celebrities such as Jason Collins, the NBA veteran who announced that he was gay in a Sports Illustrated story in April, and actress Ellen Page, who came out as gay at the same Las Vegas conference last Friday, as role models changing the lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer narrative.
“Changing laws and changing the political dialogue while necessary is insufficient to ensure that bullying stops; to ensure that every young person is supported by their parents and their teachers as they question who they are and they discover who they are regardless of the sexuality,” Clinton said.
Clinton appeared with her mother last week in New York to launch a new partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to analyze women’s advancement internationally.
She will also speak on women’s issues at an event at the University of Missouri-Kansas City later this month.
