When Attorney General Loretta Lynch delivered an impassioned defense of transgender equality at a press conference Monday, one line in particular stood out.

Mara Keisling, founding executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Transgender Equality, says she began crying when she heard it, and noticed the same response from other transgender rights activists on social media.

In Lynch's written remarks, the sentence was part of a 129-word paragraph addressed directly to the transgender community:

"[N]o matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward."

That simple statement, says Keisling, was both relieving and healing. (It can be heard at the 6:15 mark in the video below.) "It was such acknowledgement — that was about when all of us started to cry," Keisling says, referring to fellow advocates watching her speech. "All she did was say, 'You're people' and that's been sorely lacking."

Keisling has spent much of her time in North Carolina since March, when the state passed House Bill 2, a law that forbids transgender people from using public bathroom and locker room facilities that correspond to their gender identity.

To trans folks, "We see you. We stand with you & we will do everything in our power to protect you." Tears again. Thanks @LorettaLynch — Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) May 10, 2016

The National Center for Transgender Equality, along with other transgender rights organizations, appealed to the federal government to intervene and the Department of Justice did. It told North Carolina last week that the bill violated federal civil rights laws that prohibit sex discrimination. Lynch delivered her comments while announcing that the DOJ has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state and its governor Pat McCrory, who is a Republican.

Transgender people in the state, says Keisling, are nervous to use public bathrooms and send their children to school; they feel "terrorized" by the law and McCrory, who has defended the legislation on grounds that it protects non-transgender people's privacy and safety.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch gave a historic speech supporting transgender #equality yesterday. Say thanks w/@HRC: https://t.co/D6tjNPMN4y — HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) May 10, 2016

That is why, Keisling says, Lynch's remarks prompted such an emotional response: "To see the [attorney general] come out and speak the way she did to humanize us, to say the federal government had our backs, that the president of the United States was watching and cared ... We've never seen anything like that."

Kasey Suffredini, chief program officer for the non-discrimination campaign Freedom for All Americans, described that moment in Lynch's speech as "poignant."

"These are the words we have longed for for decades."

"These are the words we have longed for for decades," says Suffredini.

Lynch's remarks, he adds, rejected harmful stereotypes and instead stressed that transgender people deserve respect, pose no danger to their communities and will be protected from discrimination by the federal government.

While the public sees two polarized sides to the debate, Suffredini believes that most Americans remain somewhere in the middle, willing to consider gender identity beyond traditional definitions of what it means to be male or female. Many trans people, he notes, have taken considerable risk over the years to share their own stories, and Lynch's public support is a clear sign people are listening to those experiences.

Some, including former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and Gov. McCrory, criticized Lynch's comments for drawing parallels between the North Carolina bill and segregation laws and policies.

"We see you, stand w you & will do everything we can to protect you..history is on your side." @LorettaLynch https://t.co/Oe3Ly4KhlZ #HB2 — Janet Mock (@janetmock) May 9, 2016

"There is absolutely no relevance between the issue of civil rights for African Americans, which went through a tremendous struggle, and the issue of how do we determine the gender of a person going into our public showers or public restrooms or public locker rooms," McCrory said in an interview on the Mark Levin Show. "For her to pull that card out means her legal argument is pretty weak, but it’s offensive to my state and it’s offensive to me."

Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, says Lynch sent a "powerful and bold message" to the states that the federal government will not allow discrimination against transgender people to stand.

Her speech, Hayashi says, was a historic moment that followed decades of advocacy and activism for transgender rights. He too was moved by the section of her speech addressed to transgender people.

Loretta Lynch is not playing games with #NorthCarolina's Gov. She is NOT having these laws. — Reagan Gomez (@ReaganGomez) May 9, 2016

"It is incredibly powerful for the [attorney general] to use her platform to acknowledge the toll discrimination takes on our communities, and to take such a clear stance on ending that discrimination," says Hayashi.

Lynch's remarks came as a surprise to advocates who expected the Department of Justice to enforce federal law, but did not imagine she'd speak out with such conviction.

"I never would have thought to give her that script and say, 'Go do this,'" says Keisling. "I never could have hoped that. She is a decent person and strong leader who understood the moment, rose to it and did an amazing thing."

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