The US congresswoman Pramila Jayapal gave an emotional speech about her gender-nonconforming child while advocating for LGBTQ civil rights legislation, saying her child had discovered “newfound freedom”.

Jayapal, a representative from Washington state, choked up on Tuesday as she talked about the impact of her child embracing their gender identity: “I didn’t intend to say this today, but my beautiful now 22-year-old child told me last year that they were gender non-conforming, and over the last year, I have come to understand from a deeply personal mother’s perspective … their newfound freedom … to rid themselves of some conformist stereotype of who they are, to be able to express who they are at their real core.”

The Democratic legislator, speaking at a House committee hearing, said her child had always done well in school but had carried a “heavy burden of conflict in their own being, that I could not fully identify or help to express”. But the “deeply impactful moment” of her child embracing their gender has allowed for “their creativity, their brilliance, their self expression”, Jayapal continued: “My child is free to be who they are, and in that freedom comes a responsibility for us as legislators to protect that freedom.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) During @HouseJudiciary today, I shared why the #EqualityAct is so personal to me and my family. My child is finally free to be who they are. With that freedom comes a responsibility, for us as legislators, to legislate with love and not fear. pic.twitter.com/VfpiD9aDyY

The moving speech in support of the Equality Act, which would provide non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across the country, was a rare moment of an elected representative speaking out about gender-nonconforming and non-binary identity, meaning people who are neither male nor female.

Jayapal, who was a Seattle civil rights activist before she was elected, talked about her child at a time when LGBTQ rights, and trans rights in particular, are under attack in the US. In recent years, more people have come out as gender-fluid or non-binary, with a recent study in Minnesota estimating that 3% of teenagers identify as trans or non-conforming.

US states have increasingly recognized a third gender option, allowing people to identify as non-binary on their state IDs.

The Equality Act would establish consistent protections for LGBTQ people in employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and other areas.

Given that queer and trans youth experience high rates of family rejection and violence, and advocates said it was especially powerful to see a parent publicly celebrate their child.

Jayapal also drew attention to the fact that public spaces that are trans-inclusive, allowing people to access facilities that match their gender, do not threaten cisgender people.

“We’re talking about fear versus love. We’re talking about fear versus freedom,” she said.