Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
2020 Democratic Candidates Pledge Support to LGBTQ Community
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
October 11, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — Addressing an LGBTQ community fearful that their gains in equality are slipping, Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday promised an aggressive agenda to end workplace discrimination, improve health care and ensure protections for people who face threats, or worse, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Our country is so torn apart or so fragmented. And here we have an LGBTQ+ world that is everywhere. We are in every state and every community. Whether folks realize it or not, we’re in every family. And that means we can also have the powers to build bridges.” — Pete Buttigieg
At a televised forum in downtown Los Angeles, rivals for the party’s nomination to challenge President Donald Trump took turns criticizing the Republican administration and detailing personal stories to underline their points before an audience of LGBTQ members, activists and supporters. The event was at times interrupted by demonstrators in the crowd seeking to highlight an important issue within the LGBTQ community: a rash of slayings of black transgender women.
Pete Buttigieg, acknowledging the protester who interrupted his town hall, said it was important to lift up the visibility of the issue. He explained that being gay didn’t mean he understood the experiences of everyone in the LGBTQ community, but he said the group could turn its diversity into a strength.
“Our country is so torn apart or so fragmented. And here we have an LGBTQ+ world that is everywhere,” said Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and the first openly gay candidate to launch a serious presidential bid. “We are in every state and every community. Whether folks realize it or not, we’re in every family. And that means we can also have the powers to build bridges.”

Democrats Have Aggressively Courted LGBTQ People

Joe Biden, one of the leading candidates in the race, recalled announcing his support for same-sex marriage as vice president ahead of President Barack Obama — “It caused no consternation at all,” he said — and talked about how his father schooled him to accept a relationship between two men because “they love each other.”
Elizabeth Warren, another top contender, earned a roar of laughter from the audience in a Los Angeles theater with her response to a question about how she would respond if someone told her marriage was between one man and one woman.
“I’m going to assume a guy said that,” she said, “And I’m going to say: Just marry one woman. I’m cool with that. Assuming you can find one.”
Democrats have aggressively courted LGBTQ people, who flocked to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, and the forum — hosted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and broadcast partner CNN — underscored the growing importance of their votes. The 2020 campaign is unfolding at a time when polling shows significant backing for LGBT rights. A Gallup poll found that 71% support allowing transgender people to serve in the military, a stance at odds with Trump’s efforts to sharply restrict their military presence.

Photo of Joe Biden
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Power of our Pride Town Hall Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. The LGBTQ-focused town hall featured nine 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Widespread Distress Within the Community

But there is also widespread distress within the community that gains in equality during Obama’s presidency are being eroded. The Trump administration has moved to restrict military service by transgender men and women, proposed allowing certain homeless shelters to take gender identity into account in offering someone a bed for the night and concluded in a 2017 Justice Department memo that federal civil rights law does not protect transgender people from discrimination at work.

“You can post your pictures of your wedding on your Facebook page, but the next day you could be fired, just because you are gay. That goes against every one of our core values in this nation.” Cory Booker 
Among issues that came up repeatedly: The Supreme Court is weighing whether a landmark civil rights law protects LGBTQ people from discrimination in employment, and the Trump administration has reversed course from the Obama administration and has sided with employers who argue that the civil rights law does not protect LGBT people.
Bernie Sanders, who is recovering in Vermont after a heart attack and did not attend Thursday’s forum, said in a statement issued ahead of the event that the nation “must not let Donald Trump and the Supreme Court take us backward on LGBTQ rights.”
Cory Booker warned at the forum that rights for the LGBTQ community, women and people of color were endangered in a court system being populated with conservative judges selected by the Trump administration.
“You can post your pictures of your wedding on your Facebook page, but the next day you could be fired, just because you are gay,” Booker said. “That goes against every one of our core values in this nation.”

The President ‘Stands in Solidarity With All LGBTQ Allies’

The New Jersey senator didn’t give a direct answer when asked if religious educational institutions should lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in discrimination against the LGBTQ community. “There have to be consequences for discrimination,” he said while declining to answer definitively.
But former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke said categorically that churches, colleges and charities that oppose same-sex marriage should lose their tax-exemption status.
“There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America, that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us,” O’Rourke said.
The Trump campaign said in a statement that the president “stands in solidarity with all LGBTQ allies and is dedicated to creating a safer and stronger America for all citizens regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, religion, race, or ethnicity.” The statement said that the administration has launched a global effort to end the criminalization of homosexuality and that Trump is dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation said it was the first time in history that a major cable news network had aired a presidential event devoted to LGBTQ issues.
“It’s very nice to say, ‘I support LBGT equality,’ but how do you overcome the challenges that we face in our community? That’s what we want to hear,” Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David told reporters.
“We are not interested in the soundbites,” he added.

Photo of Elizabeth Warren
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during the Power of our Pride Town Hall Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. The LGBTQ-focused town hall featured nine 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

DON'T MISS

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

What to Watch in Tuesday’s Big Elections in Wisconsin and Florida

UP NEXT

Major Layoffs Begin at Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

UP NEXT

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

UP NEXT

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA, Criticizes RFK Jr. for Promoting Misinformation, Lies

UP NEXT

Elon Musk Backtracks on a Legally Questionable Plan to Pay Voters

UP NEXT

Utah Becomes the First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

9 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

10 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

11 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

11 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

11 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

12 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

12 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

12 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

Elon Musk has reclaimed his position as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billio...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

9 hours ago

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

Nassau Hall at Princeton University is in Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8, 2024. (AP File)
9 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
9 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
10 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

11 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend