Former President Trump and other Republicans have portrayed Vice President Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as left-wing extremists and say their administrations would usher in a dramatic cultural shift aimed at undermining conservative values, particularly when it comes to promoting protections for transgender Americans.
It's a strategy aimed at galvanizing conservative voters and garnering support from some moderates, but research suggests it could backfire, as LGBTQ people and their allies spread intimidation and misinformation and use it as a rallying cry to drive voters to the polls for Democrats.
At rallies and in social media posts, Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, highlighted Harris' ties to the administration's progressive policies and Walz's long record as a staunch supporter of gay and transgender rights.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” this month, Trump called Democrats Harris and Waltz “communists” and, in describing Waltz's views, said he was “deeply transgender” — an apparent reference to a new Minnesota law that criminalizes conversion therapy and protects seekers and providers of gender-affirming care from prosecution in states that have such bans.
“Tampon Tim” is Walz's nickname for the Republican-led leader, a reference to a 2023 Minnesota law that requires free feminine hygiene products to be provided in public school bathrooms used by boys and girls in grades 4-12. “What could be weirder than signing a bill requiring schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms?” In the August 6 advertisement From Make America Great Again Inc., a major super PAC supporting President Trump.
Trump and Vance have also pledged to enact policies that directly target transgender Americans if elected in November, including a two-gender federal law that would effectively end legal recognition of transgender people in the U.S. Additional policy proposals include banning transgender student-athletes from competing in accordance with their gender identity, outlawing gender reassignment care for minors, and reinstating a ban on transgender people serving openly in the military that Biden repealed in 2021.
During a recent campaign rally in Michigan, President Trump vowed to make it a felony for doctors to perform gender reassignment surgery on minors without parental consent, and falsely suggested that people under the age of 18 could legally receive gender transition-related medical care without parental permission.
“This is Trump's way of campaigning – speaking to a visceral level at Republican bases and trying to mobilize voters by painting a reality that doesn't necessarily exist,” said Gabriel Magni, an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
But Magni said the tactic could have unintended consequences that ultimately hurt Trump and help his opponents.
“When you look at surveys that ask voters what their priorities are, transgender rights are typically not that important,” Magni said. “There is a group of voters for whom it is a very high priority. And it's not just transgender people or transgender voters, it's their families too. Their lives have been affected by decisions that states have made over the last few years. These voters are very motivated to vote.”
In January, when President Biden was still considered the Democratic presidential nominee, a survey by LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD found that 94% of LGBTQ voters said they were very motivated to vote in the November election, and 84% said they would “definitely” vote. More than half (53%) said they would oppose a candidate who “frequently speaks out about restricting transgender youth's access to health care or participation in sports.”
A recent survey by digital LGBTQ healthcare service FOLX Health found that enthusiasm about the upcoming election has soared among transgender adults since Harris entered the race: 53% of respondents said they were “hopeful” about the outcome, primarily because they believe Harris has a better chance of beating Trump than Biden in November.
“LGBT people are seeing one party that treats them like decent human beings and another that targets them, and that's a big motivator for them,” said Rodrigo Hen-Lehtinen, executive director of Trans Equality Advocates, a transgender rights group that has endorsed Harris. “LGBT people are disproportionately voting now, and they're voting for the Democrats because that's the party that's going to stand with them.”
a Survey of Transgender Americans A survey conducted by Hen-Lehtinen's group in 2020 and published in February found that transgender people are more likely to be politically engaged, with more than 80% of respondents who were eligible to vote saying they were registered to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
According to the Census Bureau, 75% of respondents eligible to vote said they voted that year, above the national average of 67% and the highest turnout in the 21st century.
“Transgender people, we know our lives are at stake, and we know we're being targeted by politics, which is what motivates us to go vote,” said Heng-Lehtinen, the son of former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). “And remember, every transgender person is a member of someone's family, so for every person who is likely to register and vote, there is also a network of friends and family who are supporting them and highly motivated to do so, because they know they have to protect that person.”
While transgender Americans make up only a small percentage of the U.S. population — estimates range from 0.5% to about 1.6% — their political influence is growing.
A Zoom call organized by transgender advocacy groups called “Transgender People Support Harris” raised more than $26,000, Hen-Lehtinen said, and more than 50 transgender delegates voted at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week. Convention officials said 17% of the delegates identify as LGBTQ.
Democratic leaders have pledged to protect LGBTQ rights in public statements and conversations on the convention floor, but transgender issues have rarely been discussed openly and transgender speakers were conspicuously absent from the stage. Anti-transgender rhetoric was more prominent at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, where prominent Republican figures slammed transgender people's pronouns and criticized transgender athletes' participation in women's sports.
“Both parties have centered LGBTQ people this year, one for the better, one not so much,” said Kiera Johnson, president of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, a group that works to build queer political power.
“I think at the end of the day it's about instilling fear in people,” Johnson said of Trump and the Republican Party's approach to LGBTQ issues. “If we can keep our sights on the goal and believe what they're saying, I think the American people will ultimately reject everything that comes out of the Trump campaign.”
