Activists are calling for President Biden and former President Trump to explain their LGBTQ records and policy proposals during Thursday night’s debate.
The debate, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, will be the first to take place during LGBTQ Pride Month, which occurs annually in June. The second debate will be hosted by ABC on September 10.
“If there are no LGBTQ questions asked in this debate, it would be a huge affront to our community,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD. “Our community is deeply affected by the positions these candidates take.”
In her letter Tuesday, Ellis called on hosts Dana Bash and Jake Tapper to question Trump and Biden about their past statements and policies, as well as their plans to advance rights for LGBTQ people if elected in November.
“The safety and freedom of LGBTQ people depends on their ability to engage with candidates and inform voters about their record and proposals,” Ellis wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill.
Moderators of last year’s Republican primary debate, which Trump did not attend, barely mentioned LGBTQ issues, even though Republicans advocated for transgender rights during the election campaign. In the fourth and final debate of the Republican presidential candidates in December, moderator Megyn Kelly asked the candidates whether they should support gender reassignment surgery for minors. However, guidelines set by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, a nonprofit professional organization specializing in transgender medicine, do not recommend such surgery.
Ellis said she hopes both Trump and Biden will be asked questions Thursday about marriage equality, the rise of anti-LGBTQ hatred and extremism, gender-affirming health care and the Equality Act, a federal law that protects sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBTQ voters turned out in large numbers in 2020, making up 8% of the total electorate, and played a key role in Biden’s victory over Trump that year, pollsters have reported. Washington Post analysis Of election research.
A March GLAAD survey found that LGBTQ voters are highly motivated to vote in November’s election, with 83% saying they will “definitely” vote. When asked to rate their level of willingness to participate in this year’s election on a scale of 0 to 10, 88% of LGBTQ voters rated themselves a 7 to 10.
“We are poised to be a deciding voting bloc in the 2024 election as we were in the 2020 election,” Ellis said. “So we need to be part of this conversation.”
“There’s a stark contrast between the two candidates, so I really hope the moderator will highlight the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ issues,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which works to get more LGBTQ people elected to public office.
If re-elected, Trump has promised to enact at least 12 policies targeting members of the LGBTQ community, including a nationwide ban on transgender student-athletes from competing according to their gender identity and a federal law that only recognizes two genders. The former president has also vowed to punish doctors who perform gender reassignment treatments on minors, roll back new protections for LGBTQ students put in place by the Biden administration, and cut federal funding to schools that admit transgender students.
During his campaign last year, President Trump promised to reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the military, a policy that was rescinded by Biden in 2021.
Biden has frequently touted his administration as the most pro-LGBTQ in history, expanding federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people and condemning violence and intimidation against the LGBTQ community. In 2022, Biden signed marriage equality into law.
But the president has yet to deliver on several promises to LGBTQ voters, including a pledge to protect access to gender-affirming health care, as Republican-led states move to ban treatment for minors.
“We hope to have a substantive conversation about the record of these two people fighting for a more equal society,” Brandon Wolf, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, which is backing Biden in the race, said of Thursday’s debate, “because make no mistake, equality is a winning issue.”
“The vast majority of people in this country support an America where people are treated with dignity and respect. They support an America where people are not discriminated against or harmed simply because of who they are,” Wolf said. “That’s what the vast majority of Americans think, and I hope that on this stage we’ll have a chance to see the difference between these two candidates.”
It remains to be seen whether Trump and Biden’s answers will change anything if they are asked about LGBTQ issues on Thursday night — presidential debates typically take place so late in the election cycle that voters may not be paying attention yet.
“I’ve voted 11 times in November,” said Parker, the former Houston mayor, “and nobody pays attention until after Labor Day, unless there’s a reason to be scared or excited. I think there’s a lot of reason to be scared.”
