Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, who has emerged as a leading contender to be Harris’ running mate, has helped turn Minnesota into a haven for LGBTQ Americans by signing laws that protect access to gender-affirming care and abortion, ban conversion therapy and make it illegal for libraries to ban books solely because they have LGBTQ themes or characters.
Governor Walz has long supported progressive issues such as LGBTQ equality, and under his leadership Minnesota has solidified its position as a liberal stronghold in the conservative Midwest.
In 1999, as a 35-year-old social studies teacher at Mankato West High School, Mr. Waltz became the adviser of the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), a student-led club that supported LGBTQ students and families. Then, in 2006, Mr. Waltz ousted a longtime Republican congressman from a mostly rural district on a platform of supporting same-sex marriage, which the state had banned in 1997.
“At the time, it was an unpopular position for a Republican Democrat. It didn’t score him any points politically. But he stood up for families like mine because he believed it was the right thing to do,” said Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), one of 12 openly LGBTQ members of Congress. Written on social platform X “His courage has changed my life and the lives of thousands of Minnesotans, and it’s courage that will make our country better,” said the Minnesota governor, who endorsed Walz as his running mate last month.
In Congress, Walz pushed to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which banned gays from serving openly in the military. “I’ve never seen the country made safer because a soldier was discharged because of his sexual orientation,” said Walz, who spent 24 years in the Army National Guard.In a 2009 House of Representatives speech,That same year, he helped facilitate the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a landmark law signed by former President Barack Obama to prevent crimes motivated by anti-LGBTQ hatred.
Walz was an early supporter of the Respect Marriage Act, a proposal introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) in 2009 that would have enshrined marriage rights for same-sex and interracial couples. President Biden signed the bill into law in 2022.
“Tim has had a long-standing personal commitment to inclusion as a universal value,” said Cat Rohn, executive director of the state LGBTQ rights group OutFront Minnesota.
Lone’s group worked with Walz and state lawmakers last year to ban conversion therapy — a discredited form of treatment that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — in Minnesota. Lone said he saw Walz as an opportunity for LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, to have their voices heard and their needs met.
“This means a lot,” she said. “Even though the vice president isn’t necessarily leading the entire policy agenda, having someone who is unapologetically supporting communities, standing up for communities, and signing bills that make great strides across the country makes a big difference.”
Walz, who has been Minnesota’s governor since 2019, made his state one of the first to protect gender-affirming medical seekers and providers from prosecution by states with bans in a March 2023 executive order. The following month, Walz signed a bill protecting access to care.
On both days, Governor Walz was surrounded by supporters at the State Capitol in St. Paul during signing ceremonies. As he signed the executive orders, Governor Walz shook the hand of Hildy Edwards, a 12-year-old transgender girl who testified in February in support of the state’s trans refugee bill.
“Not only has Governor Walz approved pro-LGBTQ bills, he’s held celebrations and celebratory signings on bills like the transgender refugee bill that some governors might have signed quietly,” OutFront Minnesota’s Lawn said. “This is a really important point for LGBTQ people to understand. This is not just a necessity, this is something to celebrate and a winnable issue.”
“Tim Walz has clearly demonstrated what’s possible, and he’ll be a great asset to any slate of candidates,” said Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which works to get more LGBTQ people elected to public office.
Meloy noted that Walz’s Democratic rivals, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, also have positive records on LGBTQ rights. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is also being considered as Harris’ running mate, could become the first gay vice president of the United States.
“No matter what happens, we’re going to have a great ally,” Meloy said, adding that support for LGBTQ rights will have a positive political impact in November.
Recent polls show that most voters support federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, and a March survey by LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD found that more than 50% of voters said they disapprove of political candidates who frequently speak out about limiting the rights of transgender Americans in particular.
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate, Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, have supported policies that target transgender Americans, including a federal law that would recognize only two genders, effectively ending legal recognition for transgender people in the U.S. Trump has also promised to outlaw gender-reassignment medical treatment for transgender minors, ban transgender student athletes from competing on teams that match their gender identity, and cut federal funding to schools that admit transgender students.
While Walz is viewed favorably by LGBTQ Americans, he has also faced backlash. In June, Minnesota County Attorney Mary Moriarty accused Walz of discriminating against her because of her sexual orientation, a claim quickly denied by governors and their allies, including Governor Roan, Governor Craig, and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN).
“He has a very open mind, a generous heart. He asks me questions about me and he remembers the answers. He encourages me,” said Minnesota State Rep. Lee Finke, a Democrat and the first openly transgender person elected to the state Legislature.
Finke, the author and lead sponsor of Minnesota’s transgender refugee bill, said Walz was his moral support last year when he was the target of a national pressure campaign led by far-right conservatives who falsely claimed the bill would allow children to medically change their gender without parental consent and spread unfounded claims that Finke and other transgender people were “training” children to abuse them.
Transgender people from across the U.S. and the world have fled to Minnesota since Governor Walz signed Governor Finke’s bill in April 2023. More than 40,000 transgender and nonbinary Americans surveyed by the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2022 said they had considered moving to another state because of anti-LGBTQ laws, including restrictive laws that limit minors’ (and in some cases adults’) access to gender-affirming medical care. 5% — about 4,500 people — said they had already moved.
In March, Eric Beda, a Russian transgender man, moved to Minneapolis after being forced to divorce his partner following Beda’s gender transition. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. April. Russia, which has a tendency to adopt laws and policies hostile to LGBTQ people, does not recognize same-sex marriage.
The evening the Pioneer Press article was published, Mr. Waltz texted Mr. Finke a link to it. “Thank you for your work and your decency,” Mr. Waltz wrote in the message, which Mr. Finke shared with The Hill.
“It was such a moving moment for me to see that not only did he support us when I was being attacked publicly during my time in Congress, but he was also thinking about the work that we were doing when he was at home. To me, that says a lot about the kind of person he is,” Finke said.
“I am very concerned about a future where transgender people are left behind,” she added. “We are a small community and we have needs that need to be met. I am not worried that transgender people will be forgotten in a Harris-Waltz administration.”
