US Elections 2024: Where do Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Tim Walz and JD Vance stand on LGBTQIA+ rights?

The US Presidential elections are approaching and candidates Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and their running mates Tim Walz and JD Vance are busy trading barbs at each other. These often include discussions on LGBTQIA+ issues like transgender health care, abortion rights, etc. 

Here’s a guide to help you understand what Harris, Trump and their parties have said about queer rights in the country. 

Rise Of The Queer Voter

Amidst the many issues facing the American voter, LGBTQIA+ or queer rights is a prominent one. According to a poll by Gallup, 7.6 per cent of all adult Americans identify as queer. Thus, they form a significant voting bloc and are likely to shape national politics in the future. 

Donald Trump, JD Vance and the Republican Party

Former President Donald Trump has long been at odds with the queer community. He has been very vocal about transgender issues and vowed to keep ‘men out of women's sports.’

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Trump has also vowed to restore the ban on openly transgender people serving in the military. 

The Trump 1.0 administration imposed the ban in 2017 but later allowed serving transgender persons to continue working. 

He has been staunchly against gender-affirming care for minors, which includes surgeries and other such procedures to help a person align with their true gender identity, calling it ‘mutilation.’ It is to be noted that sex change operations on minors need parental consent.

JD Vance’s Trans Friend 

Trump’s running mate JD Vance’s history with LGBTQIA+ issues is more convoluted.

According to a New York Times report, Vance was once a ‘close friend’ of  Sofia Nelson, a former Yale Law School classmate, who identifies as transgender. According to Nelson, Vance had earlier expressed his disdain for Trump and attended the San Francisco Pride march. But, he allegedly changed his views after being in power. 

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Queer Republicans 

But there is a significant portion of Republican supporters who identify as queer but may or may not support Trump. 

The Log Cabin Republicans is a major right-wing national LGBTQ advocacy group, a rarity in queer discourse since much of it is often on the left of the political spectrum. 

Neil J Young, the author of Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right told Vox, “gay Republicans and gay conservatives, even if they’ve been marginalized by the party and demonized by the party, they’ve actually also been fundamental to the development of modern conservatism and the Republican Party that we have today.” 

It is to be noted that the platform [equivalent of manifesto] for the Republican Party did not include any specific mentions of queer rights. 

Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and the Democratic Party

Kamala Harris has been a long-time supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights in the USA.

She supported same-sex legislation and the Respect For Marriage (RMA) Act, a Federal Law which protects and recognises same-sex and interracial marriages. 

Harris met controversy when she appeared to suggest gender-affirming care for prisoners, something which Trump famously pointed out in the September Presidential speech. 

While her actions have long reflected her apparent commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights, Harris has received criticism for not bringing in enough legislation to help aid poor transgender persons get gender-affirming care. 

Harris had also claimed that Trump wants to ‘end the Affordable Care Act’ which has proven crucial for all people, queer or not. However, a New York Times fact check has pointed out, that Trump has made vague statements about replacing the act with “something better and less expensive.” 

Harris has been a vocal critic of book bans and an advocate for teaching about the queer community in schools. 

Tim Walz’s ‘Gay-Straight Alliance’

Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, served as a high school teacher and football coach in rural Minnesota, in the 1990s.

He became loved by the queer community after he became the faculty advisor to his school’s ‘Gay-Straight Alliance’ and thus opened the avenue for bridging the gap between the queer community with their straight counterparts. 

Democrats and Queerness

The Democratic party’s platform for 2024 includes mention of queer rights and touches upon topics of importance like bringing in legislation to protect queer people from discrimination, support for trans children etc.

But the promises were made before Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris picked up the torch. 

Although people across the country see Democrats as more accepting of LGBTQIA+ rights, this was not always the case. 

President Bill Clinton signed the Defence of Marriage Act in 1996, which defined marriage as one between a ‘man and a woman’, curtailing the queer rights movement’s call for marriage equality.

Clinton also signed the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ legislation, which allowed queer men and women to serve in the military as long as they hid their sexual orientation. 

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Way forward

Even though all candidates and both parties have become more vocal about queer issues, the fight for equality continues in the US and the world.

The next US President, Democrat or Republican, will define the way queerness is viewed in the country. 

All the world has to do is wait and all Americans have to do is choose wisely.