Washington— Among the topics voters may be thinking about in the 2024 presidential election is LGBTQ rights — and it’s an issue where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different messages and backgrounds.
A majority of Americans support legal protections for LGBTQ people, according to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute. But support is stronger in blue states than red states, and has declined overall in recent years — especially among Republicans. And support for same-sex marriage has also declined slightly.
Meanwhile, 38% of Americans say that LGBTQ rights are a factor in their voting decisions, and 30% say they will vote only for candidates who align on these issues.
Here’s what to know about the candidates’ views and records on the issue:
Donald Trump on LGBTQ issues
The former president has been inconsistent on the issue during his time in the public eye, and his administration has rolled back protections for LGBTQ people — particularly transgender individuals.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before he entered politics, Trump expressed support for domestic partnership laws that gave couples the same benefits as married couples — a position the GOP opposed at the time — and often showed personal tolerance for more LGBTQ issues. wide. In a 1999 interview, in which he also said he was “very selective” Trump said it “wouldn’t bother me” if gay people were in the military.
Years later, Trump said in 2011, amid speculation about a possible presidential bid, that he was “opposed to gay marriage.” In 2015, he said he supported “traditional marriage.”
Trump became the first GOP presidential candidate to mention LGBTQ issues in his 2016 RNC speech, pledging to protect the community in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
Trump chose a conservative running mate in 2016, Mike Pence, who has staunchly opposed same-sex marriage, but Trump’s own comments on the topic varied.
Trump said during the 2016 campaign that he would “strongly consider” appointing a Supreme Court justice who would overturn a 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Then, the day after he was elected, he said he is “good” with same-sex marriage and suggested that he should not appoint a judge to the high court with the aim of overturning the ruling. His wife, Melania Trump, called him “the first president to enter the White House supporting gay marriage” as she sought re-election in 2020.
On transgender issues, Trump said in 2016, amid controversy over North Carolina’s bathroom ban, transgender people should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.” But his administration continued reverse a policy that requires schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity, and its administration prohibited some transgender people from serving in the military while Trump was in office – a policy that President Biden reversed. The Trump administration is also trying cancel it health protection for transgender people and sought for the last protection for transgender individuals in federal prisons, among other policies.
Anti-trans sentiment will continue to be an important talking point for Republicans on the campaign trail in the 2022 midterm elections. In early 2023, Trump said he would use his power, if he returned to the White House, to punish doctors. which provides gender affirming care for young children and imposes consequences for teachers who discuss with students.
In the final months of the 2024 campaign, Trump and his allies are leaning toward anti-trans rhetoric, spend millions on advertising focus on problems in warring countries.
Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, is supporting legislation in 2023 that would ban access to gender-affirming treatment for minors, along with a bill to prohibit the State Department from allowing the gender marker “X” on passports. The Ohio Republican also said he would not vote on the Respect for Marriage Act, which provides federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, during his 2022 Senate campaign, citing religious freedom issues.
Kamala Harris on LGBTQ issues
Harris was generally an early adopter of pro-LGBTQ policies and attitudes, which he did before other prominent members of the party.
ex San Francisco district attorney formalized the first few same-sex marriages in the state in 2004, after mayor Gavin Newsom directed county clerks to approve the marriages even though the law did not yet recognize them. The marriage was invalidated a month later. Then, when he was elected California attorney general in 2010, Harris said he would not defend in court the voter-approved measure known as Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.
As district attorney, Harris has prosecuted violence against LGBTQ people, creating a hate crimes unit to look for crimes against LGBTQ youth. As attorney general, he sought to end “panic defense“It allows murder defendants to seek a lesser sentence if they admit to being panicked by the victim’s sexual orientation.
Harris has been criticized by LGBTQ advocates for rejecting gender-affirming surgeries for transgender inmates while he was attorney general; he said he was bound by Department of Corrections policy at the time. He later expressed his support for providing such treatment to prisoners during his 2020 presidential bid. During the campaign, where he ran on a more progressive platform, Harris also said that he supported decriminalizing sex work, although he noted that it was not an easy issue.
As a senator, Harris sponsored several bills to address discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, along with other LGBTQ issues. Harris’s record has also been tied to the Biden administration, ie Title IX protections are expanded for LGBTQ students, even though they are blocked by the Supreme Court. In 2022, Mr. Biden enter The Respect for Marriage Act became law, providing federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage.
Harris couple, Minnesota Governor Tim Walzhas a reputation as an advocate for LGBTQ rights. When Walz was a high school teacher, he was a faculty advisor who helped form the school’s first gay-straight alliance in the ’90s.
