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The DNC has released its full platform for the next four years, which features dozens of policies that would improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
The Democratic National Committee's 2024 platform features dozens of policies that would improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
With the Democratic National Convention in full swing, the party has released its full platform for the next four years should Kamala Harris be elected president. The initiatives included demonstrate the stark difference between the Democratic and Republican parties, particularly in how they relate to the queer community.
The DNC's platform features policies across education, health care, the judicial system, and beyond that would directly benefit LGBTQ+ people not just in the United States, but around the world. Here's a look at all the LGBTQ+ initiatives included and just what they would mean for the community.
The Democratic platform vows to enact the Equality Act, which would "at last outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, public accommodations, access to credit, education, jury service, and federal programs."
"Democrats applaud [the 2020] U.S. Supreme Court decision that made clear that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity violates the law, but we know we still have work to do to ensure LGBTQ+ people are treated equally under the law and in our society," it states.
The Democratic Party has vowed to reverse the Trump administration's "discriminatory actions against the LGBTQ+ community, including the dangerous and unethical regulations allowing doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies to discriminate against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender identity." It also promises to "restore nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS in health insurance."
"We believe that a person's health should always come first," it states. "Democrats will protect the rights of all people to make personal health care decisions, and will reject the Trump Administration’s use of broad exemptions to allow medical providers, employers, and others to discriminate."
Under the Democratic Party, health insurance would be required to cover "all medically necessary care for gender transition." Federal health plans would also be mandated to "provide coverage for HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and HIV prevention medications like PrEP and PEP, gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy."
"We will also take action to guarantee that LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV/AIDS have full access to needed health care and resources, including by requiring that federal health plans provide coverage for HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and HIV prevention medications like PrEP and PEP," the platform reads.
On top of that, Democrats said they will "ensure federally funded programs for older adults are inclusive for LGBTQ+ seniors."
Democrats will take a number of actions to "end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which disproportionately affects communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community." First and foremost, they have vowed to "recommit the federal government to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2025."
Other actions include "supporting critical investments under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund" as well as "supporting increased community HIV prevention and testing programs which target Latino, Black, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Native American, and other at-risk communities to address the increases of HIV."
After the Obama-Biden Administration lifted the "discriminatory" lifetime ban on blood donations by healthy gay and bisexual Americans, the 2024 DNC says it "will work to ensure blood donation regulations are based on science, not fiction or stigma and that no American, when seeking to donate blood, will face more stringent limitations than any other simply because of who they are."
The party has promised to protect access to "the full range of family planning services are all essential to ensuring that people can decide if, when, and how to start a family." Specific tools, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), are not explicitly mentioned, though the party said it will also "work to ensure LGBTQ+ people are not discriminated against when seeking to adopt or foster children."
The Democratic Party has continued to uphold the Affordable Care Act, which "prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of sex and requires insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost." This has "significantly reduced teen and unintended pregnancies by making it easier to decide whether, when, and how to have a child."
Its 2024 platform also bolsters sex education, as it maintains that "quality, affordable, comprehensive health care" as well as "medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, age-appropriate sex education" also reduce unwanted pregnancies.
The Democratic Party still believes "unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion."
Beyond that, the 2024 platform promises to "repeal the Title X domestic gag rule and restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides vital preventive and reproductive health care for millions of people, especially low-income people, and people of color, and LGBTQ+ people, including in underserved areas."
"Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice," it states.
Beyond the party's health care protections, which would "require that federal health plans provide coverage for gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy," Democrats also vow to enact other policies making legal services more accessible for transgender people, including "guaranteeing transgender students’ access to facilities based on their gender identity."
"We will ensure that all transgender and non-binary people can procure official government identification documents that accurately reflect their gender identity," the platform states. "We will stop employment discrimination in the federal government, and will restore full implementation of President Obama’s executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."
The DNC's transgender protections extend to hate crime investigations and data-keeping. The party says it "will fight to end violence against transgender Americans and particularly against Black transgender women, who are disproportionately victims of assault and homicide." It will also "prioritize the investigation of hate crimes against transgender and nonbinary people."
Democrats are also "committed to ending sexual assault, domestic abuse, and other violence against women." They vow to "overcome Republican obstructionism" to reauthorize and expand the Violence Against Women Act, which would "better protect Native American women, women with disabilities, children and young women, transgender women and other LGBTQ+ people, and other groups who are disproportionately affected by sexual assault and domestic abuse."
These efforts include "expanding access to housing, legal assistance, and victim advocate services" as well as "danger assessment and lethality training for law enforcement officers and community partners to help curb domestic violence homicides."
The DNC's platform explicitly recognizes sex workers, who are "disproportionately women of color and transgender women," and "face especially high rates of sexual assault and violence." It has promised to "work with states and localities to protect the lives of sex workers."
The DNC's 2024 platform also explicitly addresses LGBTQ+ homelessness, stating that "Democrats are committed to ending the homelessness crisis, including among LGBTQ+ youth." It will also take initiatives to "protect LGBTQ+ children from bullying and assault."
The DNC's platform recognizes that "LGBTQ+ youth and adults suffer from significant health disparities, including mental health and substance use disorders." Democrats therefore promise to "expand mental health and suicide prevention services," and including banning the "harmful" practice of so-called “conversion therapy."
Democrats promise to "reverse the Trump administration’s hateful transgender ban, discriminatory exclusions in military health care, and policies that stigmatize and discriminate against people living with HIV and AIDS, and ensure that LGBTQ+ service members and families enjoy equal respect, benefits, and care."
The DNC aims to "protect and expand the existing asylum system and other humanitarian protections," including by reversing Trump Administration policies that "prevent victims of gang and domestic violence, as well as LGBTQ+ people who are unsafe in their home countries, from being eligible to apply for asylum."
"We will ensure that our immigration policies account for the needs of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers," it states.
The DNC doesn't just want to expand LGBTQ+ rights in the United States — it also wants to be a leader around the world. The party promises to "use the full slate of human rights promotion and accountability tools to defend the universal rights of LGBTQ+ people."
This includes by "restoring the United States’ position of leadership on LGBTQ+ issues" by passing the GLOBE Act and "appointing senior leaders directly responsible for driving and coordinating LGBTQ+ issues at the State Department, USAID, and the National Security Council."
"We will amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ persons around the world and counter violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons wherever it appears," it states.
