With election day now less than a month away, The Advocate editors officially express our support of Kamala Harris for president of the United States.
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Harris, the Democratic nominee, is exponentially better on every issue than her Republican opponent, Donald Trump — issues including reproductive freedom, the economy, and climate change. But our endorsement focuses on her LGBTQ+ rights record, which is stellar, and what she promises to do in that realm as president. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is a strong LGBTQ+ ally too, something that certainly cannot be said of Trump’s vice-presidential pick, U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
Harris, originally a prosecuting attorney, first held public office as district attorney for San Francisco City and County, to which she was elected in 2003. The following year, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared same-sex marriage legal in the city, Harris conducted marriages for same-sex couples (the marriages were later nullified, however). “One of the most joyful [moments of my career] was performing the marriages in 2004. Truly joyful,” Harris told The Advocate in 2023. She also established a hate crimes unit in the DA’s office.
In 2010, she was elected California attorney general, and in that post she helped restore marriage equality in the Golden State. One of the signature issues in her campaign was her opposition to Proposition 8, the voter-approved ballot initiative that revoked marriage equality in California in 2008, undoing the state Supreme Court decision that allowed same-sex couples to marry. She said she would not defend Prop. 8 in court. When the proposition was finally struck down, Harris officiated the first post-Prop. 8 same-sex marriage in California, between Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, who had been part of the court case. As AG, Harris additionally led efforts to abolish gay and transgender “panic” defenses in criminal trials.
She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. She received perfect 100 scores on the Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard, which measures support for LGBTQ+ equality, before leaving the Senate to become vice president. As a senator, she introduced a bill to mandate insurance coverage of pre-exposure prophylaxis, an HIV prevention method, and she notably stumped Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with a question on marriage equality during his confirmation hearings.
During her vice presidency, Harris has spoken out against the rash of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in conservative states around the country, such as “don’t say gay” laws affecting education and bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. “I hate bullies,” she told The Advocate in the 2023 interview.
Related: How pro-LGBTQ+ is Kamala Harris?
As VP, she has hosted Pride Month receptions and visited New York City’s Stonewall Inn, where an uprising against police harassment of gay bars in 1969 jump-started the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. She met with WNBA star Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle Griner, before Brittney’s first game after her release from captivity in Russia. She also welcomed current and former cast members and creators of Queer Eye to a White House reception in June.
President Biden honored her work on marriage equality by gifting her with the pen he used to sign the Respect for Marriage Act in December 2022. The act wrote marriage equality into federal law, protecting it against future negative Supreme Court action.
If she does become president, she has vowed to fight to pass the Equality Act, which would outlaw anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination nationwide. She also strongly opposes Project 2025, a plan meant to guide the next conservative president, as it would roll back many federal government protections for LGBTQ+ people and others. While Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, he undoubtedly would try to implement many of its provisions.
“The fight for equal rights is patriotic,” Harris said at a 2023 Pride reception, strongly reiterating why she has our support. “We believe in the foundational principles of our country; we believe in the promise of freedom and equality and justice. And so the fight for equal rights is an expression of our love of our country.”
