It should be obvious to anyone paying attention that Democrat Kamala Harris is an exponentially better choice for president than Republican Donald Trump, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. Harris has been a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and her positions on other issues are far superior to Trump's as well, whether it's economic matters, climate change, foreign policy, or anything else. But here we're giving a detailed breakdown of their positions on LGBTQ+ issues, one by one.
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This is a bill that would outlaw anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination nationwide in employment, housing, public accommodations, and a host of other aspects of life. It's come up in Congress several times but has never been passed by both houses. Harris, like President Joe Biden, has long advocated for its passage. In June 2023, she posted on X, "Yesterday, the Equality Act was reintroduced in Congress. The House and Senate must pass this long overdue legislation to guarantee every LGBTQI+ American the right to live freely and openly." She promises that as president, she'll fight to get the act passed.
As president, Trump opposed the act. "The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, this bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights," an administration official told the Washington Blade in 2019. It's unlikely that he's changed his mind.
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Trump has said marriage equality is settled law, but the kind of Supreme Court justices he prefers would love to undo it, and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, and many other Trump allies are not crazy about it.
Harris, on the other hand, has been a longtime advocate for marriage equality. She performed marriages for same-sex couples in San Francisco when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom declared those marriages legal in 2004. As California attorney general, she declined to defend Proposition 8, which undid marriage equality in the Golden State, and therefore contributed to its downfall. When Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law into law in 2022 — legislation designed to protect marriage equality against negative Supreme Court action — he gifted Harris with his signing pen as a tribute to her advocacy.
"As President, she’ll always defend the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride," Harris's campaign website says.
Vance was not a senator yet when the Respect for Marriage Act passed, but he said he would have voted against it.
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Harris is an ally to the transgender community as well as others under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. As California AG, she worked to change state policy so that incarcerated people could receive this necessary care.
Trump has promised to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors at the federal level, and “cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.” He has also consistently misrepresented such care. “Think of it, your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation,” he falsely claimed at a Moms for Liberty event this year. He has repeated this and other anti-trans lies throughout his campaign. “Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much, go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?” he said at a rally in Wisconsin. No, schools are not performing gender-affirming surgeries on students. Indeed, genital surgeries are almost never performed on minors.
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Yes, this is an LGBTQ+ issue. People in our community need access to abortion, contraception, assisted reproduction, and other types of reproductive care. Harris has been a consistent advocate for everyone's access to the care they need. And the legality of such care has implications for other bodily autonomy issues, such as rights to intimacy and to gender-affirming care.
"Vice President Harris has traveled America and heard the stories of women hurt by Trump abortion bans," her campaign website reads. "Stories of couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. Stories of women miscarrying in parking lots, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever have children again — all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients. As President, she will never allow a national abortion ban to become law. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, she will sign it."
Trump has tried to run away from this issue because he knows restrictions on reproductive care are unpopular, but he has bragged about facilitating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed abortion rights in every state. All three justices he appointed to the Supreme Court — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — joined the majority ruling overturning it. He has claimed that everyone wanted the legality of abortion back in the hands of individual states, about half of which have banned or severely restricted the procedure since Roe fell. No, Donald, everyone did not want that.
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Trump has railed against classroom instruction about racism and LGBTQ+ issues. On his campaign website, he pledges to "cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children." Of course, most of those opposing critical race theory don't even know what it is and use the term as a catch-all for any lessons about the fact that racism has ever existed in the U.S.
Harris, in a fiery speech in Florida last year, condemned efforts by that state and others to whitewash American history — Florida officials even suggested that some enslaved people benefited from slavery — and suppress teaching about LGBTQ+ people. “What is happening here in Florida? Extremist so-called leaders for months have dared to ban books. Extremists here in Florida passed a law, 'don’t say gay,' trying to instill fear in our teachers that they should not live their full life and love who they love,” Harris said. “And now, on top of all of that, they want to replace history with lies.”
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Trump has often said he'll keep "men" out of women's sports, and by men he means trans women. "Keep men out of women's sports" is one of the platform positions listed on his campaign website. He has frequently denounced trans athletes.
We haven't found comments by Harris on the issue, but she's part of the Biden administration, which has consistently supported trans equality in all aspects of life, including its rule on the interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs. The administration holds that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. There's no reason to expect that Harris would be against trans inclusion in sports or any aspect of life.
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Let us not forget that Trump enacted a ban on military service by out trans people. It didn't end up that there were massive discharges of trans troops, although his policy could have enabled that, and trans people weren't able to enlist while the ban was in effect. Biden quickly revoked the ban when he became president, and again, there's no reason to think Harris would be against letting all out and proud LGBTQ+ people serve in the armed forces.
