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The town hall event aims to uplift trans issues and to give a first look at an LGBTQ+ voter mobilization program.
The Democratic National Committee will hold its first-ever celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility Thursday with a town hall event featuring trans elected and appointed officials, activists, and allies.
The event will also offer the first view of a new DNC program, titled Democrats Are Out and Proud, which aims to mobilize LGBTQ+ voters, volunteers, and potential candidates.
Participants in the town hall will include Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the first out trans person in a Senate-confirmed position (joining in a personal rather than her official capacity); Delaware Sen. Sarah McBride, the first out trans state senator; Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund; Honey Mahogany, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party; DNC Chair Jaime Harrison; and DNC LGBTQ Caucus Chairman Earl Fowlkes. DNC LGBTQ Coalitions Director Sam Alleman will moderate.
The event begins at 7 p.m. Eastern and can be viewed here.
The event's purpose is to celebrate trans and queer Democrats and discuss how the party platform can address the community's issues. Participants also will look at what the Biden-Harris administration has accomplished for the trans population and what more they would like to see happen.
The Democrats Are Out and Proud program is an initiative of the DNC's LGBTQ Caucus to engage and invest in LGBTQ+ volunteers, support Democratic LGBTQ+ folks running for office, and harness the political power of the LGBTQ+ community. Its goals include building additional party infrastructure in the form of new caucuses, advisory councils, and clubs wherever possible; developing a 50-state organizing, media, and branding strategy to define the Democratic Party as the best option for LGBTQ+ Americans; and engaging new LGBTQ+ and allied voters. The DNC's LGBTQ Caucus is also starting a Trans Ad Hoc Committee to provide recommendations and advice on how the party can better engage this community.
LGBTQ+ voters are one of the largest Democratic voting blocs. Eighty-one percent of them voted for Joe Biden for president in 2020, according to a GLAAD-sponsored poll, and large majorities supported Democrats in down-ballot races as well.
"The Democratic Party is committed to supporting the trans community and lifting up the issues affecting them, especially in the face of the Republican Party's heinous attacks targeting trans and queer youth," Alleman says. "We know that the LGBTQ community is one of the fastest growing voting blocs and will be critical to our success in the midterm elections, and that is why Democrats are out and proud, working hard to mobilize and earn their votes with programming tailored specifically to them."
