Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear: Democrats don't have to abandon LGBTQ+ people to win

Democrats don’t have to abandon LGBTQ+ people to win elections, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear writes in an op-ed for The New York Times.

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Beshear pointed out that he vetoed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and still won reelection in a deeply red state. He and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman are the only Democratic statewide elected officials in Kentucky.

“As governor, I have vetoed numerous anti-L.G.B.T.Q. and anti-choice bills, yet I still beat Mr. Trump’s handpicked candidate last fall,” he wrote in the piece, published Tuesday. “That happened because even if some voters might have disagreed with the vetoes, they knew the next day I would be announcing new jobs, opening a new health clinic or finishing a new road that would cut 20 minutes off their commute.”

In March 2023, Beshear vetoed one of the nation’s worst anti-LGBTQ+ bills, which included a ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, restrictions on discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and a provision allowing outing of LGBTQ+ students. Unfortunately, Kentucky legislators overrode his veto, so the bill became law.

In 2022, he vetoed a bill barring transgender girls and women from competing with cisgender females in school sports. Lawmakers overrode it too. This year, he signed an executive order to outlaw the use of conversion therapy, designed to turn LGBTQ+ people straight or cisgender, on minors after the Republican-dominated legislature failed to pass a bill to this effect.

Anti-transgender rhetoric and ads were a focus of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. He promised to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors nationwide and to keep trans girls and women off of female sports teams.

Some Democrats, such as U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tom Suozzi of New York, have spoken out against trans inclusion in sports and have criticized their party for supporting inclusive policies. Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who has repudiated many Republican positions, and his panelists have claimed trans issues cost Kamala Harris the presidential election. But polls have indicated that while Trump’s ads eroded support for trans rights, they didn’t influence most people’s votes.

Beshear has always stood up for LGBTQ+ equality, including trans equality. “Transgender children deserve public officials’ efforts to demonstrate that they are valued members of our community through compassion, kindness, and empathy, even if not understanding,” he said in his veto message regarding the anti-trans sports bill.

“I vetoed anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation last year because I believe all children are children of God,” he wrote in the Times op-ed. “And whether people agree with my decision, they know why I’m making it. They know where I am coming from.”

Instead of abandoning LGBTQ+ people, the Democrats must earn the trust of voters on economic issues, he wrote. “The focus of the Democratic Party must return to creating better jobs, more affordable and accessible health care, safer roads and bridges, the best education for our children and communities where people aren’t just safer but also feel safer,” he said. Of course, some would argue that Kamala Harris indeed focused on these issues but lost because of disinformation, racism, and sexism.

At any rate, Beshear remains a reliable LGBTQ+ ally. He and Coleman were first elected as a joint ticket in 2019 and reelected in 2023. Under Kentucky law, he can’t run for a third consecutive term but can run again in 2031 after sitting out one election cycle.