The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign announced on Monday a new organizing initiative and paid media blitz to mark Pride Month, aimed at mobilizing LGBTQ+ voters and communities across key battleground states before the November election.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are leading the campaign’s Pride Month activities. On Saturday, The Advocate accompanied Dr. Biden on a visit to Pittsburgh, where she spoke at the city’s annual Pride festival. Dr. Biden delivered a speech that criticized former President Donald Trump’s policies as “dangerous” for the LGBTQ+ community. She emphasized the importance of the LGBTQ+ vote and celebrated the progress made by the community.
Harris spent the weekend engaging with local LGBTQ+ leaders in Los Angeles. The Biden campaign said that key campaign figures will participate in various Pride events, interviews, and organizing efforts throughout June.
“Thanks to the tireless work of LGBTQ+ organizers, our community has made enormous strides to equality, and thanks to President Biden, we haven’t just done undone the harm imposed by Trump, we’ve taken more action than ever to expand rights and freedoms for every single American,” Biden campaign national LGBTQ+ engagement director Sam Alleman said in a statement. “All of that progress is on the line this November. Donald Trump and his MAGA allies attack Americans’ rights and freedoms – and have all but promised to go after the right to love who you love, ban books, and restrict surrogacy.”
The Advocateexclusively reported in April on the launch of the campaign’s “Out for Biden-Harris” initiative, which aims to rally the LGBTQ+ community in support of President Biden and Vice President Harris’s reelection. The campaign highlighted the significant role LGBTQ+ voters played in the 2020 election and their importance in the upcoming race.
Out for Biden-Harris will collaborate with LGBTQ+ clubs, caucuses, councils, and grassroots networks to participate in over 200 Pride events across 23 states, including Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Petersburg parades.
The Advocate was first to report that the Bidens will attend an LGBTQ+ fundraiser at the end of June. The president and first lady will host the 25th annual LGBTQ+ Leadership Council Gala on June 28 in New York City.
Cameron Smith/The White House
LGBTQ+ voters make up more than 8 percent of the U.S. population, with over 20 percent of Americans aged 18 to 25 identifying as LGBTQ+. In 2022, more than 39 percent of voters considered LGBTQ+ equality a decisive issue, a Human Rights Campaign poll revealed. The campaign has received endorsements from multiple LGBTQ+ organizations representing over 3.8 million members, including a $15 million investment from the HRC for media and organizing efforts.
The Biden-Harris campaign is highlighting the 2024 election as a critical juncture for LGBTQ+ rights, contrasting President Biden’s pro-equality record with Trump’s Project 2025, which includes plans to remove nondiscrimination protections, overturn marriage equality, and ban transgender military members—a ban Trump previously instituted and Biden reversed as one of his first acts as president.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Republicans have introduced at least 515 anti-LGBTQ+ bills nationwide in 2024.
President Biden issued a proclamation on Friday, officially recognizing June 2024 as Pride Month. In his proclamation, he highlighted his administration’s advancements in LGBTQ+ rights, including signing the Respect for Marriage Act, ending Trump’s ban on trans service members in the military, and issuing executive orders protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in health care, employment, and education. He also addressed the ongoing attacks against LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender people and LGBTQ+ youth, and called upon Americans to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate the diversity of the nation.
Alleman echoed the presidential proclamation in a call to action for marginalized Americans.
“This Pride Month, our community will organize, mobilize, and activate around the stakes of this election – and real leaders like President Biden and Vice President Harris that know the United States of America is stronger because of our diversity,” Alleman said.
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