The Human Rights Campaign’s political action committee has endorsed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection, amid what HRC calls a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people.
The endorsement “comes amidst an unprecedented spike in anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation, with more than 550 bills introduced in 43 states, and more than 80 signed into law — more than doubling last year, which was previously the worst year on record,” says a press release from HRC, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights group. This led HRC to declare a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans in June.
Many of these discriminatory bills have been championed by politicians seeking the Republican presidential nomination and by their allies and their supporters. In contrast, HRC notes, Biden and Harris have consistently promoted LGBTQ+ equality.
“The Human Rights Campaign proudly endorses President Biden and Vice President Harris for the 2024 presidential election for their steadfast and unyielding support of LGBTQ+ Americans,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in the release. “At a time when the forces of hatred seek to divide us by race, place, and identity, the choice in this election is clear.
“In its first term, the Biden-Harris administration has worked closely with HRC and other advocates to secure so many historic, landmark victories for LGBTQ+ Americans — from protecting our right to marry who we love and challenging discriminatory laws seeking to deny health care to transgender youth, to strengthening policies that prevent discrimination in foster care, and affirming the identities of all Americans — including nonbinary people who previously could not secure a passport with appropriate gender markers.
“This leadership is crucial now more than ever as LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency — experiencing unprecedented attacks from extremist politicians and their right-wing allies in states across the country, who are working tirelessly to erase us. What’s at stake in the 2024 presidential election for LGBTQ+ people is our humanity, our right to exist, and our ability to live and raise our families in environments free from discrimination and fear.
“As we did in the 2022 midterms, we will mobilize millions of Equality Voters to support pro-equality, pro-choice, and pro-democracy candidates like President Biden and Vice President Harris. We will not waver, we will not retreat, and we will again send a message that this democracy belongs to the people, and we will protect our freedoms, our identities, and our bodies without exception.”
The achievements cited by HRC include Biden’s signing last December of the Respect for Marriage Act, assuring that same-sex couples and interracial couples will continue to have marriage rights even if the Supreme Court reverses itself on the issue; revoking Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military; ending discrimination against gay and bisexual men who seek to donate blood; protecting the rights of transgender students; and restoring discrimination protections in health care.
The current Republican presidential hopefuls, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have pushed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation like Florida’s “don’t say or trans law,” bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth, book bans, and more. “These candidates are already running the same transphobic and homophobic playbooks many of them and their allies ran in the 2022 midterm elections,” HRC’s release points out.
Polling indicates, however, that these efforts win support from only a small number of voters. A poll conducted by HRC after the midterms found that fewer than 5 percent of respondents identified gender-affirming care for trans youth or trans participation in sports as issues motivating them to vote — last on the list of motivating issues. The poll also found that what the organization calls “Equality Voters,” those for whom LGBTQ+ equality is a make-or-break issue, made up 39 percent of the electorate in the midterms.
HRC will be working to mobilize these voters in the 2024 election, and it will expand its operations in important swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The group has identified nearly 13.5 million Equality Voters in these states.
