Culture

Joe Biden Says LGBTQ+ Americans “Deserve a Partner in the White House”


 

Addressing the Human Rights Campaign this week, Joe Biden spoke out again in favor of LGBTQ+ equality, telling a virtually-gathered crowd: “You deserve a partner in the White House to fight with conviction and win the battles ahead.”

The occasion was HRC’s Unite for Equality Live fundraiser, which took the place of the national advocacy organization’s annual gala. Biden was among many celebrity allies and LGBTQ+ notables to address the event, including Olympian Adam Rippon, model Naomi Campbell, and actor Tituss Burgess.

The Democratic candidate outlined his vision for restoring LGBTQ+ rights rolled back under the Trump administration if elected to the White House in 39 days.

“Together we’ll pass the Equality Act, protect [LGBTQ+] youth, expand access to health care, support [LGBTQ+] workers, win full rights for transgender Americans, recommit to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2025, [and] advance [LGBTQ+] rights around the globe, not just at home,” Biden pledged.

Many of these same commitments were spelled out in an LGBTQ+ agenda released in March, during the Democratic primaries. In his equality platform, he promised to repeal the deferral period for gay and bisexual donors, prohibit faith-based discrimination against same-sex couples seeking to adopt, ban conversion therapy, and pass a sweeping nondiscrimination bill within his first 100 days in office.

On Thursday, Biden also spoke out about the president’s disastrous handling of a variety of ongoing crises which have struck the country since he came to power — from the pandemic and the economic downturn to climate change. Biden promised to be “a president who makes things worse not better, who brings chaos not order, who sees violence and only fans the flames.”

“The White House should never be a source of opposition or fear or oppression,” he concluded. “It should be a source of hope, of moral courage and of unification.”

The Human Rights Campaign officially endorsed Biden earlier in the year, with its president, Alphonso David, crediting the former vice president’s “dedication to advancing [LGBTQ+] equality, even when it was unpopular to do so, has pushed our country and our movement forward.”

“Vice President Joe Biden is the leader our community and our country need at this moment,” David said.

Biden has long been hailed as an early supporter of same-sex marriage and trans rights, coming out in favor of full marriage equality months before his former boss, Barack Obama, did so publicly. In recent weeks, the Democratic nominee has spoken out against the anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown in Poland and condemned Trump’s trans military ban, which he pledged to overturn in an op-ed timed to the 9th anniversary of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Trump, in contrast, has spent his entire administration attacking LGBTQ+ rights. He has rolled back job protections for LGBTQ+ workers, made it harder for LGBTQ+ refugees to apply for asylum in the U.S., has appointed dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ judges, repealed gender-affirming policies for trans students, and is attempting to make it legal for hospitals to turn away LGBTQ+ patients.

Biden wasn’t the only ally to speak out in favor of LGBTQ+ rights at this week’s virtual event. Annette Bening, whose son is transgender, urged those watching to “listen to the trans community and let them teach us about what discrimination feels like, what it’s like to be harassed in school, not have health care.”

“And we especially need to listen to trans women of color,” the actress said.

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.





READ NEWS SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.