Since accepting the nomination, however, Harris has not spoken at length about LGBTQ+ issues on the campaign trail. While she may still hold many of these same points of view, they are not part of her campaign platform this time around, and her 2020 campaign page is no longer active. (The web address for kamalaharris.org/lgbtq now returns a 404 error, but her LGBTQ+ agenda is still available, in full, via the Wayback Machine.)
In lieu of similarly robust policies, Harris’ 2024 agenda instead lists some of her past actions to affirm LGBTQ+ equality. The “Protect Civil Rights and Freedoms” section on her website’s Issues page discusses her role in officiating “some of the nation’s first same-sex marriages” as the San Francisco District Attorney, and notes that “she refused to defend” Proposition 8, a notorious ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in California.
The one LGBTQ+ rights issue for which her campaign page explicitly expresses support is the Equality Act, a federal bill banning anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in areas like housing, education, health care, public accomodations, and other areas of daily life. It also mentions the LGBTQ+ community in a reference to Project 2025, the far-right wish list for a second Trump term authored by conservative think tank The Heritage Project. “Trump and his allies continue to demonize and attack LGBTQI+ individuals and families,” her website reads. “His Project 2025 agenda will eliminate federal rules that protect LGBTQI+ Americans from discrimination.”
When approached by Them regarding the gaps between Harris’ 2020 and 2024 platforms, her campaign team offered a statement reaffirming her commitment to LGBTQ+ equality but did not clarify whether Harris would continue to pursue the vision for LGBTQ+ rights that she outlined four years ago.
“Vice President Harris knows that freedom is the very foundation that our country was built on,” said Harris for President spokesperson Jaidan Idarraga in an email. “She’s spent her entire career fighting to make sure every single one of us has the freedom to love who we love and be who we are. From attacking LGBTQ+ rights to spewing hatred about the LGBTQ+ community, Donald Trump has made clear that he stands firmly against the fundamental freedoms that unite us. Americans deserve a President who will fight for their freedoms — not against them — and that leader is Kamala Harris.”
But for those looking to hear more from the Democratic ticket on LGBTQ+ issues, Harriz and Walz will get several more opportunities to clarify the campaign’s stances. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, announced last week that it will kick off 10 Days of Action, a mobilization effort mounted in partnership with “Out for Harris-Walz” — the Democratic ticket’s LGBTQ+ outreach team — to reach queer people and allies in battleground states. Walz joined in an October 10 organizing call timed to the launch, while his wife, Gwen Walz, will appear at an in-person rally in Philadelphia.
