Sign up for The Agenda — Them’s news and politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.
Democrats may be reeling from this year’s presidential election, but they won’t regain their constituents’ trust and support by throwing trans people under the bus, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
In an editorial for the New York Times on Tuesday, Beshear — the Democratic governor in a state that’s gone to Republicans in every presidential election since 2000 — refused to “play the blame game” following Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump. Instead, Beshear wrote that Democrats should rededicate themselves to enacting positive change for their constituents and resist the call to pivot further to the right.
“The Democratic Party must show the American people that it cares about creating a better life for each and every American and re-earn the public’s trust about its focus and its direction,” Beshear argued. Democrats don’t need to retreat on trans rights issues in order to regain that trust, he went on, but rather must address “core issues” to improve people’s lives in tangible ways. “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,” Beshear said, referencing his 2023 victory over former attorney general Daniel Cameron, who campaigned heavily on anti-trans talking points. That win, Beshear said, “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.”
“I vetoed anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation last year because I believe all children are children of God,” Beshear added. “And whether people agree with my decision, they know why I’m making it. They know where I am coming from.”
Indeed, Beshear vetoed one of the most draconian anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. in March 2023, saying the bill’s provisions against gender-affirming care represented “too much governmental interference” in private healthcare decisions — even though the Republican-controlled legislature overruled that veto less than a week later. In 2022, Beshear similarly vetoed a bill to bar trans girls from school sports, which was later overruled as well. Earlier this year, Beshear also issued an executive order banning conversion therapy.
