A Biden official at the DNC explains the secret ways Democrats fight for equality

Buzz is building as the Democratic National Convention (DNC) enters its final night. The last few nights have featured powerful, inspiring speeches from two former presidents and LGBTQ+ Congress members who have clearly laid out this election’s stakes. Tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver her own barnstorming speech while formally accepting the presidential nomination, and there’s also rumors of a possible celebrity appearance. Considering the surprise appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, and Lil Jon, it feels like anything could happen.

LGBTQ Nation spoke to Matt Hill, a gay man who is the DNC’s Senior Director of Communications, about the legacy of the Biden administration, Tim Walz as an formidable LGBTQ+ ally, the party’s identity, and the future of the Equality Act.

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When Hill began serving as senior associate communications director for President Biden, Trump had spent the last four years rolling back LGBTQ+ student protections, threatening to defund schools with transgender-inclusive policies, and legalizing religious queerphobia in everything from adoption rights to public accommodations.

“A big part of coming into the White House was reversing a lot of the backward-looking policies that Donald Trump had implemented: from [banning] trans people from serving in our military and the hate-filled remarks that he had for many communities,” Hill said. “And so a lot of what the Biden-Harris agenda was in the first two years was first reversing the dangerous Trump policies that harm this community. There was also a lot of work we did on LGBTQ healthcare, expanding access and lowering costs.”

“But it was also making sure that the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community were protected,” Hill continued. “I think one of the most signature achievements that Vice President Harris stood shoulder-to-shoulder with President Biden on was when he signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, codifying the rights of same-sex marriages so that it wouldn’t be in the hands of Donald Trump’s extreme Supreme Court picks.”

“I would I always share that the biggest honor I ever had working on this portfolio at the White House was meeting some of the young LGBTQ youth who would come in for Pride and other events, and see how they felt knowing that they had a president, a vice president, and leaders in the White House who who stood behind them,” he added.

“And as it relates to the convention, what we’re trying to showcase here in Chicago this week, is that it’s really important to us that we make clear that Donald Trump in his MAGA extremists would take us backwards and roll back the freedoms and the rights of LGBTQ Americans,” Hill said. “And it’s the choice of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz who will build on what President Biden has accomplished, to bring this country forward and make sure that—no matter who you are, who you love—America is a welcoming place where everyone shares the same equal rights and protections.” 

How the Democratic Party is different now

The energy of the Democratic campaign this year feels markedly different from past election cycles. Press releases from the Harris-Walz campaign have blisteringly referred to Trump’s press conferences as “self-obsessed” “public meltdowns” where he “lies” and “rambles incoherently.” The DNC speakers have repeatedly hit Republicans over the head with Project 2025, a Christian Nationalist blueprint for Trump to hollow out the federal government and civil rights protections. Even Michelle Obama—who once famously said, “When they go low, we go high”—delivered a speech explicitly calling out Trump’s racism and misogyny.

“[These days,] Democrats are being very forward-leaning about how much we care about freedom,” Hill said. “There used to be this perception that only Republicans cared about some of those patriotic and freedom views. But the reality is that this is no longer your Grand Old Party. It’s no longer your Grandfather’s Old Party. It is the MAGA Party. It has been completely taken over by extremists who bow down to no one except Donald Trump, who don’t have the same vision and values for the LGBTQ community that we as Democrats do.”

“So I think what’s different is Democrats are being very forward-leaning on what we believe in, and we believe in protecting people’s freedom, protecting people’s rights, and understanding the defining core values of who we are as Americans,” Hill said.

Why Walz has been so successful in branding Trump and Vance as “weird”

Weeks before he became Harris’ running mate, Walz successfully branded the Republican ticket as “weird” for trying to insert the government into families’ medical and reproductive decisions. In response, Republicans have dishonestly tried to paint Walz as a liberal extremist who wants to put tampons in boys’ bathrooms and kidnap trans kids from their unsupportive parents. But the attacks haven’t stuck—mostly because of Walz’s history as a devoted high school teacher and coach, a military service member, and a progressive governor whose policies helped working class people. In other words, he’s far too normal—in the stereotypically homegrown American way—to be “weird.”

“Tim Walz understands class and everyday Americans much better than Donald Trump, as does Kamala Harris,” Hill said. “They are people who have had very relatable upbringings to other Americans all across this country. Donald Trump has inherited his money, his fortune, his fame. He only ever works to do anything in benefit and service of himself.”

“Tim Walz, [in contrast] has given himself to his communities and to our collective community,” Hill continued. “He was a teacher who served his community in Minnesota. He was a veteran who served our country overseas. He was representative in the House to serve his constituents, and now he’s been serving the state of Minnesota because he is someone who just [tells the truth]. And the truth is that what Donald Trump and JD Vance stand for is really weird. They want to take this country backwards, and so all he’s doing is telling the truth.”

On whether drag queens are the future of Democratic politics

Two months before the DNC, several stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race made history by founding Drag PAC, the first-ever political action committee spearheaded by drag queens. During the DNC, Drag PAC held a “Voter Registration Kiki” where they teamed up with local queens to perform show-stopping drag numbers and register voters to mobilize them in favor of a Harris victory in November.

“The convention and our partners on the campaign want to use every tool available to get out the vote and reach people, whoever they are, wherever they are, whether they’re a drag queen, whether they’re a former Republican or MAGA voter, or whether they’re someone from rural America,” Hill said. “What we are doing here at the convention is showcasing to the world and the country that we’re building the broadest and most diverse coalition in history that will take on and defeat Donald Trump a second time.”

“Whether it’s drag queens voting for our freedoms and our future, whether it’s Republicans who are supporting our ticket to vote for our freedoms and our future, or whether it’s a teacher or firefighter who think there’s nothing more than just getting to work and coming home to their family and putting putting food on the table, what we all have in common is we believe that America needs to move forward, and we need to protect our freedoms and our rights, and to have someone like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House fighting for us, fighting for our family.”

How Harris can pass the Equality Act

The biggest LGBTQ+ agenda item in the 2024 Democratic National Platform is the Equality Act, legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to pre-existing federal anti-discrimination laws. However, the bill was first introduced in 2015 during the Obama Administration, and while it passed the House with bipartisan support in 2019 and 2021, both times it died in the Senate where it failed to receive enough Republican support to overcome the filibuster. In order to pass this time, it’ll still need Republican support.

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and also President Biden, have been strong supporters of the Equality Act,” Hill said. “She has fought side-by-side with President Biden to get this through Congress as much as possible, and it’s President Biden and Vice president Harris who reached across the aisle to Republicans and told them, ‘We need to protect the freedom of our neighbors and our friends and our family to marry who they love.’ They successfully passed the Respect for Marriage Act because they reached across the aisle and got it done, and they can do it again.”

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