Gay Rep. Robert Garcia reveals Kamala Harris’ biggest LGBTQ+ goal for her presidency

Gay U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D) has revealed the largest LGBTQ+ policy aim of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris as Democrats enter day three of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). While several DNC speakers have mentioned LGBTQ+ issues, few to none have mentioned specific queer-focused policies.

“LGBTQ equality, actually, [Harris] has said herself, is a top legislative priority; she’s spoken to it many times,” Garcia told The Los Angeles Blade, “but I also believe that her administration will be reflective of the diversity of this country, including within the LGBTQ+ community.”

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Specifically, Garcia mentioned that Harris will pursue the passage of the Equality Act, a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal anti-discrimination laws. The bill would need Republican supporters in order to pass through the House and Senate.

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“So I think you can see [in Harris’s agenda] not just the Equality Act, which we support, but also ensuring we’re not banning books and that we’re not doing horrible things to attack the community,” Garcia said.

School districts in red states nationwide have instituted bans against books with LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive content. Even when school districts don’t outright ban books, political campaigns of hostility against queer- and racial-inclusive education can discourage teachers from discussing any potentially taboo topics, according to the free speech organization PEN America.

In September 2023, the administration of President Joe Biden appointed a “book ban coordinator” tasked with telling schools with book bans that they may be violating federal law that could result in federal penalties, including reduced educational funding. However, there hasn’t been much news about the coordinator’s actions since their appointment.

As for the other “horrible things to attack the community” that Garcia referenced, Republicans in 26 states have passed bans and restrictions in gender-affirming care and also bans on trans youth participating in sports teams matching their gender identity. These bans have coincided with a push in conservative school districts to forcibly out transgender and nonbinary students and to forbid their use of bathrooms and other facilities matching their gender identity.

“Trump is running on an extreme plan to punish doctors who treat transgender youth and to ban gender-affirming care, and his MAGA Republican allies have pushed a tidal wave of extreme anti-LGBTQI+ bills in statehouses across the country,” the 2024 Democratic platform states. “Democrats will vigorously oppose state and federal bans on gender-affirming healthcare and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors– not politicians – in making health care decisions.”

The platform also pledges to prohibit anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination among federal government contractors, to ensure that federally-funded senior programs are LGBTQ+-inclusive, to ban conversion therapy for queer youth, and to provide more resources for investigating violent crimes against trans and nonbinary people.

“[Trump] has been incredibly homophobic and has been incredibly, I think, shameful in his attacks on the community,” Garcia said. “[Comparatively] when [Harris] was D.A. in the Bay Area, she was one of the first people in the country to marry same-sex couples and started that whole revolution across the country.”

During the DNC, numerous speakers have mentioned book bans as well as kids and adults being discriminated against for “who they are” and “who they love.”

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