These queer voters aren’t all in for Harris. Here’s why.

Perhaps more than any demographic, LGBTQ+ voters across the nation were ready for a “brat summer.” And in the nearly three weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris first emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, queer residents of swing state Michigan are using words like “energized” and “palpable” to describe the newfound momentum. 

“That excitement is because Vice President Harris is the nominee,” openly gay state Rep. Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) told LGBTQ Nation. “Young people, LGBTQ people, and honestly, all people just seem to be thrilled.”  

As a member of the Out For Harris national committee and first vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, Morgan witnessed the transformation firsthand. Calling Harris a gay icon, Morgan said, “She’s fabulous. And she is tough. And she is 1,000 percent supportive of our community.” 

LGBTQ+ voters who aren’t ready to dance the Harris Walz may be hard to come by, but their perspectives prove the queer community isn’t a monolith.

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“LGBTQ+ voters and their allies are poised to make the difference in elections across the country, where we expect that a small handful of battleground states and congressional districts will be determined by the smallest of margins.”

Sam Lau, HRC Vice President of Communications

“LGBTQ+ voters and their allies are poised to make the difference in elections across the country, where we expect that a small handful of battleground states and congressional districts will be determined by the smallest of margins,” HRC Vice President of Communications Sam Lau told LGBTQ Nation. “In fact, if LGBTQ+ voters had not come out in force in battleground states, Donald Trump could have won the 2020 election.” 

That electoral force is expected to increase because, first, LGBTQ+ voters are reliable and engaged voters, and second, more voters identify as LGBTQ+ than ever before. Nearly 30% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+ and the numbers continue to surge.

In a state with an estimated 467,300 LGBTQ+ adults in 2020 and almost five and a half million votes cast, Michiganders chose Biden by a margin of just over 154,000 votes, while Trump narrowly won by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016. The significance of voters who value freedom and equality cannot be overstated. Yet not all of them are ready to buy what the Democrats have to offer.

Particular to Michigan were the large number of voters who chose “uncommitted” in this year’s Democratic primary to protest President Biden’s Gaza policies. Those 100,000 voters secured two delegates from the state who will represent their concerns at the Democratic National Convention. Leaders of the uncommitted movement are encouraging those affected to vote rather than stay home.

“W.” is one such voter. They haven’t made a final decision on a candidate. 

“I still feel like my vote can be earned,” said W., a 28-year-old nonbinary Ann Arbor resident who works for the University of Michigan, which they consider “pretty hostile towards anyone speaking up for Palestine this past year.”

W. is listening to what Harris says about Gaza. If Harris is elected, W. says, “I’ll be disappointed, but I know she’s not as much of a rabid Zionist as Biden was and that is at least interesting to me.”

Harris continues to walk a tightrope on the issue. 

“The Vice President has been clear: She will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. The Vice President is focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table,” the Harris campaign said in a statement. “As she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.” 

Make no mistake: W. has concerns aside from the Israel-Hamas war. Raised by conservative parents in the south whom they call “very reasonable people,” W. voted for Hillary Clinton and then Biden in 2020 — despite misgivings about the president. As a member of the queer community, they fear especially for trans folks under a Trump presidency. Still, they named policing and the environment as other priorities where they feel the Democratic ticket falls short.

“There are these issues that feel like Democrats are hanging over my head,” W. said, describing them as “gotcha” issues. “Like, ‘Don’t you want to have the right to marry who you want? Or get an abortion? Or just access gender-affirming care?’ ” Those are things that W. is afraid of losing, yet, “It feels like our domestic issues are connected to the entire globe and the way our country is oppressing people overseas is going to come back to us one way or another.”

For those reasons, W. will “very likely end up voting for Jill Stein,” even as they acknowledge the realities of our two-party system and fear for the future of the Supreme Court. 

About a third of W.’s queer friends, most of whom live in Ann Arbor and Dearborn, have decided to align with Harris. A third plan to vote for Jill Stein and the rest, like W., will wait and see before they commit, based on W.’s estimation.

Nearly 300 miles away in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Menominee Mayor Casey Hoffman faces a different dilemma. As an out gay man in an area Hoffman refers to as Trump country, he does double duty as chair of the Menominee County GOP. 

Hoffman is a gay Republican and substitute teacher with a law degree who voted for Trump in 2016. He left the top of the ticket blank in the last election and will likely do the same this year.  In the Republican presidential primary, Hoffman voted for Nikki Haley.

“I am very dismayed by Donald Trump because he repeatedly engages in verifiable falsehoods in public,” Hoffman told LGBTQ Nation. “And the largest falsehood that he continues to repeat is that he won the last presidential election, which is clearly false.” Hoffman worries that violence might result from Trump declaring victory following the election, which he is predicted to do regardless of the outcome. 

The prevalence of queer conservatives is difficult to gauge. However, according to polling from HRC and GQR following the 2022 election, among self-identified LGBTQ+ vote, fully 80% supported U.S. House Democrats.

In a county that voted for Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Donald Trump twice, Hoffman is “deeply interested to see how the swing city and swing county that I hope to lead will vote in this upcoming presidential election.” 

As a gay leader in a politically conservative area, Hoffman compares himself to a trial balloon. He occasionally received threats on his life, and his plan to make a pro-LGBTQ+ statement by raising the Pride flag was dismissed when the city council instituted a “flag policy.”

As a voter, this Republican’s first priority is the economy. “I want an economy with reasonably low taxes,” he said. “And I also am very, very concerned about a strong national defense. I think we live in a very scary world.”

Hoffman followed up by stating, “LGBTQ rights and women’s rights are having a moment” for himself and the country. He opposes abortion “with the exceptions Ronald Reagan believed in” and also opposes the death penalty.

Would Hoffman ever consider voting for a Democrat at the top of the ticket? He said he wants his vote to count, but he doesn’t feel strongly enough about either candidate and considers it a binary choice. Speaking prior to Gov. Tim Walz’s VP nomination, Hoffman said,  “I would be very interested to consider a Kamala Harris/ Mitt Romney ticket.”

When asked for his reaction to Project 2025, Hoffman called it “some scary sh*t.” At the same time, “The Republicans I’m fortunate enough to have as friends don’t take something like Project 2025 seriously,” he said. “I view Project 2025 as a fringe proclamation from a minority of Republicans who do not speak broadly for our conservative values.”

Jay Kaplan, lead attorney for the ACLU of Michigan LGBT Project, knows a great deal about Project 2025.

“We have to recognize that about 140 of the individuals who wrote this document worked in the Trump administration and were in positions, six of them being cabinet members,” Kaplan told LGBTQ Nation, addressing the significance of Project 2025. He also noted the Heritage Foundation may have fringe ideas, but Trump was able to adopt almost two-thirds of their policy recommendations.

And Project 2025 notwithstanding, the Trump record on LGBTQ+ rights is well-documented and abysmal.

Related:

Trump says he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025. Here are his connections to it.

First of all, his running mate, Sen J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), wrote the forward of a forthcoming book from the head of the initiative.

“While LGBTQ+ voters traditionally support pro-equality candidates in strong numbers, it’s important they have the information they need to vote for a more just and inclusive future,” Lau said. “That is why HRC is dedicated to ensuring LGBTQ+ voters and allies understand what is at stake this election.” In May, the organization launched a strategic campaign to educate voters in key battleground states.

Out in the community, Kaplan and others have had success educating uninformed LGBTQ+ voters who reconsidered their preferences upon learning the differences between the candidates on queer issues.

Transgender activist Jeynce Poindexter shared an interaction with a Black trans woman she discovered was a Trump supporter during a recent conference. 

A co-executive director of the Trans Sistas of Color Project, Poindexter was instrumental in facilitating a convening of Black Trans Circles (BTC) in Detroit, held in partnership with the Transgender Law Center. These gatherings are designed to uplift and celebrate the experiences of Black trans women while also providing education on policies that impact their lives. Poindexter is a case manager at Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park.

Poindexter told LGBTQ Nation that Kaplan’s presentation on Project 2025 “was really impactful for the ladies to hear because it moved things from secondhand conversation and/or gossip and made it real.” 

Poindexter referred to Trump’s appeals to the Black community at large. They could be his economic message, or, as Poindexter described it, mostly lies and hearsay. The woman in question was “just trying to stay alive and survive and thrive,” Poindexter said, but since then, she’s approached Poindexter with ideas for community conversations to disseminate the facts.

“She pulled me to the side afterward,” Poindexter said, “and she was like, ‘You know, I was thinking about supporting Trump but the way you all dissected Project 2025, to hear the things in there,’ she was like, ‘there’s no way.’ ” 

“That was so gratifying for me,” Poindexter said. “I kind of swelled up with tears because I’m like, that’s the work. You know, that’s what it’s for.”

Related:

Trans Americans are a lot more excited for the election now that Kamala Harris is the nominee

The survey shows that 48% of trans Americans are hopeful for the upcoming election

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