As Americans head to the polls to pick the next President of the United States, YOUR ex takes a look at both candidates and how they compare regarding LGBTQ+ rights.
It’s no surprise that former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris take starkly different approaches to LGBTQ+ protections and policies. As a large number of Americans support legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, recent years have seen a decline in this support, especially among Republicans, with same-sex marriage approval showing slight drops as well. In this election, 38% of Americans say LGBTQ+ rights influence their vote, with 30% committed to supporting only those candidates who align with their values on these rights.
Trump’s Record on LGBTQ+ Issues
Donald Trump’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues has shifted widely over the years. Early on, he indicated personal acceptance toward same-sex partnerships and military service by gay individuals, views that went against the GOP mainstream at the time. However, by 2011, Trump stated he opposed gay marriage, affirming his support for “traditional marriage” during his 2015 campaign.
In 2016, Trump made history as the first Republican presidential nominee to mention LGBTQ+ issues in his RNC speech, pledging to protect the community after the Pulse nightclub tragedy. Yet, his administration’s actions painted a different picture: from withdrawing protections for transgender students to banning some transgender people from serving in the military—a policy later reversed by President Biden. Under Trump, protections for transgender individuals in healthcare and prisons were also targeted.
Recently, Trump’s campaign has taken an aggressive stance on anti-trans policies, proposing penalties for medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors and seeking to limit discussions of gender identity in schools. His 2024 campaign has spent significant resources on ads pushing anti-trans messages in battleground states, focusing heavily on this issue.
Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has also supported policies that limit LGBTQ+ rights, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and opposition to the Respect for Marriage Act, which secured federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
Harris’ Record on LGBTQ+ Issues
Kamala Harris has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career, often leading on these issues before they gained broader support in her party. In 2004, as San Francisco’s district attorney, she officiated some of the country’s first same-sex marriages. Later, as California’s attorney general, she refused to defend Proposition 8, the voter-approved same-sex marriage ban.
Harris has consistently pushed for protections against LGBTQ+ hate crimes, including establishing a hate crime unit and working to eliminate the “panic defence,” which allowed defendants to reduce sentences based on the victim’s LGBTQ+ identity. While she faced criticism for denying gender-affirming surgeries to transgender inmates as attorney general, she later pledged her support for such care during her 2020 presidential bid.
As a senator, Harris sponsored anti-discrimination legislation on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, and she has supported the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students (though later blocked by the Supreme Court). In 2022, the Biden administration achieved a major victory for LGBTQ+ rights with the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
Harris’s running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, has a long history of LGBTQ+ advocacy, having supported a gay-straight alliance as a teacher in the ’90s, adding another ally to the ticket.
