Jul 25
1,000+ Leaders from the Queer Community Show Their Support for Kamala Harris
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
It hasn't taken long for leaders from the LGBTQ+ community to coalesce behind Vice President Kamala Harris in support of her candidacy for the White House.
"More than 1,000 LGBTQ political leaders, celebrities and social media influencers on Wednesday announced their support for Vice President Harris's White House bid in an open letter meant to unite the community and mobilize voters," political news outlet The Hill reported.
Among those signing the open letter were "actors Sophia Bush and Wilson Cruz; Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.); Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Mark Takano (Calif.) and Becca Balint (Vt.); and community leaders Jim Obergefell and Judy Shepard," The Hill documented.
"As advocates, elected officials, organizations, and community leaders serving millions of LGBTQ+ Americans and our allies across the country, we urge you to join us in this historic moment to advance equality by supporting Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign for President," the letter, spearheaded by "LGBTQ organizations including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Advocates for Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Task Force," stated, according to The Hill.
Kelley Robinson, who heads LGBTQ+ equality group the Human Rights Campaign, issued a separate statement in which she said, "The community is sending a message loud and clear: we are united in support of the experienced, tough, pro-equality Vice President Kamala Harris and will do everything it takes to defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance."
Robinson went on to add: "We have the opportunity to not simply vote against the Trump Project 2025 agenda for America in November... [but] to vote for the future we want," referencing right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation's 900+ page blueprint for radically overhauling the U.S. government, re-casting the nation's laws in a manner that follows a "biblical" Christian Nationalist agenda, and rolling back the rights of women, LGBTQ+ Americans, and other minorities.
Project 2025 "also equates being transgender with pornography, which it intends to outlaw," The Hill noted.
Robinson went on to declare that Vice President Harris "has dedicated her life to working toward this future for America, fighting hate crimes, supporting LGBTQ+ families, and advancing justice for all."
The HRC had previously announced its enthusiastic endorsement of Harris, calling her "a trailblazer and... a champion for LGBTQ+ equality for decades," with a record that extends "from leading the fight in San Francisco against hate crimes and her work in California to end the so-called gay and transgender 'panic defense' to her early support for marriage equality and her leadership serving as our Vice President."
The Hill took note of the influence that queer voters wield, reporting that "LGBTQ voters played a key role in President Biden's victory over Trump in 2020, according to a Washington Post analysis, and nearly 70 percent of LGBTQ likely voters surveyed by the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD in January said they prefer Biden to Trump."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
