[ad_1]
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Human Rights Campaign 2018 National Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 in Washington, DCPhoto: Kevin Wolf / AP Images for Human Rights Campaign
Since its founding in 2009 has not endorsed a political candidate. As a news site, we saw our mission as informing and educating our community, not taking partisan positions on candidates.
But these are not normal times.
More than a decade later, in the 2020 election, the choice between President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is clear. LGBTQ voters should choose Joe Biden.
Related: Voting deadlines, registration & what’s at stake for LGBTQ voters in 2020
President Trump has waged war on the transgender community and opposed LGBTQ equality to score political points with religious extremists and members of a wide range of hate groups. He has stacked the federal judiciary with lifetime appointments for right-wing political activists with poor legal credentials to serve in positions of public trust. Trump has filled his administration and the ranks of the federal government with religious conservatives intent on harming our community in any way they can get away with.
In contrasts that could not be clearer, Joe Biden has pledged to work with Congress to pass the Equality Act, which ensures fair treatment under the law for LGBTQ people, while appointing fair and open-minded judges. While the Trump administration has attempted to eliminate transgender health protections, Biden has pledged to ensure that they are maintained.
In a tragic and irresponsible 2017 Tweet, Trump instructed the Armed Serves to discharge transgender service members.
But in an opinion article for , Biden promised to reverse the trans military ban if elected to the White House:
As president, I will direct the Department of Defense to allow transgender service members to serve openly, receive needed medical treatment, and be free from discrimination. If I have the privilege of serving as the next commander in chief, I will ensure that our American heroes know I will have their back and honor their sacrifice—always, no matter who they are or who they love.
Donald Trump has given support to racists and made life harder for people of color. He has caged immigrant children, praised white supremacists, and persecuted refugees. His rhetoric demeans and dehumanizes working people and those who do not look like him. He has looked the other way as Vladimir Putin and other dictators try to destabilize our democracy and wage propaganda wars against LGBTQ people in Russian and around the globe that inspire discrimination and violence.
Joe Biden will promote the diversity of our country as one of our greatest strengths, starting with his selection of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. He boasts a long record of championing the working class over big corporations and billionaires. He is a practicing Catholic who believes in choice and fights for justice. Joe Biden will not cower before a Russian dictator.
The President has permitted the needless deaths of over 200,000 American citizens with his reckless denial of the coronavirus pandemic to the point where he and much of his administration have become sick and infected. While most of us have made enormous sacrifices to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, Trump, even after testing positive for COVID-19, has endangered the lives of White House staff, Secret Service agents, health workers, and even his supporters by refusing to wear a mask and downplaying the severity of the illness. This has taken a disastrous toll on health care workers, first-responders, and people who work in the service industry, a disproportionate share of whom are LGBTQ.
A Biden presidency will restore our government’s reliance on science to guide the pandemic response, not to mention HIV, which continues to ravage the most vulnerable within the LGBTQ community. His plan to restore our economy, protect our health, and safeguard our homes and jobs is what America needs right now to face an uncertain future when economic inequality has grown greater than ever.
On the environment, international relations, reproductive health, poverty reduction, and a myriad of other topics, the differences between Donald Trump and Joe Biden are stark.
The choice is obvious: LGBTQ voters should choose Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
[ad_2]
Source link
