I am not excited for Kamala Harris. She is not a leftist and is not a Marxist. Kamala is a centrist liberal and her record is not great. As California’s Attorney General, she fought against gender-affirming care for transgender inmates. As Senator she helped pass FOSTA/SESTA, a 2018 package of bills that aimed to stop sex trafficking by shutting down sites used by sex workers like Backpage and Craigslist classified (A disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ people are engaged in sex work, frequently as the result of employment discrimination.) However, now she says she supports decriminalizing sex work.

Overall I believe that Kamala Harris is on the side of the LGBTQ+ community.

Here is a part of Kamala Harris’ record:

• As the district attorney of San Francisco created “an LGBTQ+ hate crimes unit”
• As California’s attorney general, she fought the “gay/trans panic defense”
• In 2011, she supported marriage equality by petitioning the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to repeal Proposition 8
• As Vice President, she supported the Biden administration’s order to federal agencies to protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination by enforcing the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, that held the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, applied in the contexts of not just employment, but housing, healthcare, and credit lending.
• Kamala also supported the administration as it sued states to block anti-trans laws and policies, including asking the Supreme Court to lift bans on medically necessary gender-affirming health care.

I am excited for Governor Tim Walz for Vice President. Tim Walz is a center-left candidate and a strong ally of the LGBTQ+ community. His pro-LGBTQ+ record goes beyond his time in office. It spanned his years in education and the military. 

One thing that stands out to me is when in 1999 he devoted his time and energy to help his students at Mankato West High School create the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance. When he ran for Congress in 2006, his platform included support for marriage equality, and in 2009 he fought against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

As Governor of Minnesota:

• Signed an executive order that protects access to health care for transgender people in Minnesota
• Signed a statewide ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ children and vulnerable adults into law
• Signed a “trans refuge” law that protects transgender people and their families from legal repercussions for traveling to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming health care
• Signed the PRO Act, which codified the fundamental right to abortion in Minnesota law

I understand that we cannot rely on the Democratic Party to mount a serious challenge to capitalism and that we must push and agitate them. I believe we must work inside and outside of the Democratic Party. That’s why I believe in working with coalitions when we agree on issues without forgetting our goal of ending capitalism. 

I do not agree with the Democratic Party on many issues, especially on the Genocide in Gaza and their support of Israel. I support an immediate ceasefire and an immediate end of US aid to Israel. 

I don’t know if I could survive another Trump presidency and I do not have the privilege to sit out. I am a disabled transgender woman living with a serious rare disease and I rely on Medicaid and other welfare programs to survive. 

A second term of a Trump presidency would be a disaster. Trump would reinstate the ban on transgender people from serving openly in the military and block gender-affirming medical care for transgender people enrolled in federal healthcare programs. He would order the Department of Health and Human Services to eliminate nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people established under the Affordable Care Act. 

He would roll back President Biden’s trans-inclusive Title IX protections and erase gender identity and sexual orientation from all federal anti-discrimination policies. He wants to “define ‘transgender’ out of existence” and ban gender marker changes on government documents. 

Trump’s Supreme Court appointees overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating a constitutional right and denying people across the nation the right to abortion. He will also support a nationwide abortion ban. 

If we want to mount a serious challenge to the right-wing assaults on our civil rights I know that we will have to work with the Democrats from time to time. That time is now. We cannot sit this out. 

Democrats have done some good.

• Democrats increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits
• President Biden signed into law a permanent special summer nutrition program that has helped 21 million kids
• Democrats capped the price of insulin at $35 a month for nearly 4 million seniors and others on Medicare
• Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which caps total out-of-pocket drug costs at $2000 a year for millions of seniors and others on Medicare
• Democrats are working to make trade school and community college free
• President Biden created the SAVE plan which is the most affordable student-loan repayment plan, helping 8 million Americans – including more than 4.5 million (including me) who now have a $0 monthly payment
• President Biden canceled student loan debt for more than 942,000 public servants, including educators
• President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and set an ambitious goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050
• Democrats passed the Safer Communities Act, which includes the first-ever federal gun trafficking and straw purchasing law, enhanced background checks for gun purchasers under 21, funding to implement red flag laws, a narrowing of the “boyfriend loophole” to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and new requirements so all gun dealers now must conduct background checks
• President Biden invested nearly $1 billion in job training, addiction recovery, and reentry services; and expanded access to Pell Grants, so people can earn a college degree while they’re incarcerated
• Democrats passed the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining marriage equality in federal law
• President Biden reversed Trump’s ban on transgender servicemembers and ended the discriminatory ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.
• President Biden signed an executive order recommitting the federal government to guarantee educational environments free from sex discrimination, including based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

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