LGBTQ+ Equality (2020 Presidential Election)

Our nation’s civil rights laws provide protections for people on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and religion.  But when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity, it’s a patchwork of protections or absence thereof across the states.  The Obama-Biden administration affirmed that gender identity and sexual orientation were included under protections against discrimination on the basis of sex within employment under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  The Trump-Pence administration reversed this position and argued to the Supreme Court that the Civil Rights Act does not offer those protections to people based on sexual orientation and gender identity and that it should be legal to fire people based on these characteristics.  The Supreme Court disagreed in a 6-3 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch that affirmed that the law does include protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and that an individual cannot be fired for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

On March 17, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act which would amend existing civil rights laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics within employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.  It would amend numerous existing laws including the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Jury Selection and Services Act.   It was introduced in the House by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and passed with a bipartisan vote of 236-173 where 8 Republicans voted in its favor.  It was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).  The GOP-led Senate has not taken up the bill.

The GOP has a solid history of dehumanizing and delegitimizing the existence of LGBTQ+ individuals.  I’m a member of an LGBTQ+ families Facebook group and this morning someone was asking for recommendations for safe dentists for their kids.  It got me to thinking about how often I see requests like this for everything you can imagine: doctors, communities to live in, schools, childcare, bakeries, stores, restaurants, wedding venues, resorts, adoption agencies, the list goes on and on and touches every aspect of living a quality life.  This daily strain of having to make sure an environment is safe before you enter is not a free way to live.

The truth is that many environments are unsafe for LGBTQ+ people.  Many states have laws that permit business owners to opt out of providing services to LGBTQ+ people.  Anti-LGBT hate crimes are rising.  Nearly 1 in 5 hate crimes are motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias.  At the beginning of August 2020, the number of people being murdered for being transgender in 2020 had already surpassed the total for 2019.  Those statistics speak to threats to physical safety, but are compounded by the mental and emotional safety that are also under frequent threat.  And, unfortunately, some people decide that living like that just isn’t worth living.  Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are 5 times more likely than their heterosexual peers to attempt suicide.  One third of transgender young people report attempting suicide.

The youth are particularly vulnerable.  Despite representing only 7% of the youth population, LGBTQ+ youth represent 40% of the youth homeless population as a result of the frequency of being disowned by their family due to coming out.  LGBTQ+ young people are more than twice as likely to become homeless compared with their heterosexual peers.  In addition to the Trump-Pence administration proposing a rule to allow federal adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ+ parents, which is already the law in many states, LGBTQ+ youth are often put at further risk when they aren’t placed with safe and affirming families in the foster care or adoption system.

Here is where the candidates stand on LGBTQ+ rights.  If they have a full policy proposal on their webpage, I’ve linked it to their name.

Joe Biden:

Biden’s Record:

Under the Obama-Biden Administration:

• the military program, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” forbid LGBT service members to be out was repealed.
• Biden publicly voiced support for marriage equality in 2012.
• protected transgender individuals from discrimination in healthcare.
• affirmed that the Civil Rights Act protected LGBTQ+ persons from employment discrimination.
• prohibited discrimination by federal contactors against LGBTQ+ people via executive order.
• ensured that federally funded homeless shelters provide services based on a person’s gender identity and made it so they couldn’t refuse service to a person based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

As a private citizen, Biden:

• promoted understanding and acceptance among young LGBTQ+ people through the “As You Are” campaign through the Biden Foundation.

Biden’s Policy Proposals:

In his first 100 days he will:

• make the enactment of the Equality Act a top legislative priority and reaffirm that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected under the Civil Rights Act.
• reverse the discriminatory actions of the Trump-Pence administration via executive order.
• direct federal resources to help prevent violence against transgender women.

During his presidency he will:

• nominate and appoint federal judges and officials who represent the diversity of the American people, including LGBTQ+ people.
• reverse the transgender militarty ban.
• ensure all transgender individuals have access to identification documents that accurately reflect their gender identity.
• guarantee transgender students have access to facilities based on their gender identity.
• work to enact the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act named for a student who jumped to his death after being outed to his campus by his roommate’s webcam.  The act would require higher education receiving student aid funding to enact anti-harassment policies.
• invest in programs such as the LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Prevention Initiative and the 3/40 Blueprint to prevent and reduce LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.  He will also increase funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act which provides access to transitional living programs.
• make sure LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers have access to necessary services and protections.
• guarantee the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community.
• ensure comprehensive health care coverage for LGBTQ+ Americans.
• ban conversion therapy.
• expand mental health and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Donald Trump:

Trump’s Record:

The Trump-Pence Administration:

• blocked transgender military service members from serving openly.
• rolled back sex discrimination protections in healthcare for transgender people.
• proposed policies to allow federally funded homeless shelters to turn away transgender people.
• proposed policies to allow federally funded adoption agencies to reject same sex-sex couples.
• and the Department of Justice argued in favor of people being able to be fired from their jobs for being a member of the LGBT community.
• and the State Department rolled out a report that argued that property rights and religious liberty rights superseded all other human rights and should guide our domestic and foreign policy. 
• recalled the Education Department’s order that public schools allow “gender-confused males access to girls’ restrooms and lockers.”