FACT SHEET FOR REPORTERS: ACCURATE AND INCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE AND ISSUES AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

GLAAD: ”LGBTQ people are a growing, visible and impactful voting bloc, and our fundamental freedoms are under attack and at stake in this election. Reporters must include LGBTQ voices in campaign conversations. Our issues and concerns are America’s issues: the right to make our own health care decisions; to be safe at school, work and in our communities; to read the books we want and that reflect our lives and history; to belong and be welcome just as we are. GLAAD research shows when news stories accurately include LGBTQ people, acceptance and safety expands. Media covering the convention and campaign beyond must include LGBTQ Americans and the stakes that deeply affect us, our safety, and everyone’s future.”

(Monday, August 19, 2024)  GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is releasing a fact sheet for reporters covering the Democratic National Convention and historic nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States.

Statement from GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her):
”LGBTQ people are a growing, visible and impactful voting bloc, and our fundamental freedoms are under attack and at stake in this election. Reporters must include LGBTQ voices in campaign conversations. Our issues and concerns are America’s issues: the right to make our own health care decisions; to be safe at school, work and in our communities; to read the books we want and that reflect our lives and history; to belong and be welcome just as we are. GLAAD research shows when news stories accurately include LGBTQ people, acceptance and safety expands. Media covering the convention and campaign beyond must include LGBTQ Americans and the stakes that deeply affect us, our safety, and everyone’s future.”

Facts to include in your coverage:

• LGBTQ voters made the deciding difference in the 2020 election and are poised to do so again in 2024. More than 1 in 5 Gen Z Americans (ages 18-26) are out as LGBTQ, the most out generation in history. Nearly 30% of Gen Z women are LGBTQ.
• GLAAD’s Accelerating Acceptance Study shows supermajority support for LGBTQ people, though support has dipped in the last year and Gen Z is increasingly a target for harassment and discrimination:
  • 80% of non-LGBTQ Americans support LGBTQ equal rights, down from a record high of 84% one year ago
  • 95% of non-LGBTQ Americans believe schools should be safe and accepting for all youth
• 93% say children should be taught to appreciate and accept people as they are
• 70% of Gen Z LGBTQ adults report discrimination based on their sexual orientation
• GLAAD is tracking the pro-LGBTQ record of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, here.
• GLAAD has also documented the pro-LGBTQ record of Harris’ runningmate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
• The Biden-Harris administration has been the most pro-LGBTQ presidency in history, with nearly 350 moves to include and protect LGBTQ Americans. GLAAD’s ongoing Biden Accountability Tracker is here.
• GLAAD polling shows LGBTQ registered voters are highly motivated to vote, with 94% indicating they are definitely (83%) or probably (11%) voting this year.
• GLAAD polling shows 53% of both registered and likely 2024 voters say they would oppose “a political candidate [who] speaks frequently about restricting access to health care and participation in sports for transgender youth.”
• GLAAD polling shows all categories of voters overwhelmingly agree that “Republicans should stop focusing on restricting women’s rights and banning medical care for transgender youth and instead focus on addressing inflation, job creation, and healthcare costs.” 94% of LGBTQ voters, 76% of registered voters, 76% of likely 2024 voters, and 82% of swing voters (those who have voted for candidates in both parties) agree.
• 2023 election returns in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio show that voters supported pro-equality candidates over candidates who targeted transgender people in their campaigns.
• GLAAD has documented the records of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on the top issues for LGBTQ voters: the economy (Harris, Trump), abortion (Harris, Trump), climate change (Harris, Trump), public safety (Harris, Trump), and education (Harris, Trump).
• Abortion is an LGBTQ issue. LGBTQ people can and do get pregnant and need reproductive health care. Many of the same states with abortion bans also have enacted bans on transgender health care even though the care is supported by every major medical association as safe, effective and lifesaving.
• GLAAD’s ongoing documentation of Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ record is available on the Trump Accountability Tracker, here.
• Throughout Trump’s presidency, his administration argued to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people at work, at school, in health care and housing access, when trying to buy a cake and trying to adopt
• Trump nominated three anti-LGBTQ justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who went on to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision was backed by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who said the landmark LGBTQ equality decisions Obergefell (marriage equality), Lawrence (private same-sex relationships), and Griswold (private decisions about contraception) should also be “reconsidered.” Trump’s Supreme Court nominees have ties to anti-LGBTQ groups including Family Research Council and anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who had written the Bostock decision expanding civil rights protections to LGBTQ workers (over Trump administration objections), wrote the decision in 303 Creative, a 26-page opinion about a legal dispute that never existed, and websites that do not exist, at the behest of anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom on fully fabricated standing.
• Though Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, the blueprint for authoritarian takeover of the government created by the anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation, his runningmate wrote the foreword to an upcoming book by Heritage’s president. Multiple people and groups behind Project 2025 have direct ties to Trump and his former administration.

Best Practices for Campaign Reporters:

• Stories about or that mention LGBTQ people should include LGBTQ voices.
  
• In stories specifically about transgender people, seek and include a transgender person.
• Prioritize facts, expertise and LGBTQ lived experience over candidate and campaign opinion in your reporting. For example, any discussion of transgender health care must note this care is supported by every major medical association (30+ statements here).
• Review and report a candidate’s LGBTQ record and support from anti-LGBTQ groups. Ongoing documentation is available on candidates, other public figures, and groups via the GLAAD Accountability Project.
• Avoid shorthand descriptions of political conversations about LGBTQ people as a “culture war.” This dehumanizes marginalized people as a “side” and allows politicians to escape accountability for creating and fueling the “war.” Descriptors like this add to voter apathy. Focus reporting on the policies, the people directly harmed or helped, and the candidates proposing them and their LGBTQ history.
• Be factual and clear in your language: “(candidate name) has proposed policies expanding access to health care for transgender people that is supported by every major medical association.”
• Include greater context: 500+ anti-LGBTQ bills were proposed in state legislatures through 2023. This is a broad scale, coordinated attack against LGBTQ Americans, targeting health care, book bans, curriculum and conversation bans, sports bans, and bathroom bans. Inform your readers and viewers about this larger pattern of LGBTQ animus. Note how health care and drag ban bills have been blocked in multiple states and district courts as unconstitutional and discriminatory, and how voters across the country have rejected so-called “parents’ rights” groups that push book bans and discriminatory policies against LGBTQ students, families, and teachers.
• When discussing “battleground” states including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona, note that voters in the most recent elections rejected anti-LGBTQ extremist candidates who sought to ban books and conversations about LGBTQ people, or supported lies about the 2020 election. Moms for Liberty-affiliated candidates in Wisconsin were defeated in 20 of the 28 school board elections
• Report connections between anti-LGBTQ extremism and other extremism: states proposing bills targeting mainstream health care for transgender people have also enacted and proposed the most restrictive bans on abortion (including Florida), and denied and denigrated fair elections. Lawmakers in Nebraska passed a bill both banning health care for transgender youth and abortion after 12 weeks. Texas lawmakers proposed more than 140 anti-LGBTQ bills last year as it also targeted women and health care providers over reproductive care and enforced draconian laws.
• Report the impact of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies, specifically for LGBTQ youth.

Additional resources:

• GALLUP: 6% of U.S. adults are out as LGBTQ, including 20% of Gen Z, the most out generation in history.
• GALLUP: 69% of Americans support marriage equality including a majority of Republicans.
• GLAAD: 80% support equal rights for LGBTQ people.
• GLAAD Media Reference Guide: terminology and 20+ topic areas to learn about and accurately report on LGBTQ people
• Medical Association Statements Transgender Health Care: 30+ statements from every major medical association and world health authority, across specialties and patient lifespan, supporting health care for transgender people. Health care for transgender people is mainstream care with widely held consensus of both the medical and scientific communities.
• Factsheet for Reporters Covering Transgender Health Care: what to know about transgender health care and how to responsibly include trans voices in your coverage.