GLAAD RESPONDS TO PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to the presidential debate tonight between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The debate featured one mention of LGBTQ people. Donald Trump was given a chance to respond to Kamala Harris’ answer about policy changes in her career:  “Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

Trump appeared to be referring to a report on a 2019 questionnaire Harris completed in which she said she supports providing appropriate medical care to transgender people who “rely on the state for care,” including those in prison and immigration detention. The document did not specify the legal status of detainees, and was completed before baseless anti-transgender campaigns began spreading rampant disinformation about transgender people and banning their health care. (Additional context about the inaccurate insinuations about the document here.) Every major medical association supports health care for transgender people.

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis responded:
“The debate included only one mention of LGBTQ Americans, a smear against transgender people that went unchallenged. Campaign reporters and debate moderators are urged to ask questions that reveal a candidates’ records, views and plans for LGBTQ Americans, so that our community is included as they are in everyday life, not simply as political talking points. As Americans begin returning ballots and line up for early voting, reporters must remember that the next President of the United States will have a profound impact on the LGBTQ community and all marginalized people. We urge reporters to ask leaders for specific ways they will ensure we are always welcome and safe.”

GLAAD added context to fact check the former president’s comment here.

GLAAD also fact checked Trump’s claims that he “had never seen” Project 2025. The 900 page conservative blueprint for the next president’s governance was written by 140 former Trump appointees, and created by The Heritage Foundation, a longtime anti-LGBTQ group tracked by GLAAD, whose members both served in the Trump administration and returned to Heritage after Trump failed to get re-elected. Trump’s running mate JD Vance also wrote the foreword to a new book by Heritage’s president.

Research:

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 has documented Harris’ LGBTQ record here. 

GLAAD has tracked the LGBTQ record of Harris’ runningmate, Gov. Tim Walz, here and here.

GLAAD has tracked nearly 350 moves for LGBTQ Americans made by the Biden-Harris administration, here.

Donald Trump’s LGBTQ history is documented on GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Tracker, 

Trump’s choice for Vice President, Ohio Senator JD Vance’s LGBTQ record is tracked on the GLAAD Accountability Project, here.

Additional background:

• 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 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 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). Trump’s record on  transgender people is available here.