LGBTQ+ Voters' Guide 2020

Unsure about why voting is important? Read Biden’s detailed plan to help the LGBTQ+ community fight against hatred and discrimination!!!

“Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out is what all marriages, at their root, are about.” —Joe Biden, “Meet the Press,” May 6, 2012

Joe Biden believes that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity and be able to live without fear no matter who they are or who they love. During the Obama-Biden Administration, the United States made historic strides toward LGBTQ+ equality—from the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to Biden’s historic declaration in support of marriage equality on Meet the Press in 2012 to the unprecedented advancement of protections for LGBTQ+ Americans at the federal level.

But this fight’s not over. Donald Trump and Mike Pence have given hate against LGBTQ+ individuals safe harbor and rolled back critical protections for the LGBTQ+ community. By blocking the ability of transgender individuals to openly serve their country, denying LGBTQ+ people access to critical health care, proposing policies allowing federally funded homeless shelters to turn away transgender people and federally funded adoption agencies to reject same-sex couples, and failing to address the epidemic of violence against transgender people—particularly transgender women of color—the Trump-Pence Administration has led a systematic effort to undo the progress President Obama and Vice President Biden made.

Hate and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people started long before Trump and Pence took office. Defeating them will not solve the problem, but it is an essential first step in order to resume our march toward equality.

As President, Biden will stand with the LGBTQ+ community to ensure America finally lives up to the promise on which it was founded: equality for all. He will provide the moral leadership to champion equal rights for all LGBTQ+ people, fight to ensure our laws and institutions protect and enforce their rights, and advance LGBTQ+ equality globally. Biden will:

Protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.
Support LGBTQ+ youth.
Protect LGBTQ+ individuals from violence and work to end the epidemic of violence against the transgender community, particularly transgender women of color.
Expand access to high-quality health care for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Ensure fair treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals in the criminal justice system.
Collect data necessary to fully support the LGBTQ+ community.
Advance global LGBTQ+ rights and development.

PROTECT LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FROM DISCRIMINATION

“No one should be fired, denied a home or access to services because of who they are or who they love.”

—Joe Biden, May 17, 2019

Ensuring Equal Rights

Half of LGBTQ+ Americans live in states without adequate civil rights protections. They can get married on Sunday and the very next day get fired under state law because of who they are or who they love. LGBTQ+ people still face discrimination in nearly every aspect of their lives, including employment, military service, starting a family, and obtaining a driver’s license with their accurate gender marker.

The Equality Act is the best vehicle for ensuring equal rights under the law for LGBTQ+ Americans, and will guarantee that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected under existing civil rights laws. Biden will make enactment of the Equality Act during his first 100 days as President a top legislative priority. Biden will also direct his Cabinet to ensure immediate and full enforcement of the Equality Act across all federal departments and agencies.

In addition to enacting the Equality Act, Biden will take action using his executive authority. He will immediately reverse the discriminatory actions of the Trump-Pence Administration and then go further to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. Biden will:

Empower federal agencies to be champions for equality. Biden will nominate and appoint federal officials and judges who represent the diversity of the American people, including LGBTQ+ people. He will ensure that leaders across the federal agencies are committed to fully enforcing our civil rights laws for LGBTQ+ individuals. And, he’ll ensure that we give the agencies charged with enforcing our non-discrimination laws the funds they need to fully pursue this obligation. These agencies include the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Furthermore, Biden will:

Reaffirm that the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2014, the Obama-Biden Department of Justice affirmed that the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII prohibition against employment discrimination based on sex applies to discrimination based on gender identity. The EEOC later affirmed that Title VII prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The Trump-Pence Administration’s Department of Justice has reversed this position, arguing that Title VII excludes protections for these groups.

Ensure enforcement of Title VII and work to pass the Equality Act to affirm that employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation is prohibited.

Support transgender and non-binary people in the workforce. Transgender and non-binary Americans face significant discrimination when seeking employment. To address these unique challenges, Biden will ensure that workforce and entrepreneurial training programs and resources funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration focus on and benefit this community. He will also provide incentives for states and local governments to adopt programs that help prepare transgender and non-binary people for the workforce and encourage entrepreneurship.

Stop employment discrimination in the federal government. The federal government should lead by example. Biden will restore full implementation of President Obama’s executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors, which Trump has undermined. The Biden Administration will also work with civil rights leaders to develop and institute implicit bias training programs for federal workers and contractors to address discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability. A Biden Administration will make the resulting training materials available to the public so other employers can conduct similar programs.

Now that you understand what's at stake for our community, make sure you get up and go vote!!!