LGBTQ leaders, celebrities line up behind Harris

More than 1,000 LGBTQ political leaders, celebrities and social media influencers on Wednesday announced their support for Vice President Harris's White House bid in an open letter meant to unite the community and mobilize voters. 

"As advocates, elected officials, organizations, and community leaders serving millions of LGBTQ+ Americans and our allies across the country, we urge you to join us in this historic moment to advance equality by supporting Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign for President," states the letter, organized by LGBTQ organizations including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Advocates for Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Task Force. 

Signers include actors Sophia Bush and Wilson Cruz; Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.); Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Mark Takano (Calif.) and Becca Balint (Vt.); and community leaders Jim Obergefell and Judy Shepard.

Letter organizers will hold a “unity call” Thursday evening over Zoom, they said. 

“The community is sending a message loud and clear: we are united in support of the experienced, tough, pro-equality Vice President Kamala Harris and will do everything it takes to defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said Wednesday in a statement. “We have the opportunity to not simply vote against the Trump Project 2025 agenda for America in November. We have the opportunity to vote for the future we want.” 

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a roadmap for the next conservative administration, calls for the dismantling of federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people and supports a “biblically based” definition of family, which some worry may jeopardize gay couples' rights. The plan, which former President Trump has recently tried to distance himself from, also equates being transgender with pornography, which it intends to outlaw. 

Wednesday’s letter praises Harris as “a galvanizing trailblazer” and longtime champion of LGBTQ rights, highlighting her accomplishments as California attorney general, a U.S. senator and vice president. 

“For decades, Vice President Kamala Harris has dedicated her life to working toward this future for America, fighting hate crimes, supporting LGBTQ+ families, and advancing justice for all,” said Robinson. 

LGBTQ voters played a key role in President Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020, according to a Washington Post analysis, and nearly 70 percent of LGBTQ likely voters surveyed by the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD in January said they prefer Biden to Trump.

While it is not clear whether support for Biden, who abandoned his reelection campaign this week, will translate into enthusiasm for Harris, polling shows that most LGBTQ voters reject anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric and are less likely to vote for candidates who campaign against transgender rights.