Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has emerged as a leading candidate to be Vice President Harris’ running mate, has helped turn Minnesota into a haven for LGBTQ Americans, signing laws protecting access to health care and abortion that affirm gender by banning conversion therapy and making it illegal for libraries to ban books just because they have LGBTQ themes or characters.
Under Walz’s leadership, Minnesota has solidified itself as a liberal stronghold in the largely conservative Midwest, although the governor has long supported progressive issues like LGBTQ equality.
In 1999, Walz, then a 35-year-old social studies teacher at Mankato West High School, advised the school’s first gay-straight alliance (GSA), a student-led club that supports LGBTQ students and families. Later, in 2006, Walz unseated a longtime Republican member of Congress in a largely rural district, running on a platform that included support for same-sex marriage, which the state banned in 1997.
“It was not a popular position at the time for a red-district Democrat. This did not earn him any political points. But he stood up for families like mine because he believed it was the right thing to do,” said Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), one of 12 LGBTQ members of Congress. wrote on social platform last month in endorsing Walz for vice president. “Your bravery made a difference in my life and the lives of thousands of Minnesotans – and it’s bravery that would make our country better.”
In Congress, Walz advocated the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a military policy that prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly. “I have never seen this nation be safer because a soldier was removed because of sexual orientation,” said Walz, who spent 24 years in the Army National Guard.said in a speech on the House floor in 2009. That same year, he facilitated passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a landmark law signed by former President Barack Obama that protects against crimes motivated by anti-LGBTQ animosity.
Walz was an early supporter of the Respect Marriage Act, a proposal to codify the right of same-sex and interracial couples to marry that Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced in 2009. President Biden signed into law the measure into law in 2022.
“Tim, as an individual, has a long-standing commitment to inclusion as an overall value,” said Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, a statewide LGBTQ rights group.
Rohn, whose organization worked with Walz and the state Legislature to ban conversion therapy — a discredited practice that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — in Minnesota last year, said he sees Walz as an opportunity for people LGBTQ and trans people. in particular, so that their voices are heard and their needs are met.
“That carries a lot of weight,” she said. “Even if a vice president isn’t necessarily driving every part of a policy agenda, having someone who openly supports the community, who has advocated for the community and has signed bills into law that have really moved forward nationally, makes a huge difference. .”
Walz, who has served as governor of Minnesota since 2019, in a March 2023 executive order made the state one of the first to protect applicants and providers of gender-affirming health care from lawsuits by states with bans in place. The following month, Walz signed legislation safeguarding access to health care.
On both occasions, Walz held signing ceremonies at the state capitol in St. Paul, where he was flanked by supporters. As he signed his executive order, Walz held the hand of 12-year-old Hildie Edwards, a transgender girl who testified in support of the state’s trans refuge bill in February.
“Governor Walz didn’t just rubber stamp pro-LGBTQ legislation, he held celebrations and commemorative signings of things like the trans refuge bill that some governors could sign quietly,” said OutFront Minnesota’s Rohn. “That’s a really important quality for LGBTQ people to see, that this is not just something that’s necessary, but it’s something to celebrate and something that can be a winning issue.”
“Tim Walz definitely showed what is possible. He would be a great asset to the ticket,” said Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which works to elect more LGBTQ people to public office.
Walz’s Democratic competitors – Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and the governors. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky — also have strong positive records on LGBTQ rights, Meloy noted. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is also being considered as Harris’ running mate, could be the country’s first gay vice president.
“No matter what happens, we will have a great ally,” Meloy said, adding that support for LGBTQ rights will likely play well politically in November.
A majority of voters support federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, recent polls show, and more than 50 percent of voters surveyed by the LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD in March said they oppose political candidates who frequently speak out about the restriction. American transgender rights, specifically.
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and his running mate, Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance, supported policies targeting transgender Americans, including a federal law that recognizes only two genders, which would effectively end legal recognition of trans people in the USA. Trump also promised to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, ban trans student-athletes from competing on teams that match their gender identity and cut federal funding for schools that accommodate transgender students.
Although Walz appears to be viewed favorably by LGBTQ Americans, he has faced backlash. In June, Minnesota County District Attorney Mary Moriarty accused Walz of differential treatment because of his sexual orientation. That claim was quickly rejected by the governor and his allies, including Rohn, Craig and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.).
“He has a very open spirit and a very generous spirit. It asks questions about you and remembers the answers. He encourages me,” said Rep. Leigh Finke of Minnesota, a Democrat and the first openly transgender person elected to the state Legislature.
Finke, author and lead sponsor of Minnesota’s trans refuge bill, said Walz was a source of moral support last year when Finke was the target of a national pressure campaign led by far-right conservatives who falsely claimed that The bill would allow children to medically transition without parental consent and promoted the baseless claim that Finke and other trans people were “grooming” children to abuse them.
Transgender people from all corners of the U.S. — and the world — have fled to Minnesota since Walz signed Finke’s bill into law in April 2023. More than 40,000 transgender and nonbinary Americans surveyed by the National Center for Equality Transgender people in 2022 said they considered moving to another country. state due to anti-LGBTQ legislation, including restrictive laws that restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare for minors – and adults, in some cases. Five percent, or about 4,500 people, said they had already moved.
In March, Erik Beda, a transgender Russian man, moved to Minneapolis after he and his partner were forced to divorce following Beda’s transition. the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported in April. Russia, which has increasingly adopted laws and policies hostile to LGBTQ people, does not recognize same-sex unions.
The night after the Pioneer Press story was published, Walz texted Finke a link to the article. “I am grateful for your work and decency,” Walz wrote in an accompanying message, which Finke shared with The Hill.
“It was a really powerful moment for me to see that, not only was he supporting us when we were in the House and I was being publicly targeted, but he was also thinking about the work we were doing one night when he was just at home. That, to me, says a lot about the kind of person he is,” Finke said.
“I am very worried about a future where trans people are left behind,” she added. “We are a small community and we have needs that need to be met. With a Harris-Walz administration, I don’t worry that trans people will be forgotten.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
