Biden campaign launches Pride Month campaign as allies work to bolster LGBTQ support

President Joe BidenThe re-election campaign is launching an effort at the start of National Pride Month to try to bolster support among LGBTQ voters.

The campaign plans to be present this month at more than 200 Pride events in 23 states, including all swing states, and launch a paid media campaign aimed at mobilizing LGBTQ voters, two campaign officials said in details shared by first time with NBC News. . The campaign will close out the month of outreach with a fundraiser in New York City on June 28.

Some of Biden’s allies worry about declining support among LGBTQ voters.

Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off Pride Month greetings more than 150 LGBTQ leaders and allies in Los Angeles, and first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced stop at the Pittsburgh Pride festival.

“This community is under attack,” the first lady told the crowd, referring to state laws that she says target the LGBTQ community.

“Donald Trump is a bully to the LGBTQ community, to our families, to our country,” she continued. “We can’t let him win.”

A January survey by the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD found that Joe Biden overwhelming support of registered LGBTQ voters overall and in swing states, 68% and 72%, compared to 15% for Trump in both categories.

However, the largest LGBTQ rights group in the country, the Human Rights Campaign, recently committed to spend $15 million in six swing states to help Biden win in November, citing concerns about dwindling support from LGBTQ voters. The CDH estimates that this year a third of the 75 million “equality voters” – who vote based on support for LGBTQ rights – may not be guaranteed Biden voters.

“Our main task with these voters is to help highlight what is at stake in the election,” said Brandon Wolf, HRC national press secretary. “The contrast between the two candidates could not be clearer, and this is especially true when we talk about issues of equality.”

The Biden campaign is aware of the statistic and is prepared to invest money in a digital and print media campaign across the country and in swing states, presenting Biden as “the most pro-equality president in American history” while painting Trump as determined to restrict equality for LGBTQ communities.

“Winning campaigns invest early and often in their coalition of support,” said Sam Alleman, national director of LGBTQ+ engagement for the Biden-Harris campaign. “This Pride month is a reflection of real action to mobilize and activate LGBTQ+ voters well before November.”

Any decline in support among LGBTQ voters is a source of frustration for Biden’s allies, who argue that he has delivered on his priorities, including supporting same-sex marriage as vice president in 2012, ahead of President Barack Obama’s plans to publicly endorse the issue. As president, Biden signed legislation protecting marriage rights for same-sex couples, ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, and issued executive orders to protect the civil rights of LGBTQ people.

On Friday, he issued a proclamation declaring June National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Pride Month, saying that “promoting equality for the LGBTQI+ community is a top priority for my administration.”

Biden’s campaign argues that Trump would strip LGBTQ rights if voters elected him to a second term. As president, Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military, and as a candidate he said he was against gender-affirming care for children.

However, former first lady Melania Trump recently spearheaded a fundraiser to the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for LGBTQ inclusion in the Republican Party. The former president’s allies have also recently tried to ensure that the position on same-sex marriage outlined in the Republican National Committee’s official platform this election cycle it’s not quite right.

The efforts appear aimed at not alienating voters in a close general election who are not as conservative on LGBTQ rights as the GOP base.

NBC News 2020 Election Exit Poll Found Biden won 64% of the LGBTQ votecompared to Trump at 27%.

Wolf said Biden has a better track record and vision for delivering equality to voters than Trump, citing passage of the Respect Marriage Act in 2022 and creation of rules to protect community members in schools and healthcare settings.

“The Biden-Harris administration has nominated more than 200 openly LGBTQ people to serve in all types of roles. It really matters,” Wolf said.

Still, even if Wolf fully embraces the Biden-Harris strategy, he recognizes that Biden has work to do in the queer community and will need to continue to show up.

“The Biden-Harris campaign has an incredible opportunity to reach out to communities and talk not only about the things they’ve been able to accomplish,” he said, “but also about their vision of what’s possible if we send them back to the White Kingdom ”. Home.”

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with