LAS VEGAS — Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, and its California affiliate Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, announced their endorsement of Vice President Joe Biden for President of the United States on Friday. After Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced on Wednesday that he has suspended his campaign, Biden became the Democratic Party’s nominee-apparent. Biden’s policy plan to achieve full, lived LGBTQ+ equality is more comprehensive and progressive than any major party nominee for president in the nation’s history.
Silver State Equality released the following statement from State Director André Wade:
“We’re committed to creating a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people — for our community and the diverse communities to which we belong. As president, Joe Biden will continue to be a champion in that fight. “Too many LGBTQ+ people across Nevada and the rest of the country — especially LGBTQ+ people of color, immigrants and transgender folks — face disparities in health and wellbeing, an education system that isn’t safe and supportive and a justice system that targets and criminalizes us instead of protecting us. Donald Trump and Mike Pence didn’t start those problems, but they’ve made all of them worse. “Now more than ever, LGBTQ+ Nevadans need a president we can trust. We need a president who will be ready on day one to lead this country out of a devastating public health emergency and an economic crisis. We need a president who can unite the country behind a bold, progressive vision for the future — one who knows that our best days still lie ahead. Joe Biden is that president, and we’re proud to be on his team.”
“We’re committed to creating a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people — for our community and the diverse communities to which we belong. As president, Joe Biden will continue to be a champion in that fight.
“Too many LGBTQ+ people across Nevada and the rest of the country — especially LGBTQ+ people of color, immigrants and transgender folks — face disparities in health and wellbeing, an education system that isn’t safe and supportive and a justice system that targets and criminalizes us instead of protecting us. Donald Trump and Mike Pence didn’t start those problems, but they’ve made all of them worse.
“Now more than ever, LGBTQ+ Nevadans need a president we can trust. We need a president who will be ready on day one to lead this country out of a devastating public health emergency and an economic crisis. We need a president who can unite the country behind a bold, progressive vision for the future — one who knows that our best days still lie ahead. Joe Biden is that president, and we’re proud to be on his team.”
Biden’s comprehensive strategy to end the HIV epidemic by 2025 includes a bold and appropriately aggressive plan to expand access to life-saving HIV prevention and treatment medications and eliminate stigma against people living with HIV. His plan for LGBTQ+ equality includes specific policy priorities to protect LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes, which have increased sharply during the Trump-Pence Administration, and end the epidemic of violence against the transgender community — particularly transgender women of color. His plan to build on the Affordable Care Act and expand access to high quality, affordable healthcare will help millions of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV receive the care they need, free of discrimination. Biden has also called transgender equality “the civil rights issue of our time.”
Biden has committed to nominating pro-equality cabinet members and a pro-equality justice to the U.S. Supreme Court should there be a vacancy. Biden has also pledged to overturn President Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ executive actions, including the president’s ban on transgender military service and Secretary DeVos’s revocation of the Obama-Biden Administration’s guidance protecting transgender students in schools.
During the Obama-Biden Administration, our nation made historic progress in the fight for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice — repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” passing comprehensive federal hate crimes legislation, protecting LGBTQ+ students from bullying and discrimination, expanding access to affordable healthcare for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV and finally achieving marriage equality nationwide. When Vice President Biden left office in 2017, he and Dr. Biden started a foundation that focused on advancing LGBTQ+ equality, supporting LGBTQ+ students and protecting the transgender community from discrimination and violence.
Equality California and Silver State Equality are the first major LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations to endorse Biden. The organizations join key LGBTQ+ leaders including Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona), U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-New York) and Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.
Every top tier 2020 Democratic presidential candidate sought Equality California and Silver State Equality’s endorsement — a testament to the LGBTQ+ community’s role as a key voting bloc in California and Nevada, both important early states, and across the country. When the organizations endorsed Pete Buttigieg in January, it noted that all of the candidates who had applied for endorsement, including Vice President Biden, had submitted questionnaires outlining their strong support for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice.
2020 will be one of the most consequential election years for LGBTQ+ people in modern American history, and Equality California and Silver State Equality plan to run substantial get out the vote efforts in elections up and down the ballot.
For a complete list of Silver State Equality’s 2020 endorsements, visit silverstateequality.org/elections.
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As Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, Silver State Equality brings the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in Nevada and throughout the U.S. Silver State Equality strives to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. Silver State Equality is a Nevada-based program affiliated with and supported by Equality California and Equality California Institute, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. More information at SilverStateEquality.org.
