LGBTQ issues hardly factor in Harris-Trump debate; here's what to know about their records
In a viral moment at Tuesday's presidential debate, former President Donald Trump suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to "do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison."
That inflammatory remark, raised following an exchange about immigration, was the only time LGBTQ+ issues came up in the 90-minute debate, even as members of the community face growing threats from right-wing politicians and provocateurs.
LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD said Trump may have been referring to a 2019 ACLU questionnaire where Harris agreed to ensure medical care for transgender and nonbinary people who "rely on the state - including those in prison and immigration detention."
In a fact check of the debate moment, GLAAD stated, "health care is a human right, and it is the law to provide it for detained people. Health care for transgender people is evidence-based, best-practice medical care supported by every major medical association."
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"The debate included only one mention of LGBTQ Americans, a smear against transgender people that went unchallenged," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in an emailed statement. "As Americans begin returning ballots and line up for early voting, reporters must remember that the next President of the United States will have a profound impact on the LGBTQ community and all marginalized people."
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Comparing Donald Trump's and Kamala Harris' record on LGBTQ+ issues
The 2024 elections is shaping up to be an incredibly close race where young voters, the most publicly LGBTQ+ generation in history, could sway the outcome.
GLAAD has tracked more than 220 attacks from Trump on LGBTQ people in speeches, presidential actions and legislative support. One of the "20 CORE PROMISES" of the GOP platform is aimed at transgender women, vowing to "keep men out of women's sports." The hundreds of attacks from Trump include claims falsely stating kids are receiving gender-affirming surgeries at school, vowing to stop gender-affirming care for youth and aiding the rollback of the federal right to an abortion.
Harris, on the other hand, has 66 moves on her record for the LGBTQ community, according to the GLAAD accountability tracker. LGBTQ news outlet The Advocate said Harris would likely be the most pro-LGBTQ+ president in history, should she take the White House.
Harris supported same-sex marriage as early as 2004 and refused to defend a same-sex marriage ban while in office as California attorney general. Although she denied gender-affirming care to transgender inmates as AG, she worked to change the policies internally, the Advocate reported.
Every person in our nation must have the freedom to be their true self and to live free from hate.
On Transgender Day of Visibility, I say to all trans and non-binary people: We see you. We love you. We will never stop fighting for you.— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 31, 2024
As Vice President, she spoke about violence against LGBTQ people in Guatemala being a root cause of immigration, criticized anti-LGBTQ legislation in Florida and supported the trans community on the Transgender Day of Visbility.
This election comes after several years of increased legislative attacks on the LGTBQ+ community, especially transgender youth. In 2024 so far, the ACLU is tracking 530 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Transgender operations for immigrants sole LGBTQ issue in debate