Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with D.L. Hughley highlighting how the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity by improving access to housing, creating jobs and investing in small businesses as part of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour on Thursday May 16, 2024 at Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wis. Photo: Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN
Kamala Devi Harris — the 49th and current Vice President of the United States serving alongside President Joe Biden since January 2021 — has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career, consistently supporting policies that promote equality and inclusivity for the queer community.
Kamala Harris at a glance
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Race/Ethnicity: Black
Gender Identity: Female
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Pronouns: She/Her
LGBTQ+ Ally: Yes
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Biography
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian biologist, and her father, Donald J. Harris, is a Jamaican American economist. Harris grew up in Berkeley, California, and attended Howard University for her undergraduate studies before earning her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1989. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases.
In 2003, Harris was elected as the District Attorney of San Francisco, where she created a program to offer first-time drug offenders the chance to earn a high school diploma and find employment. In 2010, she was elected as California’s Attorney General, the first woman, and the first African American and South Asian to hold the position. During her tenure, she fought for marriage equality, defended the Affordable Care Act, and implemented policies to address the foreclosure crisis.
In 2016, Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate, where she served on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Judiciary Committee, and the Committee on Budget. Her work in the Senate focused on healthcare reform, environmental justice, and criminal justice reform. In 2020, she was elected as Vice President alongside President Joe Biden.
Harris’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues
Vice President Harris has had a mostly supportive record of LGBTQ+ issues. She has supported most LGBTQ+ rights issues, and has advocated against discriminatory policies. However, some of those pro-LGBTQ+ policies haven’t been enacted.
She aroused controversy when she denied a trans woman in prison gender-affirming care in 2015. While she has walked back on the decision, but it garnered her plenty of criticism from LGBTQ+ voters and allies.
Same-sex marriage
Harris has the longest history of supporting same-sex marriage out of any Democratic candidate currently in play. She publicly supported marriage equality as far back as 2004, where she officiated gay weddings. She more vocally began to support gay marriage in 2008, spending the years since backing marriage equality. She worked with President Biden on enacting the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022 to require state and federal governments to recognize same-sex marriage.
Trans children in sports
Harris has not spoken much publicly regarding the issue of transgender youth in sports. In a statement made for the 2022 Transgender Day of Visibility, she was cited alongside President Biden as supporting the plaintiffs in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, a lawsuit concerning trans kids’ rights to play on sports teams matching their gender identity.
The Biden-Harris administration also put out proposed Title IX rules last year that would prohibit schools from banning trans athletes from participating on their gender’s sports teams. However, the rules had some exceptions for elite sports, and many red states ended up opposing these rules in court.
Transgender access to public bathrooms
Harris has been a supporter of trans people’s rights to use bathrooms matching their gender identity since at least 2016. At that time, she filed amicus briefs during her time as California’s Attorney General in support of transgender people’s rights to use their gender’s bathroom.
She also made a 2017 statement on Facebook in response to a news article about former President Donald Trump’s transgender bathroom policies. The statement said, “This isn’t about bathrooms. This is about whether or not transgender people have the right to exist in the United States.”
Don’t say gay/LGBTQ+ discussions in schools
Harris has publicly opposed Don’t Say Gay laws. In an event at Ritz Theatre and Museum in Jacksonville, Florida in 2023, she said, “Extremists here in Florida passed a law, ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ trying to instill fear in our teachers that they should not live their full life and love who they love.” She made similar remarks at a campaign reception earlier this year.
Discrimination protections
In an op-ed published with LGBTQ Nation, Harris detailed her commitment to opposing LGBTQ+ discrimination protections during the 2020 presidential campaign. Among her promises was a commitment to pursuing the Equality Act through, a bill that would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This, however, did not pass through into law, and is not currently being revitalized.
She has opposed anti-LGBTQ+ policies in a 2023 Pride event, slamming those enacting them as extremists. She has worked with President Biden to establish anti-discrimination protections from Title IX and Title VII, pieces of law that codify opposition to sex-based discrimination.
Other LGBTQ+ issues
Harris has other stances on different LGBTQ+ issues, including:
A complex history previously opposing state funding for transgender inmates’ right to gender-affirming surgeries
Pushing against sex work, a profession more common among LGBTQ+ community members
Kamala Harris’s political career has been marked by several historic firsts:
District Attorney of San Francisco (2004-2011): First woman, first African American, and first Asian American to hold this position[
Attorney General of California (2011-2017): First woman, first African American, and first Asian American to serve as California’s Attorney General
U.S. Senator from California (2017-2021): Second African American woman and first South Asian-American senator in U.S. history
Vice President of the United States (2021-present): First woman, first African American, and first Asian American to hold this office
In conclusion
Vice President Kamala Harris has consistently demonstrated her commitment to LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career. From her early days as District Attorney of San Francisco to her current role as Vice President, she has advocated for policies that promote equality, protect against discrimination, and support the LGBTQ+ community. Her stance on various LGBTQ+ issues aligns with the Biden administration’s broader goals of advancing civil rights and fostering a more inclusive society.
As Harris stated during a Pride event, “The thing about Pride that I think is so important is that it reminds us of the beauty of community. It reminds us that we are all in this together.” This sentiment encapsulates her approach to LGBTQ+ rights and her vision for a more equitable America.
