“LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is about representation, and a record amount of LGBTQ+ elected officials, candidates, community members, and groups assembled to support Vice President Kamala Harris in her new Presidential campaign,” says Mayor Annise Parker, President and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. “While Victory Fund endorses LGBTQ+ candidates and tickets that include them, it was undeniable that our record amount of elected officials and endorsees were energized to share a ticket with Harris in this historic moment.”
“Hearing the inspiring words, truth-telling, and exuberance about participating in our political system and working to elect the first woman – a Black, South Asian woman – to the U.S. Presidency from fellow Black, Queer, Gay, and Same Gender Loving men, and fellow LGBTQ+ community members was electric and incomparable,” says LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Vice President of Communications, Orie Givens. “VP Harris has this diverse coalition of folks supporting her in record-breaking ways and experiencing the elation and energy on yesterday’s LGBTQ+ calls reminded me of 2008 and reminds us that we can, and the key is supporting pro-equality candidates at every level.”
“While Harris is a longtime ally, and will continue the amazingly inclusive policies and representation in government of the Biden/Harris administration, we hope that she will select an LGBTQ+ running mate to make this ticket the most diverse in the history of our country,” continues Mayor Parker. “We recognize that no matter who the Vice President selects, her presidency and administration will be a strong ally to LGBTQ+ people. We also know our efforts to uplift and support pro-choice LGBTQ+ candidates up and down the ballot in battleground states and beyond will have a tremendous impact on up-ticket races.”
Background:
In a letter of LGBTQ+ leaders supporting the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris for President, half or more of the signers are current or former LGBTQ+ candidates, elected officials, or LGBTQ Delegates to the 2024 DNC Convention. That number continues to grow, as so many of those same leaders joined together to help raise over $300,000 on Out for Harris & Black Gay and Queer men calls last night.
Those calls profiled LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s LGBTQ+ champions and endorsed candidates like Congresswomen Becca Balint and Angie Craig, FL State Senator Shevrin Jones and Representative Michele Rayner, PA State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, AZ State Representative Lorena Austin, DE State Senator Sarah McBride, and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has 93 currently endorsed candidates running in the Battleground states who will impact the makeup of their school boards, councils, and state legislatures and influence the votes that come out to save the future of our democracy.
To connect more on this story or schedule interviews with LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidates, elected officials, or spokespeople, contact Orie Givens at press@victoryfund.org.
