Gov. Tim Walz Has Been A Long Time LGBTQ Rights Supporter

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 SAMANTHA ALLEN

“THEM"

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, as CNN first reported Tuesday morning.

Harris later confirmed the news in a joint social media post with Walz in which she praised the governor’s defense of abortion rights and his action on gun safety legislation.

Walz, who was reportedly championed by House Democrats and former speaker Nancy Pelosi over Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, has a long record of supporting LGBTQ+ rights, stretching at least back to 1999 when he was the faculty advisor for Mankato West High School’s first-ever Gay-Straight Alliance. A veteran and former teacher, Walz was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007 and served there until 2019 when he became governor of Minnesota.

 

As The Hill noted in its recent recounting of Walz’s LGBTQ+ policy positions, Walz ran for Congress while openly supporting same-sex marriage, seven years before Minnesota would eventually legalize it. A National Guard veteran, he has also advocated for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which barred servicemembers from disclosing their sexual orientation, and as governor he has made Minnesota a refuge for youth seeking gender-affirming care via an executive order issued in March 2023. In April of that year, Walz subsequently signed a law banning the dangerous and harmful practice of conversion therapy.

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“There’s no doubt – Kamala Harris has electrified the nation and breathed new hope into the race,” Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign President, said in a statement after. “Her pick of Governor Walz sends a message that a Harris-Walz Administration will be committed to advancing equality and justice for all.” 

Walz is a blue-state governor who is perceived as less electorally advantageous to the Harris campaign than Shapiro, a popular swing-state executive who could potentially give Democrats an edge in Pennsylvania.

The selection of Walz — who is credited as the architect of the “weird” talking point that is currently proving effective against former president Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance — suggests Harris is looking to boost her appeal with white voters in the Rust Belt states of the Upper Midwest.