The stakes in this presidential election are grave. The election involves a candidate with a real chance of winning who promises to use the military against his political opponents, deport millions of people, and make the federal government the enemy of trans people. He is uniquely unqualified for any elected office. 

That candidate is Donald Trump.

In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris is the first presidential candidate to have come of age, politically, in an era of respect for LGBTQ+ people, advocating for equality and even performing marriages for same-sex couples a decade before they would become legal nationwide. 

Her life story exemplifies the American promise of a multicultural democracy in which everyone’s fundamental rights are protected, their basic needs are met, and the pursuit of happiness is within reach.  

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LGBTQ Nation endorses Kamala Harris for president.  

A democracy is only as strong as its elections, media, and citizenry, and Trump has attacked all three, eroding public trust in institutions that oppose him. Even his longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, said that Trump admired Adolf Hitler, “would govern like a dictator if allowed,” and “had no understanding of the Constitution or the rule of law.”

Trump has sought to overturn elections and disenfranchise millions of voters just to stay in power. His “big lie” about the 2020 election being rigged (only in states he lost) has led to escalating threats against election workers and laid the groundwork for overturning legal and political outcomes that conservatives dislike.

His inner circle of antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ white supremacists, Christian nationalists, and conspiracy theorists support his pledges to imprison political enemies, which include Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who Trump has named as part of his list of “the enemy from within.” 

This erosion of democratic values harms America’s international standing as a force for freedom internationally and empowers dictators eager to squash dissent in their own countries. His support for Russia’s viciously anti-gay Vladimir Putin is well-established, and he is likely to undermine American support for Ukraine in defending its independence and democracy from its much more powerful neighbor’s invasion.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a plan to gut federal agencies that could check Trump’s power, would further weaken democratic norms.

In contrast, Americans trust Harris to respect the election’s outcome, whether she wins or loses, an essential component of democracy. She has taken the lead in the current administration’s efforts to strengthen voting rights in the U.S., calling for “a free, fair, and transparent process” where all votes are counted.  

There is perhaps no more significant indicator of Trump’s depravity than his willingness to bully young people. Should he win, his all-out crusade on trans rights will further devastate both the mental and physical health of trans youth – not to mention trans adults. 

Under President Joe Biden, the Department of Justice has fought to overturn state anti-trans laws and defended his administration’s regulations protecting LGBTQ+ rights. If Trump wins, those checks will disappear. 

If Trump is elected president, more trans people will die. His endless stream of lies about gender-affirming care shows his disdain for the fate of trans people. He will strap on his heaviest boots if trampling their rights gets him what he wants. 

Trump, as we know, is “fascist to the core,” and fascism depends on rigid and patriarchal concepts of gender. There’s a reason the Nazis burned down an LGBTQ+ research institute within weeks of Hitler’s rise to power. 

And he has shown no signs of stopping his attacks on our transgender friends and chosen family; his campaign has spent nearly $20 million attacking transgender rights while lying repeatedly about how children are being forcibly transitioned behind their parents’ backs. If he is elected, his supporters will expect him to follow through.

But team MAGA not only wants to control trans people’s bodies; fascism also depends on controlling reproduction. We have already seen dire consequences since losing Roe v. Wade’s protections. Michelle Obama’s masterful speech in Michigan this week outlines how many more lives are at risk should anti-abortion laws get more restrictive and how Harris will fight to protect those freedoms.

Harris, on the other hand, serves in an administration that has made history for its support of transgender Americans. She has refused to back down as Republicans bait her on trans issues, and she selected a running mate who has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ people for decades. Tim Walz made his state a sanctuary for trans people and served as a teacher advisor to his public high school’s gay-straight alliance in the 90s, far before it was popular to support LGBTQ+ rights. 

The ticket has shown a consistent and authentic commitment to equality.

Trump has repeatedly used racism and fascist rhetoric to demonize darker-skinned immigrants as rapists, murderers, and thieves who are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

He has pledged to reinstate his ban on immigration from majority-Muslim countries, demonized Haitian immigrants as monsters who eat housepets, and denied disaster relief funds to Puerto Rico, even though it’s a part of the U.S. His hateful rhetoric has caused his targets to fear for their safety.

Trump’s top promise this election cycle has been his plan for “the largest deportation program in American history,” with him announcing that he would deport 11 million undocumented people — despite his use of undocumented labor at his properties. This includes thousands who have sought to find safety in the United States by fleeing brutal anti-queer policies around the globe.

This haphazard and brutal approach to immigration would break up law-abiding families that have been living, working, and paying taxes in the U.S. for decades. Not only would the U.S. lose an estimated $100 billion a year in taxes paid by immigrants, but it would also massively destabilize the agriculture, construction, and hospitality industries, all of which rely on immigrant labor.

“Getting them out will be a bloody story,” Trump threatened, explaining that he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to put the millions of immigrants in internment camps. That same law was used to justify the internment of Japanese and German Americans during World War II.

Trump’s vision for America was perhaps best summarized at this past weekend’s Madison Square Garden rally when his advisor Stephen Miller said: “America is for Americans and Americans only.” This is an impoverished and distorted view of the country, especially in defense of a candidate whose mother was an immigrant and who had most of his children with immigrants.

As the child of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris embodies America’s diverse immigrant experience and understands how newcomers from abroad enrich the nation. As vice president, she studied the ways that rampant crime and capitalist devastation have resulted in waves of South and Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States, making her uniquely knowledgeable about mass immigration’s root causes and our nation’s role in addressing the more significant issues that drive them.

She has endorsed both strong border security and comprehensive immigration reform to provide pathways to citizenship to the many undocumented immigrants who positively contribute to their communities, ensuring that America remains a melting pot and a beacon of opportunity for those fleeing oppression.

If his increasingly vindictive policy positions weren’t frightening enough, there’s also his growing – and more pronounced – cognitive decline. He has grown angrier and more obsessed with the past. He is generally more confused than during his first time in office. He often can’t finish a thought, changing topics numerous times while rambling without completing a single sentence, something he does so frequently he has a word for it: “the weave.” 

Trump’s niece, lesbian clinical psychologist Mary Trump, has long warned the public of her uncle’s “untreated psychiatric disorders.” His diminished mental capacity makes him more dangerous and unpredictable than ever. It will also make him easily controlled by foreign dictators – not to mention domestic right-wing politicians, businessmen, and organizations.

Even if we agreed with Trump on policy, we would have serious concerns about his fitness for office.

Harris, on the other hand, is the “joyful warrior” America needs. She leads with a love of this country and optimism for its future. Harris is sharp and courageous; she welcomes tough conversations instead of avoiding debates. Her speeches center on unity and lay out clear policy goals. Trump’s speeches sow division and show he has no grasp of policy, even though he has been in politics for nearly a decade.

Harris’ resume suggests she is one of the most capable, qualified candidates ever to run for president, and her actions prove it. 

One of Harris’ early campaign slogans—“We’re not going back”—touches on the LGBTQ+ experience, a story of incredible progress over the last century in securing a right to exist and a right to have our grievances heard within the American democratic project. 

Progress is far from secure. Both candidates understand that, but only one sees it as an opportunity to advance his agenda.

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