Karoline Leavitt is the White House press secretary and, as such, the official mouthpiece for President Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. Leavitt’s failed 2022 candidacy for one of New Hampshire’s House seats violated campaign finance laws and earned her fans among other anti-LGBTQ+ Congress members, including Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Leavitt largely echoes Trump’s transphobic views and unquestioningly supports the administration. This article provides a critical overview of her stance on key LGBTQ+ topics, including same-sex marriage, transgender rights, and LGBTQ+ discussions in schools. It also examines her background, career, and notable affiliations, highlighting inconsistencies in her approach to LGBTQ+ rights.

Related

Stephen Miller’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights: A comprehensive overview
Stephen Miller, through his group America First Legal, is pushing back against LGBTQ+ rights with legal challenges and campaigns against “woke” agendas.

Karoline Leavitt at a glance

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

• Location: Washington, D.C.
• Party affiliation: Republican
• Race/ethnicity: White
• Gender identity: Female
• Sexual orientation: Straight
• Pronouns: She/Her
• LGBTQ+ ally: No

Social media & website

• Facebook: @KarolineLeavittNH
• Twitter/X: @karolineleavitt, @PressSec, and @KLeavitt45 (archived)
• Instagram: @karolineleavitt
• TikTok: @karolineleavitt

Biography

Karoline Leavitt was born on August 24, 1997, and raised in Atkinson, New Hampshire. She grew up in a Catholic family that ran a local ice cream stand and car dealership. Leavitt attended Central Catholic High School in Massachusetts and graduated from Saint Anselm College in 2019 with a degree in politics and communications. While in college, she became an outspoken supporter of Trump’s 2016 campaign, defending his policies in op-eds and campus discussions.

Leavitt’s career took off quickly. She interned as a producer at WMUR-TV, a New Hampshire news station, before working in the communications office of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). In 2019, at age 21, she joined the Trump White House as a presidential writer and later became an assistant press secretary. After Trump left office in January 2021, Leavitt returned to New Hampshire and launched her own political career.

In 2022, Leavitt ran for Congress in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District. She won the Republican primary on a pro-Trump, hardline platform but lost the general election to Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a centrist Democrat and the state’s first openly gay congressman.

Despite the loss, Leavitt’s prominence grew. She became a spokesperson for the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. and later served as national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. When Trump won the 2024 election, he appointed Leavitt as White House press secretary in January 2025.

Same-sex marriage

Karoline Leavitt has largely avoided direct attacks on same-sex marriage. As Trump’s spokesperson, she assured reporters that undoing marriage equality was not on the administration’s agenda, stating that it was “never a campaign promise” for Trump to reverse the legalization of same-sex marriage, implicitly suggesting that the issue was settled law.

Despite this, Leavitt has never explicitly endorsed marriage equality. She did not voice opposition to the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, which Congress passed in 2022 to protect same-sex and interracial marriages, but she also did not advocate for its passage.

Transgender athletes in sports

Leavitt vocally supports the Trump administration’s ban on transgender women and girls competing on female sports teams and repeatedly misgenders trans women as men, refusing to recognize their gender identity. She has claimed that trans female athletes threaten the fairness of sports and the safety of cisgender female athletes, Leavitt said during a White House briefing, “You can’t say you are the party of women and then support men in women’s sports.”

Leavitt defended Trump’s executive order banning trans female athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams and supported his administration threatening the federal funding of schools that contradict his order, claiming that “80% of the American people, including more than 60% of Democrats, do not want men in women’s sports.” She has also called on Congress to codify Trump’s order into federal law to ensure a future administration cannot easily reverse it.

Transgender bathroom access

Leavitt opposes allowing transgender individuals to use facilities that match their gender identity. She has defended the Trump administration’s executive order redefining sex in federal law as strictly biological, stating that the policy “restores common sense,” adding that “men pretending to be women” should not have access to spaces reserved for women.

Under this directive, pre-existing civil rights protections do not extend to gender identity, and businesses, schools, and government entities are required to only people to use restrooms and locker rooms that match the sex they were assigned at birth, even if they are nonbinary or present as members of the opposite sex.

LGBTQ+ discussions in schools

Leavitt strongly supported Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity. In a 2022 interview, she praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), stating, “Ron DeSantis is doing what’s right and, quite frankly, what is common sense. He is ensuring that our young children in our public school system… are not being taught this crap.”

During her congressional campaign, Leavitt opposed policies that allow schools to keep a student’s LGBTQ+ identity confidential if they fear coming out to their parents. She argued that schools should be required to disclose such information to parents, a stance that critics say puts LGBTQ+ students at risk of family rejection or abuse. Leavitt has framed these policies as protecting parents’ rights, but advocacy groups warn that they create unsafe environments for LGBTQ+ youth.

Discrimination protections

Leavitt opposes expanding legal protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. She supports the Trump administration’s executive order removing gender identity from anti-discrimination protection.

Leavitt has not supported comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination legislation such as the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in federal law. The Trump administration has pledged to oppose anti-Christian bias, a position widely understood to include religious exemptions to laws forbidding anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

Gender-affirming care for minors

Leavitt supports banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. She praised Trump’s executive order opposing gender-affirming care for trans people under the age of 19, calling it a “victory for children.” The order has already led several hospitals to suspend care for transgender youth, a development Leavitt has celebrated.

Leavitt’s messaging on this issue often uses demonizing and misleading language, referring to gender-affirming care as “mutilation” and “child abuse.” Medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, endorse gender-affirming care as evidence-based and necessary for many transgender youth, but Leavitt dismisses these perspectives.

Leavitt’s Career

• Graduated from Saint Anselm College with a B.A. in Politics and Communication in 2019
• Interned at Fox News during college
• Worked in the White House Presidential Correspondence Office under President Trump
• Served as Assistant Press Secretary under Kayleigh McEnany in the Trump administration
• Became Communications Director for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik
• Ran for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in 2022 but lost to Chris Pappas
• Served as National Press Secretary for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign
• Appointed White House Press Secretary in January 2025

The impact of Leavitt’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights

There is no difference between the anti-LGBTQ+ views of President Trump and the policy stances championed by Karoline Leavitt, particularly those targeting transgender rights. While she avoids direct attacks on same-sex marriage, she actively supports bans on transgender athletes in sports, restrictions on LGBTQ+ discussions in schools, rollbacks of anti-discrimination protections, and bans on gender-affirming care for minors.

Her approach reflects a broader conservative agenda that seeks to limit the rights and visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals while framing these restrictions as “common sense” and “pro-family” policies. As press secretary, Leavitt’s rhetoric helps mainstream these positions, making her one of the most prominent voices shaping anti-LGBTQ+ policy in the current administration.

Related links:

Related

Karoline Leavitt says Donald Trump froze federal spending to weed out programs for trans people
She said that Trump wants to take away already allocated funding from “DEI” and “gender ideology.”

Gay Rep. Chris Pappas wins reelection bid against anti-LGBTQ MAGA candidate
His opponent was a former Trump administration official who supports Don’t Say Gay.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.