GLAAD is amplifying the voices of LGBTQ people and their demands for accurate and inclusive media coverage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and throughout the campaign.
Any story or political conversation about LGBTQ people should include LGBTQ voices, and prioritize facts and lived experience over politician rhetoric. LGBTQ people and allies live in every state. GLAAD can connect reporters with media-ready spokespeople in the close-contest states expected to make the deciding difference in the 2024 election.
Kat Klawes (she/her) is an LGBTQ advocate and daughter of a transgender parent. She focuses on trans equality in the city of Milwaukee and beyond:
“During the RNC, I want to see moderators and journalists refuse to repeat misinformation and disinformation about LGBTQ issues in their questions and reporting. Instead, they should redirect with the facts: trans people have always existed, and the best practice medical care for transgender individuals is endorsed by every major expert medical association in the country. We cannot let propaganda dominate the headlines when the news should be focused on reporting the truth. As a Milwaukee resident, it is difficult to see my hometown become the stage for such lies, misinformation, and bigotry. We cannot allow propaganda to dominate the headlines; people deserve the truth, and democracy depends on it.”
Ravanna-Michelle E. Menendez (she/her), is a transgender activist based in Nashville who has brought better diversity, inclusion, and education standards in her previous workplaces.
“It is the media’s responsibility to bring trans women like myself, who have spent nearly a decade within the process of trans inclusive healthcare (WPATH Guidelines) into the conversation in order to properly address trans healthcare and trans related surgeries. No one should be speaking on trans healthcare other than a trans person who has undergone it and can speak to the importance of it, the procedures, and the necessary requirements per the WPATH Guidelines.
“We as trans people have always existed, and we will continue to exist. No amount of book banning, bigoted legislation, hateful rhetoric and blatant disregard for our existence will shield you from your inconvenient reality of that fact. From tech, to advocacy, to Hollywood, to The White House. We belong at every seat of opportunity, and we shall.”
Rio Antinè (she/her, he/him, or they/them) is an LGBTQ activist based in Las Vegas, and is on the board of directors for Gender Justice.
“I would like to see that [the] media [at the RNC] provides the honest truth and fact-based information of how the biased and prejudiced dogma about Queer Culture is endangering the community.”
On day 1 of the convention, GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her) responded to Donald Trump’s announcement of U.S. Senator J.D. Vance from Ohio as his vice presidential running mate.
“GLAAD urges all media covering Trump’s choice for vice president to include his history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy. LGBTQ Americans are taxpayers, family members, colleagues, classmates, neighbors and friends, and our concerns are the same as any Americans: our freedom to be ourselves to live in safety and dignity, the right to make private health care decisions, read books of our choosing, marry who we love, and not be discriminated against for who we are. Media must include LGBTQ people in all stories and conversations about policies affecting us and our families. Our concerns are not a ‘culture war’ sideshow—they are central to the core issues of this election, and the freedoms all Americans want to preserve and protect.”’
See Vance’s full anti-LGBTQ record here.
GLAAD polling shows targeting transgender people and their access to school sports and essential health care is driving voters AWAY from candidates who campaign on restricting access:
53% of both registered and likely voters say they oppose candidates who speak about restricting access to health care and sports for transgender people
94% of LGBTQ voters, 76% of registered voters, 82% of swing voters (voted for both dem/rep candidates) say politicians should stop focusing on restricting women’s rights and trans health care and focus on jobs, inflation and health care costs.
The 2024 U.S. election is the most consequential in modern history and will have repercussions for individual rights and liberties, as well as for the future of democracy in the United States and globally. The effects will be far-reaching and long lasting, and will be felt acutely by LGBTQ people, queer people of color, women and people of reproductive capacity, transgender adults and youth. Many communities’s rights, safety, and wellbeing will be shaped by the election outcomes. For GLAAD’s Guide to Covering the 2024 Issues, click here.
GLAAD has documented the anti-LGBTQ history of Donald Trump, including his policies and statements on a number of issues, including abortion, education, and climate change. For fact sheets on all his actions on these and other topics, click here.
