Gov. Tim Walz with Vice President Kamala Harris – Photo: Gov. Tim Walz, via Instagram
Major LGBTQ groups are ecstatic over Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The pair now head into the general election as the Democratic Party’s official presidential and vice-presidential nominees.
“[We] expected a strategic and bold choice as a strong addition to the ticket as a vice presidential candidate. In Governor Walz, we have gotten both,” Sayre E. Reece, the vice president of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund. “We applaud Vice President Harris’ decision and fully support the Harris/Walz ticket — in fact, you could call this a ‘Golden Ticket.’”
A two-term governor, Walz has been a stalwart ally of the LGBTQ community.
He signed a law making Minnesota a “safe haven” for transgender youth and their parents who flee their home states to seek out gender-affirming care.
He also approved a law prohibiting public libraries from removing books from shelves simply due to objections about their content, including books with LGBTQ themes or characters.
Walz signed an executive order banning conversion therapy and has been an advocate for federal nondiscrimination laws, both as a member of Congress from a rural, Republican-leaning district and as governor of a Democratic-leaning state (Minnesota’s laws have protected LGBTQ people from discrimination for decades).
In short, there’s much for LGBTQ advocates to like about Walz. That’s why many advocacy organizations dropped supportive statements following the announcement of Harris’ selection of Walz on August 6.
“Governor Tim Walz is a strong ally for our community and a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ equality,” Annise Parker, the president and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, said in a statement. “A Harris-Walz ticket will certainly push the movement for equality forward, and we expect a Harris-Walz administration will continue the historic levels of LGBTQ+ representation among presidential appointments.”
Born and raised in Valentine, Nebraska, Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard after completing high school. He served for nearly a quarter of a century, eventually rising to the rank of command sergeant major.
Walz, who graduated from Chadron State College with a social science degree in 1989, spent a year teaching abroad before returning stateside. He married his wife, Gwen Walz, a fellow teacher, and moved to Mankato, Minnesota, where he taught social studies and helped coach the Mankato West football team while serving full-time in the National Guard.
He was elected to Congress in 2006, serving for six terms until he was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018.
Walz has proven to be a “dream” Democratic governor of a swing state, helping push through a wish list of progressive social and economic policies despite only having a one-seat majority in the State Senate and a six-seat edge in the State House of Representatives.
On the social front, he signed laws protecting access to reproductive health care services, legalizing recreational marijuana, and signing a so-called “red flag” law, along with expanded background checks, to make it harder for people with mental health issues and criminal records to obtain guns.
On the economic front, Walz signed bills expanding paid family leave, expanding child care support programs, providing universal school meals for students, capping the price of insulin, and giving out one-time rebate checks of up to $1,300 to some state residents after the state recorded a budget surplus.
He also signed legislation banning “non-compete” provisions in employment contracts, which prevent workers from taking jobs with competitors for a certain period of time. That bill also beefed up protections for meatpacking workers and banned “captive audience” meetings, in which employers typically try to discourage or intimidate workers into rejecting efforts to unionize — provisions that have organized labor singing his praises.
Walz, who serves as chair of the Democratic Governors Association, was given several opportunities to appear on national broadcasts defending the Biden-Harris administration’s record and Democratic Party priorities, where he showed his ability to serve as an “attack dog” — a common role for vice presidential picks — against Republicans.
It was Walz who first spawned the idea of labeling President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), as “weird,” for his obsession with curbing personal freedoms.
If the reactions of LGBTQ organizations are a gauge of how the Walz selection is playing with liberal and progressive groups, it appears to be a home run.
“Gov. Walz has a proven record of including and protecting LGBTQ people and the fundamental freedoms all Americans treasure,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement. “In this consequential election, we need all voices to speak up for the rights of LGBTQ people to be welcome as we are, live free from discrimination and harm, and pursue our own success and happiness.”
Equality PAC, an organization dedicated to electing more LGBTQ people to Congress, and the political arm of the Congressional Equality Caucus, cheered Walz’s addition to the ticket.
“In 1999, at Mankato West High School in rural Minnesota where Governor Walz taught geography, a student approached Walz and asked him to be the faculty advisor for the school’s gay-straight alliance,” U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), the co-chairs of Equality PAC, said in a statement. “Walz agreed because he knew that by being a good ally, he could help change hearts and minds at a time when there was little support for the gay community. That story encompasses the type of ally Tim Walz is and will be as Vice President of the United States.”
