What a Harris-Walz Administration Could Mean for Queer Kids

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout.

As much abortion is a central issue in the 2024 election, so too is the difference between the parties when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, specifically for LGBTQ+ students. That difference became even more extreme after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate this week.

Finally, Democrats are getting serious about protecting queer kids.

Harris choosing Walz as her running mate sends a very clear signal of support to LGBTQ+ students and their families. His record both as a teacher and governor demonstrates a real compassion and understanding of the challenges unsupported queer kids and teens face, from increased harassment and bullying to significantly higher incidents of self-harm and suicide. In the late ‘90s, as a high school teacher, Walz was the faculty adviser for his school’s first gay-straight alliance; as governor, he signed into law bills banning conversion therapy and protecting gender-affirming care in Minnesota.

This matters, especially given the target conservatives have placed on the back of trans students and Title IX, the historic civil rights legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination by any school or university that receives federal funding.

And while any potential Harris running mate was going to align with the party’s platform of supporting LGBTQ+ rights, Walz in particular has made being a good adult to kids in his community a key part of his personality and record as governor.

A lot is on the line for LGBTQ+ students and their families. A week ago, the Biden administration’s revamped Title IX rule on sex discrimination in schools and colleges took effect—except in the more than 20 states where the rule is currently blocked, thanks to multiple injunctions stemming from litigation by conservative attorneys general and organizations like Moms for Liberty.

The rule, which has been in the works for years, defines sex discrimination in school to include both sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. The rule also brings Title IX into alignment with Title VII, the federal civil rights statute that bans sex discrimination in the workplace—which now includes sexual orientation and gender identity, thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County.

This week’s episode of Boom! Lawyered gets into this critically important piece of rulemaking by the Biden administration with guest Chris Geidner, so be sure to tune in.

We’re still over a week away from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. My hope is we see Harris and Walz further embrace LGBTQ+ students and their families, and that they make legislating for their benefit a central part of the campaign. It’s not just weird to bully trans kids—it’s also downright evil, and I hope this is the beginning of Democrats saying so with their full chest.

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