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CNN Debate Moderators Should Ask 2020 Democrats: “Do You Support Full and Explicit Constitutional Equality for All Marginalized Communities?”
ICYMI: Why We Must Amend the Constitution to Protect LGBTQ Rights
NEW YORK – Ahead of next week’s Democratic presidential debate, GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization – today called on CNN debate moderators and other media covering the 2020 presidential election to get every candidate on the record about whether they support expanding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to include all marginalized communities, including explicit protections for people of color, the disabled, and LGBTQ Americans.
GLAAD is also calling on the media to keep issues important to LGBTQ Americans at the forefront of the ongoing presidential campaign, including urging next week’s CNN moderators to include questions specific to the LGBTQ community. The organization released a list of proposed questions the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates should be asked next week in Detroit:
- Do you support expanding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to include explicit protections for all marginalized communities in the United States?
- What are your plans to achieve full equality under the law for all LGBTQ people in this country?
- What will you do to stop the epidemic of violence plaguing the transgender community, specifically transgender women of color?
- What are your plans to reverse the 118 anti-LGBTQ actions made by the Trump Administration?
- Specifically, Would you disband the new State Department’s “Commission on Unalienable Rights” and reinstate the U.S. position of leadership on human rights for LGBTQ people here and around the world?
EXPLAINED: Top Questions for CNN Debate Moderators for Second Democratic Debate
Do you support expanding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to include explicit protections for all marginalized communities in the United States?
Here’s what the top-tier 2020 Democratic presidential candidates had to say about the current version of the ERA:
Joe Biden: “I supported the ERA from the very beginning.”
Pete Buttigieg: “It’s long overdue for women to be represented in our Constitution. The equal rights amendment is a critical, overdue step towards gender equality. #ERANow”
Julian Castro: “I would do several things, starting with something we should have done a long time ago, which is to pass the Equal Rights Amendment finally in this country.”
Kamala Harris: “That’s why we have the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. That’s why we need to pass the Equality Act. That’s why we need to pass the ERA…”
Beto O’Rourke: “…we also need an Equal Rights Amendment ratified in this country…”
Elizabeth Warren: “Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment 40+ years ago, but it was never ratified by enough states. That could change. I support extending the deadline to ratify the ERA. It’s long past time for women’s equal rights to be recognized in our Constitution.”
Additionally, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, and Bernie Sanders have all cosponsored the Equal Rights Amendment while serving in the U.S. Senate.
What are your plans to achieve full equality under the law for all LGBTQ people in this country?
According to the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), LGBTQ Americans could still be:
- Fired from their jobs in 26 states,
- Denied housing in 26 states,
- Refused goods and services in 27 states, and
- Turned down by adoption agencies in 42 states.
Further, if an LGBTQ person experiences a hate crime, anti-LGBTQ attackers can still claim the so-called “gay/trans panic” defense in court in 44 states.
What will you do to stop the epidemic of violence plaguing the transgender community, specifically transgender women of color?
Violence against the transgender community, particularly transgender women of color, has skyrocketed in the last four years. So far in 2019, about twelve transgender people have been murdered, repeating a national trend since 2016.
- 2018: 25 transgender people were murdered.
- 2017: 26 transgender people were murdered.
- 2016: 27 transgender people were murdered.
What are your plans to reverse the 118 anti-LGBTQ actions made by the Trump Administration?
Following the election of Donald Trump, GLAAD created its Trump Accountability Project (TAP) as a resource for journalists, editors, and other news makers reporting on the Trump administration, which catalogues the anti-LGBTQ statements and actions of President Donald Trump and those in his circle.
Since the start of his term in office, President Trump and his administration have issued more than 118 attacks in policy and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community.
Specifically, Would you disband the new State Department’s “Commission on Unalienable Rights” and reinstate the U.S. position of leadership on human rights for LGBTQ people here and around the world?
The State Department recently launched a new “Commission on Unalienable Rights,” a governing body consisting of a swath of anti-LGBTQ activists. This Commission could begin using religion to justify discrimination against LGBTQ people and women on a global scale.
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