GLAAD CEO: “This is an opportunity to discuss LGBTQ issues as we head toward the most consequential election of our lifetime.”

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today challenged all five moderators in this week’s 2020 Democratic presidential debates to use the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, an event which sparked and fueled the overall LGBTQ movement of the last fifty years, to make LGBTQ acceptance and issues affecting the LGBTQ community a main topic of discussion during the first debates in the 2020 presidential election year.

“Particularly on the eve of the historic 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, it’s important for media and those seeking the highest office in the land to discuss issues facing LGBTQ voters,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “No candidate or political party should take the support of LGBTQ Americans for granted. This is an opportunity to discuss LGBTQ issues as we head toward the most consequential election of our lifetime.”

Here is a sampling of questions tonight’s debate moderators should ask the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates:

1. 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.
 

2. A poll released this week from GLAAD shows that LGBTQ acceptance overall has stalled – and even moving backward among younger generations? How will you use the power of the bully pulpit to reverse this trend and lead our country to 100% LGBTQ acceptance?

A new poll conducted by GLAAD and Harris Poll found acceptance for the LGBTQ community has waned in the last two years under the Trump Administration, with only 45% of younger non-LGBTQ Americans ages 18-34 saying they were “comfortable” with the LGBTQ community.
 

3. Will you support federal measures to forever ban so-called “conversion therapy” practices?

   Approximately 18 states and Washington, D.C. have effectively banned any so-called “conversion therapy” practices. These “ex-gay” camps could cause long-term damage to LGBTQ people. This investigative report by ABC News’ “20/20” program brings light to what kind of damage “conversion therapy” programs could cause. 

    

4. 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 ten 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.
   

5. What are your plans to reverse the 115 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 115 attacks in policy and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community.
    

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