Biden’s Queer Friendly Election Ticket

Ahead of the November 3 election Democratic candidate Joe Biden has formed a new cabinet, which appears to be queer, queer friendly and diverse in its cultural differences!

The latest additions to the Biden ticket are Kamala Harris as Vice President and Karine Jean-Pierre as Chief of Staff. 

Biden informed his supporters of his Vice Presidential running mate via Twitter. 

I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020

“You make a lot of important decisions as president. But the first one is who you select to be your Vice President. I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021.”

Harris, currently a US senator from California, becomes the first Black woman and first woman of South Asian heritage on a major party’s presidential ticket. She is the daughter of two immigrants, her mother moving to the US from India and father from Jamaica.

As attorney general Harris proved to be one of the LGBTQI community’s strongest allies, most notably in 2015 when she refused to certify the “Kill the Gays” ballot initiative proposed in California that would have (unconstitutionally) instituted the death penalty for homosexual acts.

 And the record goes back from there!

In 2010, another signature moment for Harris was during her campaign for attorney general when she opposed Proposition 8, a voter approved ballot initiative which would revoke marriage equality in California in 2008.

A proposal which would have been the undoing of the Supreme Court decision that allowed same-sex marriages.

However, in 2013 Prop.8 would be canned with Harris officiating the first post Prop.8 same-sex marriage in the state of California.

As attorney general she abolished all gay and trans panic defenses in criminal trials an established a hate-crimes unit within the DA’s office.

During her time as senator Harris continued to be a major champion for LGBTQI rights by introducing a bill to mandate insurance to cover PrEP.

LGBTQI groups and others have praised Biden for choosing Harris as his running mate.

 The Advocate reported that Rick Chavez Zbur, executive director of Equality California, issued a statement with similar sentiments: “Senator Kamala Harris is an exceptional choice to serve as the next Vice President of the United States, and Equality California is proud to stand with her and Vice President Biden in their historic campaign to take back the White House and restore the soul of America. Throughout her career, Senator Harris has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to civil rights and social justice for all LGBTQI people. As Vice President, we are confident she will continue Vice President Biden’s tradition of using the office to champion and advance full, lived LGBTQI equality — and equality for the diverse communities to which LGBTQI people belong.”

Along with LGBTQI Democrat Richard Socarides being quoted by Keen News Service for calling Harris a “smart choice and the right choice… she will eat Mike Pence alive at their debate and spit him out on the floor — as he deserves.”

Harris is the second woman to join the Biden team, which previously welcomed Chief Of Staff Karine Jean-Pierre on May 20. Jean-Pierre was born in Martinique to Haitian parents and grew up in New York City. She also happens to be a lesbian woman of colour who is not new to the political train for the Democratic party.

A person of many roles over her time, the veteran African American Political Strategist served in the Obama White House as Regional Political Director and then battleground States Director in the 2012 reelection – just to name a few of her many achievements. 

Jean-Pierre spoke with the Washington Post in May about her relationship with Biden, “I’ve known Joe Biden for 10 years now. I believe he’s a man of integrity, he’s a man who knows how to lead, he’s a man who knows how to use the levers of government to help people and he’s the man who could beat Donald Trump in November. For me, as a black woman, I just could not sit this out.