Senator Kamala Harris is joining the 2020 presidential race!
The announcement came earlier this morning, via tweet.
“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” she says in the video. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States. I’m running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together.”
Harris is the fourth woman to announce intent to campaign in the upcoming election, and the seventh Democrat challenger so far overall.
The Senator previously served as California’s attorney general, a role many think will lend credibility to her campaign.
While in office, Harris built up a strong history of supporting LGBTQ rights. She declined to defend the state’s ban on equal marriage rights, ordered all clerks to marry same-sex couples with “no exceptions” once the ban was lifted, co-sponsored a bill to do away with the “gay panic” as a defense in violent crimes, and and refused to entertain a ridiculous “Kill the Gays” ballot initiative intended to sentence people to death for “homosexual acts.”
She was also fervently against North Carolina’s anti-transgender bathroom bill, and co-sponsored the Equality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The only notable mark on her record fighting for LGBTQ rights was when Harris argued that two transgender California inmates should not receive gender confirmation surgery.
With other candidates coming out and apologizing for their past slights against the LGBTQ community, it’s possible Harris will ultimately have something to say about that choice, especially considering how strong her record is otherwise.
“We’ve known her since she was the DA in San Francisco, and then of course, when she as attorney general was more engaged than any attorney general has been with us in the LGBTQ community,” executive director of Equality California Rick Zbur said. “[She] really engaged with us and has a really strong commitment and understanding of our issues.”
