Sen. Kamala Harris on Thursday pledged to add a White House chief advocate for LGBTQ affairs and name gay people to Cabinet posts if she is elected president.
Ms. Harris, California Democrat, said the moves aimed to reverse the “Trump Administration’s hate agenda” toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“Every LGBTQ person in America should grow up knowing they can not only get married but also live, work, go to school, access affordable health care, and be supported, embraced, safe and celebrated,” she said. “When I’m president, change will start from the top. We will lift people through inclusion and put in place policies that create opportunity and ensure representation at the highest levels of government.”
The pledges for more representation in the White House was part of the LGBTQ agenda she announced ahead of a CNN town hall on LGBTQ issues.
Several candidates released plans to bolster gay rights ahead of the event in California.
Pete Buttigieg, the openly-gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts unveiled similar plans that included federal legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity and restoring other federal protections.
Ms. Harris went a step further with her pledge for a White House office dedicated to the issue.
Ms. Harris went a step further with her pledge for a White House chief advocate.
She also proposed a reversal of the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military and improved the tracking and reporting of hate crimes.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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