Biden DNC official explains secret ways Democrats are fighting for equality

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is entering its final night, and the buzz is building. The last few nights have featured powerful and inspiring speeches from two former presidents and LGBTQ+ members of Congress who have made clear what’s at stake in this election. Tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver her own welcoming speech as she officially accepts the presidential nomination, and rumors are also swirling about a possible celebrity appearance. Given surprise appearances from Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, and Lil Jon, it feels like anything can happen.

LGBTQ Nation spoke with Matt Hill, a gay man who serves as the DNC’s senior communications director, about the Biden administration’s legacy, Tim Walz as a formidable LGBTQ+ ally, the party’s identity, and the future of the Equality Act.

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When Hill took over as President Biden’s senior associate communications director, Trump had spent the last four years rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ students, threatening to cut funding to schools with transgender-inclusive policies, and legalizing religious queerphobia in everything from adoption rights to public spaces.

“A big part of coming to the White House was reversing a lot of the regressive policies that Donald Trump had implemented: from banning transgender people from serving in our military to the hateful remarks that he had made about many communities,” Hill said. “So a big part of the Biden-Harris agenda in the first two years was first reversing the dangerous policies that Trump had that were hurting this community. We also did a lot of work on LGBTQ health care, expanding access and reducing costs.”

“But it was also about making sure that the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community were protected,” Hill continued. “I think one of the most significant accomplishments of Vice President Harris alongside President Biden was signing the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying the rights of same-sex marriages so that they wouldn’t be in the hands of Donald Trump’s extremist justices on the Supreme Court.”

“I would always say that the greatest honor I had working in this portfolio at the White House was meeting some of the LGBTQ youth who were coming out for Pride and other events, and seeing how they felt knowing that they had a president, a vice president and leaders in the White House who supported them,” he added.

“And when it comes to the convention, what we’re trying to show here in Chicago this week is that it’s really important for us to make clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA extremists would take us backwards and roll back the freedoms and rights of LGBTQ Americans,” Hill said. “And it’s the choice of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz who will build on what President Biden has accomplished, to move this country forward and make sure that no matter who you are, who you love, America is a welcoming place where everyone shares the same rights and the same protections.”

How is the Democratic Party different today?

The energy of the Democratic campaign this year seems markedly different from past election cycles. Harris-Walz campaign press releases have scathingly called Trump’s press conferences “self-centered,” “public meltdowns” where he “lies” and “raves incoherently.” DNC speakers have repeatedly slammed Republicans for incoherent remarks. Project 2025a Christian nationalist project for Trump aimed at undermining the federal government and civil rights protections. Even Michelle Obama—who once said, “When they stoop, we rise”—gave a speech explicitly denouncing Trump’s racism and misogyny.

“(These days) Democrats are very vocal about how much they care about freedom,” Hill said. “It used to seem like only Republicans cared about some of these patriotic, freedom ideas. But the reality is it’s not your grandfather’s great party anymore. It’s the MAGA party. It’s been completely taken over by extremists who don’t bow to anyone except Donald Trump, who don’t have the same vision or values ​​for the LGBTQ community that we Democrats do.”

“So I think what’s different is that Democrats are very forward-looking in what we believe in, and we believe in protecting people’s freedom, protecting people’s rights and understanding the core values ​​that define who we are as Americans,” Hill said.

Why did Walz manage to call Trump and Vance “weirdos”?

Weeks before becoming Harris’s running mate, Walz successfully called the Republican ticket “weird” for trying to involve government in families’ medical and reproductive decisions. In response, Republicans have dishonestly tried to paint Walz as a liberal extremist who wants to put tampons in boys’ toilets and kidnap transgender children from their unsupportive parents. But those attacks have fallen flat, largely because of Walz’s history as a dedicated high school teacher and coach, a military service member, and a progressive governor whose policies have helped the working class. In other words, he is far too normal—in a typically American way—to be “weird.”

“Tim Walz understands class and ordinary Americans better than Donald Trump, and so does Kamala Harris,” Hill said. “These are people who were raised very much like other Americans in this country. Donald Trump inherited his money, his fortune, his celebrity. He only works to do something that benefits him and serves him.”

“Tim Walz, (on the contrary) gave of himself to his communities and to our collective community,” Hill continued. “He was a teacher who served his community in Minnesota. He was a veteran who served our country overseas. He served in the House of Representatives to serve his constituents, and now he serves the state of Minnesota because he is someone who simply tells the truth. And the truth is, what Donald Trump and J.D. Vance represent is really bizarre. They want to take this country backwards, and so all he does is tell the truth.”

Are Drag Queens the Future of Democratic Politics?

Two months before the DNC, several stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race made history by founding Drag PAC, the first-ever drag-led political action committee. During the DNC, Drag PAC hosted a “Voter Registration Kiki” where they teamed up with local drag queens to perform show-stopping drag routines and register voters to mobilize for a Harris victory in November.

“The convention and our campaign partners want to use every tool available to get out the voters and reach people, whoever they are, wherever they are, whether they’re a drag queen, a former Republican or a MAGA voter, or whether they’re from a rural part of America,” Hill said. “What we’re doing here at the convention is showing the world and the country that we’re building the broadest, most diverse coalition in history that will take on and defeat Donald Trump a second time.”

“Whether it’s drag queens voting for our freedoms and our future, Republicans supporting our campaign to vote for our freedoms and our future, or a teacher or a firefighter who believes there’s nothing more important than going to work, going home to your family, and putting food on the table, what we all have in common is that we believe that America needs to move forward, and we need to protect our freedoms and our rights, and have someone like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House who will fight for us, for our family.”

How Harris Can Pass the Equality Act

The most prominent item on the LGBTQ+ agenda of the Democratic national platform in 2024 is the Equality Act, a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to pre-existing federal anti-discrimination laws. However, the bill was first introduced in 2015 under the Obama administration, and while it passed the House with bipartisan support in 2019 and 2021, both times it died in the Senate because it did not receive enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster. To pass this time around, it will still need Republican support.

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, along with President Biden, have been strong advocates for the Equality Act,” Hill said. “She fought alongside President Biden to get this bill through Congress as far as possible, and it was President Biden and Vice President Harris who reached out to Republicans and said, ‘We need to protect the freedom of our neighbors, our friends, and our family to marry who they love.’ They were able to pass the Respect for Marriage Act because they reached out to Republicans and were able to do it, and they can do it again.”

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