Beto O’Rourke pledges to make America lead on LGBT+ rights, attacking Trump’s ‘intolerance and hatred’

On the three year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has unveiled a sweeping plan that he says will protect LGBT+ rights in the United States and around the globe.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate announced his new plan while on a campaign jog with dozens of supporters along New York City’s Hudson River Greenway, stopping in front of the LGBT memorial commissioned in honour of the shooting that left those 49 people dead at the Florida gay nightclub.

“It’s important, in the midst of an administration that has distinguished itself by its intolerance, and its hatred, and a rise in hate crimes each one of the last three years, that we call to mind the heroic struggle that New York has represented for this entire country — and take action,” Mr O’Rourke said.

Mr O’Rourke’s plan calls for a broad effort to protect the lives of those in the LGBT+ community, which he described as particularly vulnerable due to a lack of protections and access to justice in communities across the United States. He pledged to lead an international effort to ratify a global treaty aimed at protecting the gay community from persecution.

Among other things, his plan calls for a reversal of Donald Trump’s contentious transgender military ban, for providing healthcare protections for the LGBT+ community, and legal protections for those in the immigrant community. It also calls for a ban on conversion therapy, and for passage of the Equality Act that would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes of people under federal law.

Mr O'Rourke would also reverse a policy allowing federally funded adoption agencies to reject gay parents, as well as ending policies that greatly restrict gay men from donating blood. He also called for measures to protect transgender women from violence.

Citing his home state of Texas as an example, the former congressman said that a lack of equity for members of America’s gay community has a ripple effect that impacts some of the most vulnerable people in the US: children.

“In my home state of Texas, it is perfectly legal to fire you based on your sexual orientation. In my home state, where there are tens of thousands of kids in the foster care system, you can legally be too gay to be able to adopt one of them,” Mr O’Rourke said. “The Equality Act will put an end to that and make sure that we have full civil rights for everyone.”

In addition to being on the three year anniversary of the Pulse shooting, Mr O’Rourke’s new plan comes as the US celebrates Pride Month, and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that broke out just blocks from where the presidential candidate was speaking and are widely heralded as one of the most important events leading to the gay liberation movement.

If Mr O’Rourke hopes to have an opportunity to try and put some of those plans into place as president, he has some heavy competition to overcome first.

While his 2018 Senate run propelled him to the national attention with his strong showing as a Democrat taking on a Republican incumbent in Texas, a state that hasn’t voted blue in decades, Mr O’Rourke has had less success since his announcement for president.

Mr O’Rourke trails far below Democratic front-runner Joe Biden in aggregates of national polls, and has attracted just 3.7 per cent support. That puts him in roughly sixth place in the crowded Democratic field that has, by some counts, 24 presidential contenders.

At his campaign event in New York, after speaking to a crowded gaggle of reporters and a two mile run, Mr O’Rourke took photos with eager supporters in their jogging gear.

One teenage supporter with long hair thanked him and said he would be excited to have “an artist” in the White House, in a nod to the candidate’s days playing in a punk band. Another thanked him “for running” for president, eliciting a cheeky “Thank you for running” in return.

Sofia Aluma, a 27-year-old project manager at IBM, was among those in the line, and said she’s attracted to Mr O’Rourke’s “charisma” as a candidate. A native Texan, Ms Aluma described the kind of support he has already shown himself able to inspire, and how that could help him overcome the long odds to become president.

“I caught the Beto fever when he was in the Senate race,” she said. “I loved seeing how energized all my friends were. People that have never been interested in politics, or thought of even registering to vote were volunteering for him, phonebanking. So, the fact that he could do that in such a red state was really inspirational — seeing that charisma, that magic that you really need on a campaign trail.”

“I was upset that he lost the Senate race, but I knew that meant that he could run for president, and I’m glad he’s out here,” she said. “I really appreciate the charisma that he brings, and I think he’s genuine.”