MANCHESTER, NH – Reggie Greer, the national LGBTQ+ vote director for former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, made a virtual stop in New Hampshire on June 15 with a unifying message: Voters must “lean into the queer” and use their voices to spark equitable change within America’s LGBTQ+ community.
Speaking via Zoom with New Hampshire LGBTQ+ activists, as well as state politicians and community members, Greer highlighted Biden’s intentions to better treat LGBTQ+ community members while ensuring their identities are increasingly represented in wider society.
The call, which was conducted at the midway point of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, came just hours after the Supreme Court’s monumental, unforeseen 6-3 decision that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 opposes workplace discrimination toward LGBTQ+ workers. The decision juxtaposes the Trump administration’s finalization of a rule that would remove protections for transgender people in health care, announced June 12.
U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) endorsed Biden’s presidential bid in early May. He is one of nine current congressional leaders who are also part of the LGBTQ+ community. Pappas opened the event by speaking to Biden’s willingness to support and amplify LGBTQ+ experiences.
“We have got to turn the page in November and make sure we have a president, once again, who supports our community, who stands with our community, and is ready to help us go the distance to ensure that each and every American can live a full life, love who they want to love and be who they want to be,” he said. “And that’s Joe Biden who will do that for us.”
Greer, who has worked hand-in-hand with Biden in creating his LGBTQ+ policies, called Biden’s ideas “the most comprehensive LGBTQ+ plan in American history.” Additionally, should Biden win the 2020 presidential election, Greer noted that he would enter the White House as arguably the most pro-LGBTQ+ president in American history.
In the question and answer portion of the event, Greer spoke about Biden’s policies with state politicians (and LGBTQ+ community members) such as New Hampshire State Representative Joshua Query, Rochester City Councilor Palana Belkin and Goffstown Selectwoman Kelly Boyer. In response, Greer discussed Biden’s intent to remove Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and appoint someone more accepting of American LGBTQ+ students and their experiences. Greer also noted the importance of data collection in federal information (such as the United States census) to represent a wider range of LGBTQ+ voices.
Additionally, Greer highlighted Biden’s desire to pass the Equality Act, which passed the House of Representatives in May 2019, during his first days in office.
Per the bill’s summary, the Equality Act “prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a wide variety of areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation.”
Most notably, Greer touched upon Biden’s yearning to appoint more LGBTQ+ identities to the list of approximately 4,000 federal positions. He cited former President Obama and Biden’s appointment of roughly 300 LGBTQ+ people throughout the Obama administration in keeping with the Presidential Appointments Initiative. With such diverse representation in mind, Greer said that Biden wants to appoint “hundreds” of LGBTQ+ people to federal positions should he win the presidency.
On the topic of reform, Ryan Richman, chair of the New Hampshire Stonewall Democrats, raised the importance of Biden’s potential presidency not only reversing the course of the Trump administration’s actions against the LGBTQ+ community, but creating additional change on top of it.
“Progress shouldn’t have to wait,” he said. “That’s something that I think a lot of people are getting excited about is that it’s not just about ‘let’s get back where we were’ but ‘let’s move forward for our community’ as well.”
In closing, Greer promoted the Biden campaign’s “Out for Biden” initiative on his campaign website. According to the website, the initiative is “aimed at engaging LGBTQ+ and pro-equality voters, identifying and registering LGBTQ+ voters in key battleground states, and equipping them with the tools and information needed to ensure we elect Joe Biden in November.”
Per an October 2019 report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, there are 9 million LGBTQ+ registered voters in America. Citing that and the Human Rights Campaign’s May 2020 finding of 57 million pro-equality voters, Greer expressed his excitement for such large constituent demographics playing a role in a potential Biden presidential victory.
“Together, let’s win this,” he said. “We can do it.”
These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.
