Voting: It's your duty

 Does your candidate support comprehensive immigration reform? Immigration detention facilities are unsafe for everyone, but for transgender people, pregnant people, and people with disabilities, immigration detention can be especially harmful. Transgender people - especially transgender women of color - being held by ICE, face alarming rates of mistreatment, denial of necessary medical care, and even death while in custody. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports the immediate release of people in immigration detention that are at a high risk for harm, legal protections for undocumented LGBTQ immigrants, and enforceable safeguards for the physical and mental health and safety of people in ICE custody. Additionally, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports the ability of LGBTQ migrants to claim asylum based on their experience as a member of the LGBTQ community in their home countries. 

 Does your candidate support nondiscrimination protections in healthcare based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability? This administration has taken steps to degrade the civil rights in the Affordable Care Act, and to reduce access to health care for people with disabilities and people with language access needs. At the same time, they have worked to limit the number of people with access to healthcare through the ACA and Medicaid. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports strong healthcare nondiscrimination and increased access to healthcare for all. 

 Does your candidate support broad religious exemptions that gut nondiscrimination laws? Members of the religious far right continue to attempt to use faith as a wedge issue to oppose LGBTQ rights and abortion access. However, according to the Public Religion Research Institute, a supermajority of people of faith support and affirm LGBTQ rights and protections. The same research amplifies that people of faith do not believe it is a value of their faith to permit discrimination in businesses, public accommodations, healthcare, education, etc. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports legislation that would protect people from minority faiths and codify strong and effective nondiscrimination protections.  

 Does your candidate support an end to mass incarceration? LGBTQ people – and especially LGBTQ people of color -- are disproportionately likely to be arrested and incarcerated. In fact, up to 40% of young people and women who are incarcerated identify as LGBTQ. The majority of incarcerated LGBTQ people are also people of color. That’s why the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports the decriminalization of HIV, sex work, homelessness, and drug use – all of which contribute to the mass incarceration of LGBTQ people. 

Does your candidate have a clear plan to impact climate change? LGBTQ individuals are more likely to experience homelessness, poverty, and a lack of access to healthcare; all of these inequities are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports solutions to climate change that are mindful of the specific challenges faced by members of the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. 

Does your candidate have a strategy for reducing bullying and harassment in schools without contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline? LGBTQ students continue to be the targets of harassment and violence in our nation’s schools, yet the Trump administration has withdrawn vital Department of Education guidance directed at protecting transgender students. At the same time, LGBTQ students, students of color, and young people with disabilities are more likely to face to be funneled into the juvenile justice system for school-related incidents of harm or violence. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports school harassment and violence prevention programs that don’t rely on law enforcement as an implementation tool. 

 How does your candidate plan to address homelessness and housing instability? LGBTQ people lack explicit protections from housing discrimination under federal law, and there are still 27 states where LGBTQ people can be denied housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Our community recognizes this as a crisis: 73% of LGBTQ people indicated that they are “strongly concerned” about housing discrimination in a recent survey. Even though the LGBTQ community disproportionately faces homelessness, the Trump administration has suggested the EPA sue California on the grounds that homeless individuals are an environmental problem. They have also talked about using police to round up people experiencing homelessness and holding them in detention centers. The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund supports efforts to protect members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination in housing. Additionally, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund works to create resources designed to decrease homelessness and reduce the criminalization of homelessness. 

 Source:  The National LGBT Task Force Voter Guide 2020