Trump aims to connect with LGBTQ+ voters ahead of November

Former first lady Melania Trump will host a high-dollar fundraiser with the Log Cabin Republicans on Saturday, a clear sign former President Donald Trump is making a concerted effort to woo LGBT voters, traditionally stalwart supporters of the Democratic Party, away from President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 general election.

Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence and the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet-level position, will also attend the event.

LGBT voters accounted for roughly 7% of the electorate in the 2020 general election, with 93% of the demographic casting ballots that year. Fast forward to 2024, and the demographic has continued to grow, now surpassing 8% of the adult population, with more than 20% of Generation Z’ers now identifying as LGBT.

Trump earned roughly 14% of gay votes in 2020, roughly doubling his performance in 2016, and, in an election where margins are expected to be razor thin, Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran believes that Trump can significantly increase his share of the demographic once again in November.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Moran claimed that Trump changed the “taboo” about being openly gay and a conservative, pointing to Trump’s appointment of Grenell first to be ambassador to Germany, then acting DNI, his 2019 commitments to end the HIV epidemic and global push to end the criminalization of homosexuality, and his 2020 loosening of Food and Drug Administration regulations regarding sexually active gay men donating blood.

“The mainstream media and even the gay media doesn’t report on this now because there’s this narrative that exists that Donald Trump is anti-gay,” Moran said before adding that Trump was the first president to support gay marriage before being sworn into office. “Let’s not forget to look at who Donald Trump is as an individual. This is a man who has a long history — philanthropically, businesswise, and politically — supporting LGBT inclusion. He talks publicly about how he went to Studio 54 back in the day, and how he had a lot of gay friends in New York social circles, and in the ’80s, he had a lot of friends that died because of HIV/AIDS.”

Despite Trump’s personal relationship with the gay community, many Republican politicians have done little to support LGBT rights and are particularly hostile to transgender rights. Still, Moran argues that won’t be a deal breaker come November, and he pointed to a poll conducted this spring by the Independent Center of LGBT voters that appears to back up his claims.

The poll, which surveyed 600 LGBT-identifying voters, found that 54% “definitely” will or are leaning toward voting for President Joe Biden, a significantly lower share of the demographic than the 81% who voted for him in 2020. The poll showed 28% of participants “definitely” planning on or leaning toward voting for Trump, with 16% undecided.

A poll conducted in January and released by GLAAD in March similarly showed Biden’s support among gay voters falling compared to 2020, with 68% supporting the president’s reelection effort and 15% backing Trump.

Furthermore, the Independent Center’s poll found that 56% of LGBT voters said that LGBT issues were “important” but that “other issues were equally important.” LGBT issues was the second-most common selection behind “affordability/inflation” when the voters were asked what issues they wanted to see candidates focus on.

“Yes, you will have Democrats who will earn a vast majority of the LGBT vote, but it’s not going to be overwhelming. And, again, we are now seeing the majority of gay voters saying, ‘Look, I’m going to look at other things just as equally for my vote as I do LGBT issues,’ which shows a real maturity among LGBT voters,” Moran told the Washington Examiner. “The Democrats are not going to be able to sit there and just say, ‘The Republicans are bad on gay issues, and Donald Trump wants to put all of us in camps. You need to vote for us.’ It’s just not going to work anymore, and the polling shows that.”

However, Trump isn’t alone when it comes to pursuing LGBT voters actively.

Biden launched “Out for Biden” earlier this month, a national organizing and engagement program aimed at mobilizing LGBT voters.

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“LGBTQ+ voters are a force to be reckoned with. They were critical to our victory in 2020, and they will be critical to winning again this November,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “Donald Trump and his extremist allies are running to gut LGBTQ+ rights and erase history as their top priorities. LGBTQ+ Americans deserve leaders who will fight for every American’s freedom and dignity. That’s what President Biden and Vice President Harris have done throughout their time in office, and what they will do if reelected, including pressing Congress to pass the Equality Act.”

Moran and Log Cabin Republicans stood up a similar group for Trump in 2020 called Trump Pride, and Moran told the Washington Examiner that the former president will once again feature his own LGBT coalition in 2024, with discussions about the group’s structure and funding taking place this weekend at Mar-a-Lago.