Biden will support LGBTQ+ youth
Biden promises in his campaign to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ youth.
LGBTQ
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Context
Throughout his career, Biden has championed equality and inclusion for young LGBTQ+ individuals. Biden knows how important it is for young LGBTQ+ people to feel safe, supported, and valued at home and in school. Through policies and public leadership, the Obama-Biden Administration made it a priority to change the culture from one of fear and rejection to one where young LGBTQ+ individuals feel safe, affirmed, accepted, and loved. As private citizens, Joe and Jill Biden continued this work through the Biden Foundation’s “As You Are” campaign, which promoted understanding and acceptance among young LGBTQ+ individuals and their families.
The Argument
Biden has promised to:
Ensure young LGBTQ+ people are supported and protected in our schools and college campuses by:
- Guaranteeing transgender students have access to facilities based on their gender identity.
- Protecting LGBTQ+ students from sexual assault, harassment, and bullying.
- Ending school discipline policies that disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ students.
- Work to end suicide among young LGBTQ+ individuals.
Eliminate LGBTQ+ youth homelessness. LGBTQ+ young people are about twice as likely to be homeless as their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.
Focus on juvenile justice reform and prevention. LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.
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Protect LGBTQ+ Dreamers. There are an estimated 75,000 Dreamers who identify as LGBTQ, 36,000 of whom are DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) participants.
Counter arguments
"Biden’s actual record, spanning over 40 years in Washington, instead shows a politician who spent his entire career attacking gay people and the LGBT community. From his persistent opposition to gay marriage, to continued support for regimes that murder homosexuals, and even suggesting gay people might be “security risks” as federal employees, Biden’s open support for LGBT rights arrived very late, even among Democrats, and well after great advances toward LGBT equality had already been made."