Biden Announces Kamala Harris For Veep Pick
Posted on by Randy Slovacek

Biden Announces Kamala Harris For Veep Pick

Biden Announces Kamala Harris For Veep Pick
L-R Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

Former Vice President Joe Biden announced today that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is his choice for running mate in the 2020 presidential election.

From the New York Times:

Joseph R. Biden Jr. selected Senator Kamala Harris of California as his vice-presidential running mate on Tuesday, embracing a former rival who sharply criticized him in the Democratic primaries but emerged after ending her own campaign as a vocal supporter of Mr. Biden and a prominent advocate of racial-justice legislation after the death of George Floyd in late May.

Ms. Harris, 55, is the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major party, and only the fourth woman in history to be chosen for one of their presidential tickets. She brings to the race a far more vigorous campaign style than Mr. Biden’s, including a gift for capturing moments of raw political electricity on the debate stage and elsewhere, and a personal identity and family story that many find inspiring.

Susan Rice, former Ambassador to the UN, viewed by many to be a top contender announced her support for the pick.

GLAAD points up Sen. Harris’ record on LGBTQ issues which includes:

  • Establishing San Francisco County’s first LGBTQ hate crimes unit, LGBTQ victim advocacy unit, and LGBTQ sexual assault awareness program, as San Francisco District Attorney

  • Refusing to defend Prop 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage as the state’s Attorney General, later performing the marriage of the couple who sued to get Prop 8 overturned

  • Creating the first-in-the-nation law to ban gay or trans “panic” defenses used to justify violence against LGBTQ people, and later, as U.S. Senator, introducing a bill to ban its use in federal trials

  • Introducing legislation to prevent the use of religious beliefs to justify LGBTQ discrimination

  • Supporting the Equality Act, which bars discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity nationwide including in education, federal funding, housing, education and public accommodations and the jury system

  • Introducing legislation to ensure LGBTQ Americans are counted in the U.S. Census