For the first time since the dramatic change in public opinion around gay rights, Democratic presidential candidates will be invited to participate in a forum focused exclusively on LGBT policies. The HRC Foundation held presidential forums for Democratic primary candidates in 2004 and 2008. Since 2013, the first openly bisexual woman and the first openly gay man and woman of color have been elected to Congress. President Trump has supported policies that have undermined LGBT rights such as his ban on transgender people serving in the military and his nomination of judges hostile to some legal protections. The first openly gay politician to run for president, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg from Indiana, has said he’s met the donor threshold to be included in the debates.

Source: Washington Post March 19, 2019 15:33 UTC