Tim Walz: Examining the potential future US Vice President’s LGBTQ+ record
It's a good one
US Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has picked her choice of running mate and the potential next Vice President – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The announcement on Tuesday (6 August) comes just a couple of weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention between 19 and 22 August in Chicago.
The 60-year-old governor has been in office since 2019. Before that, he served in the US House of Representatives between 2007 and 2019. He also served in the US Army National Guard for 24 years from 1981 to 2005. Harris and Walz will now face Donald Trump and JD Vance in November’s election.
Walz was picked over other potential candidates including US Transportation Secretary and out-gay man, Pete Buttigieg. However, Walz has already been celebrated by human rights groups and progressives. The Human Rights Campaign said that Harris and Walz “will fight for equality and justice for ALL.”
Elsewhere, Lynda Carter aka Wonder Woman described Walz as a “champion who understands America” listing the Governor’s 24 years in the army and his previous role as a teacher as examples. “I can’t wait to call @Tim_Walz our Vice President!” she then said.
Here’s what we found on the potential US Vice President’s LGBTQ+ record.
Pride
Walz appears to have consistently attended Pride sharing images from marches in 2018 and 2022 on his social media. “Love standing with my LGBTQ neighbors, friends and family. We won’t quit until we reach full #equality,” he wrote in 2018. In 2022 he added: “It’s our job to ensure our LGBTQ+ neighbors are safe and valued – and that means protecting fundamental rights like reproductive health care and the freedom to marry who you love. As we celebrate Pride this weekend, I can assure you we will always stand with you in these fights.”
Allyship
As a teacher at Mankato West High School in Minnesota in the 1990s Walz was asked by students to help start the school’s first gay-straight alliance. “My answer was absolutely,” he said in a video address to mark Pride Month in 2024. “As a teacher, it was my job to make sure every student felt safe and to be themselves.” He continued: “As a governor, it’s my job to make sure every Minnesotan feels safe to be themselves.” In the same statement, he affirmed his and the state’s place in protecting people’s rights.
‘Conversion Therapy’
In April 2023 Governor Walz signed a state bill into law banning so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the mid-west state. “In Minnesota, we’re protecting rights – not taking them away,” he wrote on Twitter/X after signing the bill into law.
Trans healthcare
The same day he signed the legislation banning ‘conversion therapy’ into state law he also signed into law a bill protecting gender-affirming care for trans people. Another bill protected people seeking abortions.
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Walz spoke to Republicans about helping repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and was successful in helping get the discriminatory measure struck down. Introduced in 1994 it prevented service members from being openly LGBTQ+ without the threat of being discharged. It was repealed in 2011 under President Obama. Speaking in 2010 Walz said: “Always the issue for me was if you met the standards and did your job, your personal business was your personal business.”
When President Trump attacked trans people serving in the military, Walz spoke out against it saying: “Brave Americans who wish to serve this nation should be allowed to do, should be respected, and certainly, should never expect to have an attack on their basic patriotism or basic humanity come from the White House.”
Same-sex marriage
Walz has also supported gay marriage which formed part of his 2006 Congressional campaign. He was also an advocate for the Respect for Marriage Act. This codified same-sex marriage across the US and was then signed into law in 2022.
Anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination
Walz was also involved in passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law, passed in 2009, added protections related to people’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and also disability.