LGBTQ Presidential Forum in Iowa causes controversy

The historic LGBTQ Presidential Forum held in Iowa on Sept. 20 was marred by controversy that included racial bias, sexism and attacks on a trans woman co-host. The forum was presented by The Advocate, GLAAD, the Iowa newspaper, The Gazette and One Iowa and was broadcast live from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The event was co-hosted by “Pose” star, trans actress Angelica Ross and GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. The event moderator was Lyz Lenz, a journalist at The Gazette.

Controversy began when Ross queried on Twitter why top-tier presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders chose not to attend. Sanders was campaigning in Iowa hours after the event, raising questions among LGBTQ people as well as supporters about why he did not attend the forum. After Ross spoke to reporters about Sanders’ absence, it was reported by numerous news sites, including The Root, OUT and LGBTQ Nation that Ross was forced to close her Twitter account.

The 10 candidates who attended the event were (in order of polling) former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, self-help author Marianne Williamson and former House Rep. Joe Sestak.

There were extraordinary moments during the forum. Warren began her time by reading the names of 18 trans women murdered in 2019. Buttigieg relayed his experiences with discrimination as a gay man, like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Buttigieg also explained how he had hosted South Bend’s first blood drive, but couldn’t participate due to the ban on gay men donating blood — a statement that drew gasps from the audience.

Klobuchar received sustained applause for her call for stricter gun control after meeting and hugging Pulse nightclub survivor Brandon Wolf.

Booker seemed most at ease with the forum and queer issues. He outlined trans-specific protections in his platform and spoke about the need for police sensitivity training in working with LGBTQ people, especially trans women of color. Castro spoke about addressing homelessness, particularly among trans people and called out current HUD Secretary Ben Carson for his transphobic statements in a meeting days before the forum.

Gabbard was asked about her homophobic history. As a Hawaii state legislator Gabbard referred to activists for marriage equality as “homosexual extremists.” She made a YouTube video apology when she announced her candidacy for president, but although she continually references her time in the military, she has never mentioned the trans military ban.

Much coverage of the forum was about the manner in which moderator Lenz questioned Harris and Warren on their change of position on state funding for prisoners wanting gender reassignment surgery. As California Attorney General, Harris submitted a brief arguing against state funding for surgery for an inmate. Harris explained it was her job to do so at the time, and said that she was also working to get the Department of Corrections to change its policy. It did so in 2015 under her aegis.

Harris has a long history of pro-LGBTQ actions. She explained — while Lenz tried to cut her off — that she refused to defend Proposition 8, the voter-approved ballot initiative that revoked marriage equality in California. Harris’ action is actually credited with helping defeat Prop 8.

Harris also was performing same-sex marriages as District Attorney of San Francisco in 2004 at the same time Gabbard was making speeches against LGBTQ people from the floor of the statehouse and marching in the streets of Honolulu in anti-gay protests.

Lenz asked how LGBTQ people could trust Harris going forward, a question audience members seemed surprised by.

Lenz also queried Warren about her position on surgery for inmates. While running for Senate in 2012 Warren said that gender-affirming surgery wouldn’t be a good use of taxpayer funds. She only changed her stance in January when she began running for president — years after Harris managed to get California to change its policy. Yet Lenz did not ask if Warren could be trusted, even though her change in attitude dates only to her candidacy.

Black media were quick to cite the racist component in how each candidate was questioned: the Black woman candidate was framed as untrustworthy, while the white woman with no actual history of working for the LGBTQ community was framed as a leader on LGBTQ issues.

Biden created still more controversy. In her best questioning of the forum, Lenz asked Biden about his past votes in favor of DADT and the Defense of Marriage Act. She also asked why Biden had called Vice President Mike Pence, who has a long and troubling anti-gay history, “a decent man.”

Biden said, as he previously has about segregationists, that this is how “to talk to the other side” “when you want to get things done.”

When Lenz said Pence has been anything but “decent” to LGBTQ people, Biden said, “You’re a lovely person,” in a sarcastic tone.

Lenz said — to cheers — “I’m just asking the questions that people want to know.”

The next day headlines mostly led with Biden’s poor performance as well as his sexist comments to Lenz afterward. Lenz said Biden condescendingly called her “a real sweetheart.” She said, “It’s 2019, you shouldn’t be calling women sweethearts.”

Lenz appeared on several pundit shows talking about Biden after the forum.

The next LGBTQ Forum will be held on CNN and sponsored by HRC on Oct. 10. Sanders has already said he will not be attending that forum either.

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Victoria A. Brownworth is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, DAME, The Advocate, Bay Area Reporter and Curve among other publications. She was among the OUT 100 and is the author and editor of more than 20 books, including the Lambda Award-winning Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic and Ordinary Mayhem: A Novel, and the award-winning From Where They Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth and Too Queer: Essays from a Radical Life.