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Harris chooses Walz as running mate; LGBTQ groups celebrate

Minn. governor has a strong pro-LGBTQ record

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Photo public domain)

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, multiple press outlets reported on Tuesday.

The vice president and her campaign had a short runway to make the decision leading into the Democratic National Convention in mid-August. Harris emerged as the frontrunner shortly after President Joe Biden announced his decision to step aside on July 21.

Walz, who is serving in his second term and chairs the Democratic Governors Association, represented a red-leaning district in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years. The governor was introduced to many Americans when he surfaced as a top vice presidential candidate in recent weeks.

In public appearances, Walz made headlines for his plainspoken progressive appeal to voters, attracting even more attention for his line of attack against Republican opponents, former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who he called “weird dudes.”

The Hill’s Brooke Migdon wrote last week that Walz “helped make Minnesota an LGBTQ ‘refuge,'” shielding access to gender affirming care and abortion, banning so-called conversion therapy, and prohibiting book bans targeting titles with LGBTQ characters and themes.

In 1999, Walz advised Mankato West High School’s first gay-straight alliance (GSA) club, Migdon notes. The social studies teacher would then oust anti-LGBTQ longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht in 2006, running on a platform supporting same-sex marriage, which Minnesota had banned in 1997.

Once elected, Walz, who had served for 24 years in the Army National Guard, fought for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy prohibiting LGBTQ members of the U.S. Armed Forces from serving openly, and played a major role in passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

LGBTQ groups celebrate

Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, told the Washington Blade by email that “Tim Walz has been a longstanding ally to the LGBTQ+ community — from the classroom to elected office.”

“Here in Minnesota we have seen that first hand through how he has engaged on our issues and through policy that has advanced under his leadership — including signing intoĀ law bills that ban conversion ‘therapy,’ end the LGBTQ+ panic defense, and establish MN as a transĀ refuge state,” Rohn said. “At a time when LGBTQ+ communities are under attack, Gov. Walz has made it clear that welcome and inclusion are Minnesotan values, and we’re excited to see how that continues onto the national stage.”

ā€œThere’s no doubt — Kamala Harris has electrified the nation and breathed new hope into the race,ā€ said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. ā€œHer pick of governor Walz sends a message that a Harris-Walz administration will be committed to advancing equality and justice for all.”

“That is the choice we are faced with in America,” Robinson said. “A Trump-Vance Administration that would demonize LGBTQ+ people, terrorize our families, send our rights and freedoms back to ‘The Land Before Time’ and install Project 2025. Or a Harris-Walz Administration that will fight for our freedoms, defend our families, and make America a place where people don’t just get by — but can get ahead.ā€

GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said, ā€œVice President Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz underscores a longstanding commitment to the equality, prosperity, and safety of all Americans, including and especially for LGBTQ people. Gov. Walz has a proven record of including and protecting LGBTQ people and the fundamental freedoms all Americans treasure.”

“In this consequential election, we need all voices to speak up for the rights of LGBTQ people to be welcome as we are, live free from discrimination and harm, and pursue our own success and happiness,” Ellis said. “Voters can review the records of the Harris-Walz ticket to inform their own choices this fall, to reflect the country they want to live in, and to envision a future where all of us are more safe and free.ā€

LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President Annise Parker said, ā€œGovernor Tim Walz is a strong ally for our community and a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ equality. As governor, Walz worked with LGBTQ+ legislators to transform Minnesota into a refuge for LGBTQ+ families, a state where equality is the law of the land.”

“A Harris-Walz ticket will certainly push the movement for equality forward, and we expect a Harris-Walz administration will continue the historic levels of LGBTQ+ representation among presidential appointments,” Parker said. “We are confident that our work to elect pro-equality, pro-choice LGBTQ+ candidates will have a major impact up-ticket and that our candidates will win in November and make our government more reflective of our country’s highest values. ā€ 

National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund Vice President Sayre E. Reece said:
Ā Ā 
ā€œThe National LGBTQ Action Fund expected a strategic and bold choice as a strong addition to the ticket as a vice presidential candidate. In Governor Walz we have gotten both. We applaud Vice President Harris’ decision and fully support the Harris/Walz ticket – in fact, you could call this a ā€˜Golden ticket.’ 
Ā 
Governor Walz has been a steadfast ally and advocate for the LGBTQ community, including support for trans affirming care, bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom and gun control. As governor, Walz signed a ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’ into law, ending the harmful and cruel practice that has cost LGBTQ people their dignity and their lives. Under Walz’s leadership, Minnesota is both a ā€˜trans sanctuary’ and immigration sanctuary state.Ā Ā 
Ā 
The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund will advocate for continued support and action to address the challenges LGBTQ people face, from anti-trans legislation and discrimination to fair and inclusive immigration policy, reproductive rights and more.Ā Ā 
Ā 
Governor Walz is a champion of immigration rights and protections for all, he supports serious and impactful plan to combat climate change and expansive gun control legislation — we know that these are queer issues, and our communities will continue to benefit from his leadership on these issue and others.Ā 
Ā 
“Understanding how LGBTQ populations are impacted by a wide variety of these issues and more will be critical to our communities to stem the tide of anti-LGBTQ attacks and work for more representation and progress connected to all work of the next administration.Ā Ā 
Ā 
We need bold and powerful voices to take on the divisive messages and outright lies, dangerous policies and plans of the Trump campaign and this ticket can and should do that as we enter the final months before the November elections.ā€Ā 

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Congress

Democratic lawmakers travel to El Salvador, demand information about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker

Congressman Robert Garcia led delegation

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Andry HernƔndez Romero (photo credit: Immigrant Defenders Law Center)

California Congressman Robert Garcia on Tuesday said the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador has agreed to ask the Salvadoran government about the well-being of a gay asylum seeker from Venezuela who remains incarcerated in the Central American country.

The Trump-Vance administration last month “forcibly removed” Andry HernĆ”ndez Romero, a stylist who asked for asylum because of persecution he suffered because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs, and other Venezuelans from the U.S. and sent them to El Salvador.

The White House on Feb. 20 designated Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, as an ā€œinternational terrorist organization.ā€ President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the Associated PressĀ notesĀ allows the U.S. to deport ā€œnoncitizens without any legal recourse.ā€

Garcia told the Washington Blade that he and three other lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) — met with U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador William Duncan and embassy staffers in San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital.

“His lawyers haven’t heard from him since he was abducted during his asylum process,” said Garcia.

The gay California Democrat noted the embassy agreed to ask the Salvadoran government to “see how he (HernĆ”ndez) is doing and to make sure he’s alive.”

“That’s important,” said Garcia. “They’ve agreed to that … we’re hopeful that we get some word, and that will be very comforting to his family and of course to his legal team.”

The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador in 2023. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy of El Salvador’s Facebook page)

Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari traveled to El Salvador days after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) denied their request to use committee funds for their trip.

“We went anyways,” said Garcia. “We’re not going to be intimidated by that.”

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on April 14 met with Trump at the White House. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) three days later sat down with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump-Vance administration wrongfully deported to El Salvador on March 15.

Abrego was sent to the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT. The Trump-Vance administration continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ordered it to “facilitate” Abrego’s return to the U.S.

Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari in a letter they sent a letter to Duncan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday demanded “access to” HernĆ”ndez, who they note “may be imprisoned at” CECOT. The State Department has not responded to the Blade’s request for comment about the correspondence.

Garcia said the majority of those in CECOT who the White House deported to El Salvador do not have criminal records.

“They can say what they want, but if they’re not presenting evidence, if a judge isn’t sending people, and these people have their due process, I just don’t understand how we have a country without due process,” he told the Blade. “It’s just the bedrock of our democracy.”

President Donald Trump greets Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at the White House on April 14, 2025. (Public domain photo)

Garcia said he and Frost, Dexter, and Ansari spoke with embassy staff, Salvadoran journalists and human rights activists and “anyone else who would listen” about HernĆ”ndez. The California Democrat noted he and his colleagues also highlighted Abrego’s case.

“He (HernĆ”ndez) was accepted for his asylum claim,” said Garcia. “He (HernĆ”ndez) signed up for the asylum process on an app that we created for this very purpose, and then you get snatched up and taken to a foreign prison. It is unacceptable and inhumane and cruel and so it’s important that we elevate his story and his case.”

The Blade asked Garcia why the Trump-Vance administration is deporting people to El Salvador without due process.

“I honestly believe that he (Trump) is a master of dehumanizing people, and he wants to continue his horrendous campaign to dehumanize migrants and scare the American public and lie to the American public,” said Garcia.

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Congress

Goodlander endorses Pappas’s Senate bid

Announcement puts gay congressman on the path to securing his party’s nomination

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U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) on Thursday announced she will not run to represent her state in the U.S. Senate, endorsing gay U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas’s (D-N.H.) bid for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, putting him on the path to secure the Democratic nomination.

“We are in the fight of our lifetimes right now, of a moment of real crisis and challenge,” she said. “I feel humbled and grateful to so many people across our state who have encouraged me to take a look at the U.S. Senate, and after a lot of thought and conversations with people I love and people I respect and people who I had never met before, who I work for in this role right now, I’ve decided that I’m running for re election in the House of Representatives.”

When asked by a reporter from the ABC affiliate station in New Hampshire whether she would endorse Pappas, Goodlander said, “Yes. Chris Pappas has been amazing partner to me in this work and for many years. And I really admire him. I have a lot of confidence in him.”

She continued, “He and I come to this work, I think with a similar set of values, we also have really similar family stories. Our families both came to New Hampshire over 100 years ago from the very same part of northern Greece. And the values that he brings to this work are ones that that I really, really admire. So I’m proud to support him, and I’m really excited to be working with him right now because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Maggie Goodlander has dedicated her career to service, and we can always count on her to stand up to powerful interests and put people first,” Pappas said in a post on X. “I’m so grateful to call her my friend and teammate, and I’m proud to support her re-election and stand with her in the fights ahead.”

Earlier this month, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced he would not enter the Senate race, strengthening the odds that Democrats will retain control of Shaheen’s seat.

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Congress

EXCLUSIVE: Garcia demands answers on deportation of gay Venezuelan asylum seeker

Congressman’s correspondence was shared exclusively with the Blade

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Andry HernƔndez Romero (photo credit: Immigrant Defenders Law Center)

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) is demanding answers from the Trump-Vance administration on its deportation of Andry HernĆ”ndez Romero, a gay Venezuelan makeup artist who was sent to a prison in El Salvador in violation of a federal court order and in the absence of credible evidence supporting the government’s claims about his affiliation with a criminal gang.

Copies of letters the congressman issued on Thursday to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CoreCivic, a private prison contractor, were shared exclusively with the Washington Blade.

Garcia noted that HernƔndez, who sought asylum from persecution in Venezuela over his sexual orientation and political beliefs, had entered the U.S. legally, passed a preliminary screening, and had no criminal record.

Pro-bono lawyers representing HernƔndez during his detention in the U.S. pending an outcome in his asylum case were informed that their client had been removed to El Salvador a week after he failed to show for a hearing on March 13.

HernĆ”ndez’s family now fears for his safety while he remains in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), which has a well documented record of human rights abuses, Garcia said.

Additionally, the congressman wrote, while experts say Tren de Aragua does not use tattoos as identifiers, the “primary evidence” supporting HernĆ”ndez’s deportation based on his supposed links to the transnational Venezuelan gang “appears to have been two crown tattoos labeled ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad,’ which are common cultural symbols in his hometown.”

The determination about his links to or membership in the organization was made by a CoreCivic employee whose criminal record and misconduct as a law enforcement officer led to his termination from the Milwaukee Police Department, Garcia wrote in his letter to the company.

Requesting a response by May 1, the congressman asked CoreCivic President Damon T. Hininger to address the following questions:

  • What qualifications and training does CoreCivic require for employees tasked with making determinations about detainees’ affiliations?
  • What protocols are in place to ensure that determinations of gang affiliation are based on credible and corroborated evidence?
  • How does CoreCivic oversee and review the decisions made by its employees in such critical matters?
  • What mechanisms exist to prevent and address potential misconduct?
  • What is the nature of CoreCivic’s collaboration with ICE in making determinations that affect deportation decisions? Are there joint review processes?
  • What background checks and ongoing assessments are conducted for employees involved in detainee evaluations, particularly those with prior law enforcement experience?
  • What guidelines does CoreCivic follow regarding the use of tattoos as indicators of gang affiliation, and how does the company ensure that cultural or personal tattoos are not misinterpreted?

In his letter to Tae D. Johnson, acting director of ICE, Garcia requested answers to the following questions by May 1:

  • Did ICE personnel independently review and approve the determination made by CoreCivic employee Charles Cross Jr. identifying Mr. HernĆ”ndez Romero as a member of the Tren de Aragua gang?
  • What evidence, beyond Mr. HernĆ”ndez Romero’s tattoos, was used to substantiate the claim of gang affiliation?
  • Under what legal authority are private contractors like CoreCivic permitted to make determinations that directly impact deportation decisions?
  • What vetting processes and background checks are in place for contractors involved in such determinations? Are there oversight mechanisms to ensure their credibility and adherence to due process?
  • What guidelines does ICE follow regarding the use of tattoos as indicators of gang affiliation, and how does the company ensure that cultural or personal tattoos are not misinterpreted?

Together with U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Garcia wrote to U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) on Tuesday requesting permission to bring a congressional delegation to CECOT for purposes of conducting a welfare check on detainees, expressing specific concern for HernĆ”ndez’s wellbeing. The congressmen said they would “gladly include any Republican Members of the committee who wish to participate.”Ā 

HernĆ”ndez’s case has drawn fierce criticism of the Trump-Vance administration along with calls for his return to the U.S.

Influential podcaster and Trump ally Joe Rogan spoke out in late March, calling the deportation “horrific” and “a horrible mistake.”

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sent a letter to Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Homeland Security, which manages ICE, demanding HernĆ”ndez’s immediate return and raising concerns with the right to due process amid the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

HernĆ”ndez ā€œwas denied the opportunity to defend himself against unsubstantiated allegations of gang involvement or to present his asylum claim,ā€ the governor wrote. ā€œWe are not a nation that sends people to be tortured and victimized in a foreign prison for public relations victories.”

Immigrant Defenders Law Center President Lindsay Toczylowski, who is representing HernƔndez, has not been able to reach her client since his removal from the U.S., she told NBC News San Diego in a report published April 11.

ā€œUnder the Constitution, every single person has a right to due process, and that means they have a right to notification of any allegations the government is making against them and a right to go into court and prove that those allegations are wrong if that’s the case,ā€ she said. ā€œIn Andry’s case, the government never gave us that opportunity. In fact, they didn’t even bring him to court, and they have forcefully sent him to El Salvador without ever giving us any notice or without telling us the way that we could appeal their decision.ā€

“CECOT, this prison where no one has ever left, where people are held incommunicado, is a very dangerous place for someone like Andry,ā€ Toczylowski said.

In March, a DHS spokesperson posted on X that HernĆ”ndez’s ā€œown social media indicates he is a member of Tren de Aragua,ā€ though they did not point to any specific posts and NBC reported that reviews of his known social media accounts turned up no evidence of gang activity. Ā 

During a visit to CECOT in March, Time Magazine photographer Philip Holsinger photographed Romero and reported that the detainee plead his innocence — “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a stylist.” — crying for his mother as he was slapped and his head was shaved.

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