Politics
Meet Shawn Harris, the Democrat who seeks to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene
‘I wouldn’t be running unless I thought I could win’
Shawn Harris, a cattleman in Northwest Georgia who served in the military for 40 years and retired as a U.S. Army brigadier general, is running for the congressional seat now held by far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
He connected with the Washington Blade last week to discuss his candidacy as a Democrat in Georgia’s deep-red 14th Congressional District — and why his promise to deliver for constituents who have been failed by their current representative is resonating with voters across the political spectrum.
“As it stands today, I’m the lead candidate on the Democratic side,” Harris said, with “three other gentlemen running against me in the primary,” but “I am the lead candidate that has already received major endorsements,” including from Marcus Flowers, another Black veteran and Democrat who ran against Greene in 2022, and VoteVets, which is backed by more than 700,000 donors/supporters.
Harris said, “This race right now is in a situation where the district’s Democrats, Republicans, and independents are actually now truly looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene and saying, ‘she has been up there for three and a half years. What has she actually done for the district?’
He said voters are telling him, “‘I hear her always screaming about, you know, impeaching somebody, but I don’t know what she has actually done for the district.'”
A couple of weeks ago, Harris noted, Greene claimed credit for bringing millions of dollars in federal infrastructure investment to her district, only to retract the statement because the money came thanks to President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration through a bill she had voted against.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene has got herself in a situation where she’s in a civil war with the Republican Party,” he said. “She hates every Democrat that walks the face of the earth, and on top of that, she doesn’t have anything that she can stand on that says what she’s actually done here inside the district — so we have a clear path to actually beat her.”
“Based on information that we received from Marcus on what went right, what he thought he could improve, and how he raised the money, we have taken everything that he did right and brought it to our team,” Harris said. “Errors that he had, we looked at it and went with a different approach — so where I’m at right now, we’re going to every zip code in Northwest Georgia; we’re not overlooking anybody.”
Harris said he has secured support from Democrats, independents, “and we have figured out how to get Republicans to also vote for me.”
Voters can relate to Harris’s life and career
“I was military and I was high-level military,” he said. “So, it’s very easy for Republicans to Google my name and look at my history. My last assignment was in Israel. So that was a very high-level position.”
“The second piece,” Harris said, “is I raise cattle. I raise Red Angus cattle. I’m actually in my office looking out the window at them right now.”
He noted that agriculture dominates Georgia’s economy, particularly “cattle and wineries,” and also said he is an active member of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
“Most cattlemen, at least here in this area, are Republicans,” Harris said, so during the group’s meetings, “they get a chance to meet me just as Shawn, just as another cattleman.” At the same time, he said, “they come out here and visit me on the farm” and vice-versa.
“We help each other out” with challenges on the farm, and recently Harris said he has been hearing concerns about Greene’s opposition to the Farm Bill because it includes funding for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) even though the legislation also “covers when farmers have drought, or hurricanes or tornadoes, or like the fires that just happened out in Texas; it helps them to replace whatever they lost.”
During “this past cattlemen’s association [meeting] two days ago, we all took up money to send to the farmers out there to try to help them get back on their feet,” Harris said. “What they’re saying to me is, ‘in three and a half years, Marjorie Taylor Greene has never been to a cattlemen’s association-type meeting anywhere.’ Okay? So you think about that.”
Harris added, “I just told you that the number one industry up here in North Georgia, northwest Georgia, is agriculture. Then on top of that, it’s cattle, and she don’t even come and talk to that particular group?”
“I think she looks at it like that’s beneath her,” he said. “When you talk to cattlemen and cattlewomen, we are just everyday people, hard working everyday people, and we don’t get to sit around and watch the news and Twitter and all this kind of stuff — so in order to talk to them you’ve got to come out to their house and go out into the pasture and maybe help them with some things.”
When he visits other cattlemen and farmers, Harris said they often say, “‘you know, that guy was a general and he came over and helped you put your cow back in today.’ That is priceless. That is how you change hearts and minds.”
He hopes the experience will also “make them say, ‘OK, it’s OK to vote for Donald Trump'” but on “the second line [on the ballot] that will say Shawn Harris and Marjorie Taylor Greene,” these folks might choose to vote for the Democratic candidate or “if they skip it, the math starts going in my favor either way.”
“We have Republicans that have already come to me and are champing at the bit that are ready to start putting up signs, big signs in their pastures that will go out in mid-April that will say, ‘I’m voting for Shawn,'” Harris said.
He also discussed the significance of his military experience in the context of helping to better serve veterans in Northwest Georgia. “[We veterans are] just as diverse as everybody else,” Harris said. “And I’m going and talking to that group because I am a veteran, 100% disabled, so I know exactly what they’re going through,” particularly when it comes to challenges with getting healthcare and other services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“So, when I talk to my fellow brothers and sisters that are veterans,” Harris said, “I talk about those issues and say, ‘you know what? I’m going to help fix this problem, I’m going to join with Sen. [Jon] Ossoff and all of the senators to get at it, but that’s one of the things that Ossoff is really working on up here in Northwest Georgia.”
Harris said many of the policy positions outlined on his website were informed by his experience going out and talking to veterans, famers, cattlemen, teachers, and others.
“In some of the different places that we’ve been, the LGBT community has been there and asked me some questions on where I stand. And I made it very clear, just like when I was in the military, where I said ‘I believe across the board in diversity, and everybody should have a fair shake’ — that’s the same thing I believe out here northwest Georgia, and that is directly in contrast to Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Harris added that he has not yet had a formal meeting with members of the LGBTQ community, “but that community has already came to the other things and asked the question and I didn’t shy away from the question — that happened up there in Rome, Georgia.”
Asked whether, if elected, Harris might face blowback from conservative constituents over his support for LGBTQ rights, he was quick to say “no.”
“I’m not worried about any backlash or anything,” he said, because his voters “are picking me because I’m a leader,” which marks the “difference between Marjorie Taylor Greene and me — I’m going to listen to the people in my district, but I’m also going to vote and do the right thing for everybody in everybody in the district.”
Despite the efforts by Greene to “make everything seem like it’s to the extreme” including with respect to matters of LGBTQ rights, Harris said that in reality “most people out here — I don’t care if you’re Black, white, blue, or green — most people out here are laser focused on how they can get a high paying job so that they don’t have to drive to Atlanta or drive to Chattanooga, Tennessee, or drive all the way over to Huntsville, Alabama” for work.
Traveling these distances for work means “they stay over there for the week and come back on Friday,” Harris noted. “So in our area, we are breaking up the family dynamics, because either the husband or the wife is working two or three hours away from here, and so they are not here during the week.”
“What I’m trying to do,” Harris said, “and this is how I thread this needle, I’m trying to bring high-paying jobs here and generational jobs here so that people can still stay in this area, actually raise a family, and reach the American dream.”
Serving the needs of people in GA-14
Greene has discouraged investment in her district, Harris said, both by voting against legislation like federal infrastructure spending packages and by her extremism and refusal to work with Democrats as well as, in many cases, other Republicans.
“People are people,” he said, “and when you’re constantly out there screaming and saying negative things and saying whatever she’s saying all the time, when decision makers get a chance to make a decision, they’ve got to make whatever is the best decision for their organization. But if they say, ‘wait a minute, the person who is representing that area doesn’t seem like they want to be a team player,” then the calculus becomes, “‘where else can we take our business?'”
“What I plan to do,” Harris said, “is work very closely with the defense community and the space community and see what we can get moved from Huntsville — or whatever’s the next hot thing, to get that to be brought into the district.”
He recalled a conversation with former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, whom Harris was briefing in Israel, in which the Alabama Republican explained that “pretty much anything that we do in the military when it comes to defense industry or space, it all comes to Huntsville, Alabama.”
Shelby told Harris that “he wanted to make sure that in his district, no matter whether you had a GED or a Ph.D., everybody could get a high-paying job.”
“And that is what I’m trying to do for this district,” Harris said, “because we’ve got people that are already driving to these other places” to find this kind of work, so “why can’t we bring it right here? We’ve got plenty of land, plenty of space, and nothing but opportunity to make it happen — we just need the right representative to make people want to come here and do business with us.”
“I want to make sure that everybody has the same opportunities that Marjorie Taylor Greene had to have a company here, to do what they want to do with their lives,” Harris said, “and right now, Marjorie is cutting people off from opportunities.”
He added, “Her job in Washington, D.C., is to make sure that we get federal dollars into this area so that we don’t get left behind and that’s what worries me is if we continue to fight and argue, that opportunity is going to pass by our region of Georgia.”
Additionally, “Marjorie Taylor Greene is in a fight with Gov. [Brian] Kemp and that part of the Republican Party,” Harris noted. “Hence, when the state is doing certain things, we’re missing out on certain opportunities simply because Marjorie Taylor Greene is in a civil war with them.”
From the federal down to the state and the local level, the primary goal, Harris said, is “making sure we’re on the same sheet of music so that we can make things better for the people around here.”
How to beat MTG
“Marjorie Taylor Greene came in at the right time for whatever she’s trying to make herself out to be,” Harris said. “She basically came into the district — when I say came to the district, she moved from the Atlanta area into the district. And as Donald Trump was rising, she was one of the early ones that got in behind Donald Trump and rode his coattails.”
In the years since she began serving in Congress in 2021, he noted, Greene has managed to convince many rural constituents to believe what she is saying, “based on the information that she puts out here,” often through “soundbites.”
However, Harris said, often “because they have met me” or because they have moved to the area from elsewhere in the country, “people are starting to say, ‘wait a minute, what she’s telling us is not true. And we can do better.'”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene is my greatest asset,” he said. “She does something every day that actually helps me. She wants to oust the Speaker of the House for passing the budget to keep the government open. At the end of the day, here in our district, if the government shuts down — we’re not rich here, OK? We will feel it a lot faster than somebody running around New York City.”
“So, when Marjorie is saying them things, she is not even taking consideration of how this is going to affect the people in this district,” Harris said.
“Across the board, everybody is embarrassed on how she conducts herself up there in Washington, D.C., because it makes all of us down here in Northwest Georgia look like a bunch of idiots because she’s our representative,” he added.
“And if they get in behind me, and we win this thing, you would never ever have to deal with Marjorie Taylor Greene’s craziness again,” Harris said. “Because I don’t even want to repeat some of the crazy things that she has said about many communities, many communities, and that’s what gives me my energy every day to actually put things in place to actually beat her.”
The campaign, Harris said, is going to get ugly. “On social media is where I run into the Marjorie Taylor Greene people that are very bold.”
For instance, “Somebody took my picture and posted it and said, ‘hey, 90+ percent of the people that look like this guy here are the ones committing crimes.’ But guess what? Because I spent all those years in the military and I’m a leader, I did not get upset. I said, ‘you know what, OK, got it. Let’s come back positive.’ We came back positive. And the whole Twitter universe said, ‘Oh, that’s the leader that we want.'”
“I wouldn’t be running unless I thought I could win,” Harris said. Up first is Georgia’s Democratic primary election on May 21.
“In order for me — based on the people that come out to vote, based on who’s registered and all these kinds of things — the number for me to win the primary is 15,029,” Harris said, “And that gives me a 54% of the votes, so that’d be a decisive win” and position the campaign to “continue to work on more independents and more Republicans to come over to us.”
Looking ahead to the general election on Nov. 5, Harris said, “In order to beat Marjorie Taylor Greene, I need help throughout this country, because it’s going to take a lot of money to beat Marjorie Taylor Greene — and like I’ve already said, our area is not the richest part of Georgia.”
“So, in order to pull all of these things off, I’m actually appealing to the people on the ground; I’m talking to everybody face to face, going to every zip code,” he said. “But at the same time, if you go and look at me on social media, I’m on every platform out there. Every platform. So we’re fighting in the social media world and we fight face-to-face.”
“Marcus Flowers showed us, as Democrats, how to raise a lot of money into these types of races,” Harris added. “I am blessed that people are believing in me and actually want to give their hard earned dollars to our campaign and we’re being very smart and strategic about how we spend those dollars and trying to save as much as possible” because “we’ve got to get to the primary, but we try to save as much as possible so we have a war chest when we go over into the general.”
With respect to current fundraising targets, he said “we have a very good start right now.”
To win in November, however, “it’s going to take millions of dollars,” Harris noted. “So we’re constantly asking people, ‘please go to my campaign page, Shawnforgeorgia.com and donate; and if you can’t donate, just pray for us.'”
Harris pointed to Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s successful reelection bid last year, after a challenging race in his “ruby red” state. “He talked about all the things that President Biden and Vice President Harris are doing with infrastructure and taking care of people — all those kinds of things, insulin, the whole nine — and he talked about those things,” Harris said. “That’s what I’m doing here.”
2026 Midterm Elections
LGBTQ Victory Fund looks beyond Washington for change in 2026
Vice President of Political Programs Daniel Hernández spoke with Blade
As the Trump-Vance administration enters its second year, LGBTQ people from around the country are running for public office amid fears of the removal of federal civil rights laws that could lead to rollbacks in protections.
The Washington Blade sat down with Daniel Hernández Jr., the newly made vice president of political programs for the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a nonpartisan political action committee dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ individuals to all levels of government, to discuss why now is more important than ever to actualize LGBTQ political power.
Hernández is often credited with saving the life of then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) while working as her 20-year-old intern in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011. He served on the Pima County School Board and in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2017-2023, advocating for LGBTQ rights, healthcare access, and education.
Founded in 1991, the Victory Fund was created by a group of prominent LGBTQ political voices, including Dallas gay rights activist William Waybourn and former Human Rights Campaign Fund Executive Director Vic Basile, who were inspired by the success of EMILY’s List, a PAC that works to elect Democratic women to office.
Since its founding, the Victory Fund has worked with LGBTQ advocates and LGBTQ-supportive donors who recognized the need to prepare LGBTQ people to run for office nationwide.
When asked where LGBTQ people and allies need to focus looking ahead, Hernández emphasized that 2026 will be won or lost at the state and local level.
“One of the bigger things that people may not be paying as close attention to as we really should is the impact of state and local races. Federal races are crucial, obviously, but the folks who are actually able to have an impact in a meaningful way right now are not the people in the U.S. House or Senate,” Hernández said. “It can take years before a bill even moves through Congress. Meanwhile, state and local leaders are the ones standing up and fighting for our rights today. Especially during this Trump administration, that’s where the real action is happening.”
He expanded on that point, saying that at this moment in the U.S. political landscape, statewide races matter far more than they are often given credit for — particularly as 2026 is a midterm year under President Donald Trump. People who win elected office in midterm years, Hernández explained, are many times viewed as legislators pushing back against the administration at the top.
“Looking at 2026 in particular, because it’s a midterm year, people sometimes forget just how many critical statewide races are on the ballot. We have people like Chris Mayes in Arizona, who won by less than 300 votes in a battleground state and is now running for reelection,” he said. “These are the races that protect democracy and protect people’s rights in real time. If we ignore them, we’re doing so at our own peril. Statewide offices are where so much power actually lives.”
Hernández also urged LGBTQ voters and donors to think critically about where their time, money, and energy are going — particularly as resources remain limited heading into 2026 and not every race is winnable.
“I think one thing we don’t do enough as a community is pause and ask whether our resources are actually going where they can have an impact. If someone is running against a Republican in a plus-20 Republican state that hasn’t elected a Democrat in decades, do I really need to give my limited resources there? Or does it make more sense to support candidates in competitive states like Arizona or Wisconsin? In 2026, we have to be more strategic, because our resources are not unlimited. Winning matters.”
That calculation, Hernández said, also means moving away from what he described as emotionally driven donations and toward a more deliberate strategy.
“Our community is incredible at rallying when we’re angry, and I call that ‘rage giving.’ Someone awful is in office, a challenger pops up, and we all open our wallets. But what we really need to be doing is asking where that money will actually move the needle. In 2026, it’s not enough to feel good about donating — we have to make sure those donations help candidates who can realistically win. That’s how we protect LGBTQ rights long term.”
Asked how the Victory Fund determines which candidates receive endorsements — especially amid a growing field of openly LGBTQ contenders — Hernández emphasized that viability is central to the organization’s approach in 2026.
“One of the things we’re really focused on in 2026 is viability. We’re not endorsing people who have a zero-percent chance of winning. We’re looking at candidates who are running strong campaigns, who have plans, who are fundraising, and who are doing the work. That’s important because our community deserves guidance it can trust. When you see a Victory endorsement, it means we believe that candidate can actually win.”
Hernández also pushed back on the long-standing notion that being openly LGBTQ is a political liability — an argument that has resurfaced amid right-wing attacks on LGBTQ candidates.
“There’s been this long-standing perception that being LGBTQ is a liability and that it can cost Democrats elections. But when you actually look at the data, that just isn’t true. The reality is that being LGBTQ is not a risk — it’s often a strength. Voters care about roads, health care, affordability, and jobs, not fear-based caricatures. In 2026, we’re seeing more LGBTQ candidates than ever because people understand that now.”
That shift, he added, has helped reframe what LGBTQ candidates are actually campaigning on — despite efforts by conservatives to reduce them to culture-war issues.
“The so-called ‘gay agenda’ is not bathrooms. It’s making sure people have access to health care, that roads are safe, and that families can afford to live. LGBTQ candidates are talking about the same bread-and-butter issues as everyone else. That’s why the idea that LGBTQ candidates cost elections just doesn’t hold up. In fact, we’re seeing them lead on some of the most important issues facing voters right now.”
As misinformation and fear-based narratives continue to dominate right-wing messaging, Hernández said openly LGBTQ elected officials play a crucial role in countering those attacks — both through policy and presence.
“First and foremost, any elected official’s responsibility is to their constituents. That’s what we’re seeing from LGBTQ officials who are focused on affordability, health care access, and consumer protections while Republicans obsess over culture-war nonsense,” Hernández said. “But there’s also a responsibility to be authentic. Being honest about who you are and why you fight matters. That authenticity cuts through fear-based disinformation.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Hernández pointed to transgender elected officials as a particular source of momentum and optimism, even amid intensified political attacks.
“Our trans elected officials are honestly at the forefront of some of the biggest battles we’re facing right now. Despite relentless attacks and vilification, they are still delivering results for their communities. That tells me something incredibly powerful about where the country is headed. Even in this political climate, trans leaders are winning and governing. That gives me a lot of hope for 2026.”
Ultimately, Hernández said the stakes of the upcoming cycle extend far beyond a single election, shaping the future of LGBTQ political leadership nationwide.
“The leaders we elect at the state and local level today are the members of Congress and senators of tomorrow. People don’t just wake up one day and run for Congress — they come from city councils, state legislatures, and school boards. That’s why 2026 is so important. If we invest now, we’re not just defending our rights in the moment, we’re building the next generation of LGBTQ leadership.”
Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates
Incumbents Endorsed: January 2026
- Helen Grant (they/them) – Norman City Council, Ward 4, Okla.
- Louie Minor (he/him) – Bell County Commission, Precinct 4, Texas
- Jonathan West (he/him) – Manchester Selectboard, Vt.
- George Leach (he/him) – Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County Judge, Ohio
- John Fredrickson (he/him) – Nebraska State Senate, District 20
- Ben Bowman (he/him) – Oregon House of Representatives, District 25
- Jeffrey Prang (he/him) – Los Angeles County Assessor, Calif.
- Amie Carter (she/her) – Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, Calif.
- Elinor Levin (she/her) – Iowa House of Representatives, District 89
- Ken Carlson (he/him) – Contra Costa County Supervisor, District 4, Calif.
- Emma Pinter (she/her) – Adams County Commission, District 3, at-large, Colo.
- Justin Chenette (he/him) – York County Commission, District 3, Maine
- Kris Fair (he/him) – Maryland House of Delegates, District 3
- Jennifer Cornell (she/her) – Ann Arbor City Council, Ward 5, Mich.
- Darlene Martinez (she/her) – Constable, El Centro – Downtown Phoenix, Ariz.
- Brian Garcia (he/him) – Arizona House of Representatives, District 8
- Christian Phelps (he/him) – Wisconsin State Assembly, District 93
- Jack Patrick Lewis (he/him) – Massachusetts House of Representatives, 7th Middlesex
- Will Brownsberger (he/him) – Massachusetts State Senate, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties
- Julian Cyr (he/him) – Massachusetts State Senate, Cape & Islands District
- CM Hall (she/they) – Newport City Council, Ore.
- Jimmy Mack (he/him) – Southampton Town Trustee, N.Y.
- Michael Vargas (he/him) – Elk Grove USD Board of Education, Area 2, Calif.
- Lisa Grafstein (she/her) – North Carolina State Senate
- Hector Bustos (he/him) – Trustee, Santa Ana Unified School District, Calif.
Newly Endorsed Candidates – January 2026
- Kirk McPike (he/him) – Virginia House of Delegates, District 5
- Winn Decker (he/him) – North Carolina House of Representatives, District 37
- Jonathan Lambert-Melton (he/him) – Wake Co. Board of Commissioners, At-Large, N.C.
- Karen Stegman (she/her) – Orange County Board of Commissioners, At-Large, N.C.
- Landon Campbell (he/him) – Hays County Criminal District Attorney, Texas
- Christine Castillo (she/her) – Bexar County District Clerk, Texas
- Nicholas “Nico” Costilla (he/him) – Hays County Clerk, Texas
- Davis Mendoza Darusman (he/him) – Harris Co. Justice of the Peace, Pct. 5, Pl. 2, Texas
- Nicholas Palmer (he/him) – Justice, Fifth Court of Appeals, Texas
- José “Che-Che” Wilson (he/him) – Cook County Board of Commissioners, District 12, Ill.
- Sarah Bury (she/her) – Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners, Ill.
For more information of the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s endorsments, qualifications, or on how to register to receive an endorsement, visit the organization’s website at victoryfund.org
Congress
New Equality Caucus vice chair endorses Equality Act, federal trans bill of rights
Salinas talks about her personal road to LGBTQ advocacy
Rep. Andrea Salinas, the new vice chair of the Equality Caucus, sat down with the Blade to discuss the battles ahead as she demands protections for LGBTQ Americans.
Salinas is no stranger to government service. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant, she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and soon became a valued member of multiple Democratic offices — including working as a congressional aide to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.). From there, she served six years in the Oregon House of Representatives before being elected to Congress, representing areas south of Salem and parts of southern Portland. With her new role in the Equality Caucus, Salinas vows to push protections for LGBTQ Americans in every room she enters.
The Washington Blade spoke with Salinas last week following her leadership announcement to discuss what the role means to her, why she — as a straight woman— feels it is her duty to fight for LGBTQ protections, and how she views the current state of the country.
When asked why she decided to take on a leadership role within the Equality Caucus, Salinas explained that she was already doing the work — but that the timing of the caucus’s outreach, coupled with what she described as a growing threat posed by the Trump-Vance administration, made the moment feel especially urgent.
“I was actually asked to take on this role because of the work I’ve already been doing. I didn’t seek out a title— the Congressional Equality Caucus came to me, and I was honored by that,” the Oregon representative told the Blade. “I’ve been a lifetime advocate, first as a mother and then as a legislator. With Trump back in office and the shackles off, kids are vulnerable right now, and they’re being attacked. We need champions, and with or without a title, I was going to do this work anyway.”
That work includes passing LGBTQ-related education policy during her time in the Oregon House of Representatives, requiring the Oregon Department of Education to train teachers on how to better support LGBTQ students. She also backed legislation aimed at preventing LGBTQ-related bullying and harassment, while using her platform to ensure educators had the skills needed to address trauma in the classroom. Salinas also pushed for Oregon’s 2013 conversion therapy ban and played a role in defending it.
Salinas said her personal motivation for expanding and protecting LGBTQ rights is rooted in the experiences of her daughter, Amelia.
“My daughter is queer, and she has known who she is since she was a child,” Salinas said. “She presents very masculine, and I’ve had to advocate for her her entire life — from whispers on soccer sidelines to fears about using the bathroom when she was just three or four years old. That kind of bullying and harassment stays with you as a parent. It became part of who I am, part of my ‘mama bear’ advocacy. When I entered public office, continuing that fight was the most natural thing in the world.”
That “mama bear” advocacy, she said, now extends far beyond her own family.
“Across this country, kids are vulnerable right now, and Trump is attacking them,” she said. “My daughter was devastated after the 2024 election— she said, ‘They’re coming after us,’ and she was right. That fear is real, especially for transgender youth. Civil rights should be expanding, not being stripped away from certain communities. That’s why this fight feels so urgent.”
Since returning to the White House in 2024, the Trump administration has moved to roll back anti-discrimination protections, particularly those affecting transgender people. These efforts include barring transgender people from serving openly in the military, blocking access to gender-affirming medical care in federal health programs, challenging state laws that protect transgender students on religious grounds, and arguing that the Constitution entitles employers to discriminate against LGBTQ people based on religious beliefs — even in states with nondiscrimination laws.
For Salinas, the Equality Caucus’s most urgent task under the Trump-Vance administration is advancing what she called a long-sought but non-negotiable priority: the Equality Act.
The Equality Act would add explicit protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity to federal law. Despite more than five decades of debate on Capitol Hill, no version of the bill has yet become law.
“We have to keep pushing the Equality Act— there’s no way around that. No one should be discriminated against in housing, employment, credit, or healthcare because of who they are,” Salinas said. “Republicans are making LGBTQ identity a political wedge because they think it’s expedient, and that’s unacceptable. Sexual orientation and gender identity should not matter in determining someone’s access to opportunity. Yet here we are, still having to fight for that basic principle.”
Salinas added that advancing legislation like the Equality Act requires compassion— even when that compassion is not returned— and a commitment to education.
“We have to meet people where they are— Democrats, Republicans, independents, all of them. Until you know a family, or understand someone’s lived experience, it can feel abstract and overwhelming,” she said. “Education, compassion, and empathy are essential to moving the dial. When people understand this is about human rights, not politics, conversations start to change. That’s how we build broader support.”
She also emphasized the need for a federal transgender bill of rights, which would provide explicit protections for transgender Americans amid what she described as an increasingly hostile federal environment.
“A transgender bill of rights would clarify that discrimination against transgender and nonbinary people is illegal — in employment, housing, credit, and healthcare,” Salinas said. “What’s happening right now, with efforts to criminalize doctors for providing evidence-based care, is unheard of and dangerous. We also need to ban conversion therapy nationwide, because states are increasingly trying to undo those protections through the courts. These safeguards are about ensuring people can live safely and with dignity. That should not be controversial.”
Mental health is another central focus of Salinas’s work. She said ensuring children have access to support— particularly LGBTQ youth— is critical to their long-term wellbeing.
After the Trump administration eliminated the LGBTQ-specific option from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Salinas said her reaction was one of outrage.
“When Trump shut down the 988 press-three option for LGBTQ youth, I was apoplectic,” she said. “It is one of the simplest, most upstream ways to save lives, and it felt arbitrary, cruel, and inhumane. We know the suicide risk among transgender youth is far higher than among non-LGBTQ kids. Connecting them with someone who understands their experience can be life-saving. This should be bipartisan, and I’m going to keep pushing to restore it.”
“You cannot be what you cannot see….” she added while reflecting on the handful of LGBTQ leaders who have— and continue to— navigate the halls of Congress to protect their community. “When Sarah McBride was elected, my daughter met with her and walked out glowing… joyful, hopeful, and excited about the future. That kind of representation changes lives. Electing LGBTQ leaders changes the trajectory for people across the country. Grassroots organizing and electoral power go hand in hand, and we need both.”
With Salinas’s experience in both the Oregon House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives, she said that while one arena may reach more people, change often begins locally, especially when combating anti-LGBTQ attacks.
“I’ve seen how misinformation fuels fear at the local level— whether it’s school board fights or bathroom debates rooted in baseless claims. There is no data to support these scare tactics,” she said, echoing her past work with the Oregon Department of Education. “What actually helps is facts, education, and training teachers to better support LGBTQ students. I passed legislation in Oregon to give educators real tools to prevent bullying and harassment. That kind of work matters just as much as what we do in Congress.”
Despite just being named vice chair of the Equality Caucus, the Blade asked Salinas what legacy she hopes to leave, particularly when it comes to LGBTQ advocacy.
“I want people to be able to live authentically, without fear from their government or their neighbors. That means passing real legislation— the Equality Act and a transgender bill of rights— so protections are not dependent on who’s in power. Civil and human rights are meant to expand, not contract.
“I’ve been doing this work since I became a mother, and I’ll keep doing it for as long as it takes. My daughter deserves it, and so does every LGBTQ person in this country.”
Congress
McBride, other US lawmakers travel to Denmark
Trump’s demand for Greenland’s annexation overshadowed trip
Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride is among the 11 members of Congress who traveled to Denmark over the past weekend amid President Donald Trump’s continued calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland.
McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, traveled to Copenhagen, the Danish capital, with U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), and Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.). The lawmakers met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic MP Pipaluk Lynge, among others.
“I’m grateful to Sen. Coons for his leadership in bringing together a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to reaffirm our support in Congress for our NATO ally, Denmark,” said McBride in a press release that detailed the trip. “Delaware understands that our security and prosperity depend on strong partnerships rooted in mutual respect, sovereignty, and self-determination. At a time of growing global instability, this trip could not be more poignant.”
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark with a population of less than 60,000 people. Trump maintains the U.S. needs to control the mineral-rich island in the Arctic Ocean between Europe and North America because of national security.
The Associated Press notes thousands of people on Saturday in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, protested against Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is among those who have criticized Trump over his suggestion the U.S. would impose tariffs against countries that do not support U.S. annexation of Greenland.
A poll that Sermitsiaq, a Greenlandic newspaper, and Berlingske, a Danish newspaper, commissioned last January indicates 85 percent do not want Greenland to become part of the U.S. The pro-independence Demokraatit party won parliamentary elections that took place on March 12, 2025.
“At this critical juncture for our countries, our message was clear as members of Congress: we value the U.S.-Denmark partnership, the NATO alliance, and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination,” said McBride on Sunday in a Facebook post that contained pictures of her and her fellow lawmakers meeting with their Danish and Greenlandic counterparts.
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