Politics
Joe Biden to ‘stand down’ from 2024 presidential race
Announcement comes amid growing pressure from Democrats to step aside
President Joe Biden on Sunday announced he will “stand down” from the 2024 presidential ticket.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” he said in a statement he posted to X. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
Biden said he will speak to the country “later this week in more detail about my decision.”
The president in his statement specifically thanked Vice President Kamala Harris, describing her as an “extraordinary partner in all this work.” Biden in a second statement endorsed her.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
The move comes after weeks of pressure from Democratic leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who met privately with the president to urge him to step aside because he had no clear path to beating the Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Doubts among Democrats were crystalized by Biden’s poor performance in his televised debate against Trump on June 27, which led prominent donors including actor George Clooney to urge the party to replace him. They were followed by a steady trickle of elected Democrats.
“We are deeply grateful to President Biden for his more than 50 years of public service and his longtime support for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “Today’s announcement reflects his legacy and what President Biden has done his entire career: put the needs of Americans and his country above his own. We owe the Biden-Harris team a debt of gratitude for leading the country out of a state of chaos and constant crisis under former President Trump.”
“The Biden-Harris administration has been the most pro-LGBTQ+ equality administration in history: assembling the most diverse administration, signing the Respect for Marriage Act into law to protect against attacks on marriage equality, and taking important steps to protect our transgender community and LGBTQ+ students,” added Robinson. “President Biden and Vice President Harris have worked closely with HRC and others to get things done and move us closer to equality. We look forward to hearing President Biden address the nation later this week.”
Los Angeles reacts, backs Harris
Reaction was swift and supportive in Los Angeles, where Harris has long been a popular figure.
During her 2020 run for president, Harris made the LGBTQ fundraising rounds and raised large sums of money, most notably during a private event at the home of David Cooley, the then- owner of the Abbey. Cooley agreed to host at his home after Harris popped in unexpectedly at the famous bar while campaigning.
Just this week she toured Los Angeles with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and then traveled with him to a swank fundraiser in Provincetown, Mass., that brought the financial elite of Los Angeles together.
The Biden-Harris Provincetown fundraiser was co-hosted by noted Angelenos, including Creative Artists Agency partner Joe Machota and his husband Michael Russell, along with Bryan Rafanelli and Abbey owner Tristan Schukraft, raising more $2 million for the Biden-Harris reelection campaign.
That, coupled with today’s announcement, indicates the vice president will have no trouble raising funds from the LGBTQ community and Hollywood as a presidential candidate.
LGBTQ elected officials and other LGBTQ community leaders were ecstatic about today’s events:
“I’m excited to support Vice President Harris and look forward to continuing the progressive legacy she championed alongside President Joe Biden,” West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson told the Los Angeles Blade. “VP Harris is a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ rights and access to abortion, and we need her leadership in the White House.”
“Every election, we say: ‘This is the most important election,’ and this time, we really need people to understand that it is,” he continued. “We are at the moment in history where we either will defeat the evil being presented by the other side of the aisle or choose to embrace what this country is really all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.”
Wilson Cruz, chair of the GLSEN board of directors, said he is “so grateful to President Biden for, once again and always, putting the nation and its needs before his own. A statement we can never make about the Republican nominee. “
“Kamala Harris, he said, is the future. She is the embodiment of the promise of America. As a California resident, I wholeheartedly supported and then voted for her at every opportunity. As we will see when she prosecuted the case against felon and his VP lackey, she is more than qualified, fit and ready for this fight.”
Cruz said he sees Harris as a “unrelentingly vocal and visible ally” and believes she will “build the most supportive administration the LGBTQ community has ever seen.”
“I will do anything and everything the campaign believes I will be useful in doing,” Cruz told Blade.
“I’m going to get LGBTQ and people of color out to vote in order to protect this democracy, protect a woman’s bodily autonomy and defend and secure the rights of LGBTQ people across this country,” he said, adding “let’s go!”
Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang, in a statement that focused on Biden, said his organization is “eternally grateful to President Joe Biden for his lifetime service to our country, and his longtime support for the LGBTQ+ community.”
“As he has throughout his more than half a century in elected office, President Biden has put what is best for America above all else,” said Hoang. “During his time in the White House, President Biden pushed forward a proactive agenda that opens doors and levels the playing field for all LGBTQ+ Americans, while defending against attacks from far-right extremists seeking to roll back our hard-fought rights. Our community owes President Biden a tremendous debt of gratitude.”
“As vice president under President Barack Obama, he was one of that administration’s earliest voices in support of marriage equality, and as president he has led the most pro-LGBTQ+ administration in history,” he added. “From overturning a discriminatory ban on transgender people serving in the military, to signing the Respect for Marriage Act, to strengthening protections for LGBTQ+ people, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the betterment of all LGBTQ+ Americans. Additionally, President Biden tapped members of the LGBTQ+ community to serve key roles in his cabinet, including Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation and Admiral Dr. Rachel Levine — the first out transgender Cabinet official in American history — as Assistant Secretary of Health, and nominated hundreds of pro-equality federal and district judges.
Moving forward, our primary objective must be defeating Donald Trump and JD Vance this November. Both candidates pose an existential threat to democracy, evidenced by their support of extremist agendas such as Project 2025 — which spells out in chilling detail processes to dismantle governmental checks and balances, reverse all progress made by LGBTQ+ people, and threaten reproductive choice and bodily autonomy.
At a time of unprecedented anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and hate violence directed at our community, it is more important than ever before to have strong champions for LGBTQ+ equality in the White House. In the coming days, we will reevaluate the organization’s endorsement for president. Equality California remains committed to getting out the vote this November to ensure that pro-equality champions are elected up and down the ballot to continue building a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all people.”
West Hollywood Councilmember and former Mayor Sepi Shyne thanked Biden “for his many years of service to our country and his legacy on LGBTQ+ rights, especially his vital role in supporting gay marriage when he was VP.”
“He has been a champion for us,” she said, adding, “I am in full support of his decision to step down and endorse vice president Harris as the Democratic nominee for president.”
Shyne states that she “fully supports VP Harris and has faith she will win.”
“This is an incredibly important moment for us all to unite for justice, women, LGBTQ+ rights, diversity, common sense, democracy, and our human rights,” she said. “When we stand together we win. I am with VP Kamala Harris all the way.”
Los Angeles LGBT Center Chief Executive Officer Joe Hollendoner said “the Biden-Harris Administration is the most pro-LGBTQ+ in United States history. I am grateful to President Biden for his commitment to our community and applaud his service to our country.”
He added “the nation is facing an unprecedented time and we continue to face dangerous inflection points targeting LGBTQ+ civil rights, reproductive justice, and so much more. This November, we need candidates who will not abandon our interests on the ballot and instead keep a steadfast commitment to the issues facing LGBTQ+ Americans.”
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang told the Blade that “President Biden‘s announcement that he won’t seek reelection is a moment in history won’t be forgotten for time immemorial.” He noted “it is an example of the highest standard of pure statesmanship.”
Prang also said “the president’s action marks an amazing half century political career that began as one of the youngest senators in the nation and is now ending as its oldest president.”
“Under his steady calm but strong guidance the Biden–Harris administration led our nation through the COVID pandemic while he rebuilt our manufacturing arm here at home,” he said. “Leading the way was his work to return the manufacturing of the computer chip here in our great nation.”
Prang also points out “he fought for investment both at home and globally that created hundreds of thousands of new jobs that will steer the country into a stronger industrial well that could charge our economic recovery.”
Prang thanked the president for his legacy of selfless public service
Troy Masters contributed to this story.
Congress
51 lawmakers sign letter to Rubio about Andry Hernández Romero
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) spoke about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker
Forty nine members of Congress and two U.S. senators, all Democrats, signed a letter Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding information about Andry Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan national who was deported to El Salvador and imprisoned in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT
“We are deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing of Mr. Hernández Romero, who left
Venezuela after experiencing discriminatory treatment because of his sexual orientation and
opposition to Venezuela’s authoritarian government,” the lawmakers wrote. They urged the State Department to facilitate his access to legal counsel and take steps to return him.
After passing a credible fear interview and while awaiting a court hearing in March, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly transported Hernández out of the U.S. without due process or providing evidence that he had committed any crime.
In the months since, pressure has been mounting. This past WorldPride weekend in Washington was kicked off with a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and a fundraiser, both supporting Hernández and attended by high profile figures including members of Congress, like U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was among the four members who wrote to Rubio about Hernández in April. On Friday, he spoke with the Washington Blade before he and his colleagues, many more of them this time, sent the second letter to Rubio.
“There’s a lot of obviously horrible things that are happening with the asylum process and visas and international students and just the whole of our value system as it relates to immigration,” he said, which “obviously, is under attack.”
“Andry’s case, I think, is very unique and different,” the congressman continued. “There is, right now, public support that is building. I think he has captured people’s attention. And it’s growing — this is a movement that is not slowing down. He’s going to be a focal point for Pride this year. I mean, I think people around the world are interested in the story.”
Garcia said he hopes the momentum will translate to progress on requests for proof of life, adding that he was optimistic after meeting with Hernández’s legal team earlier on Friday.
“I mean, the president, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio — any of these folks could could ask to see if just he’s alive,” the congressman said, referring to the secretary of Homeland Security, whom he grilled during a hearing last month. ICE is housed under the DHS.
“People need to remember, the most important part of this that people need to remember, this isn’t just an immigration issue,” Garcia noted. “This is a due process issue. This is an asylum case. We gave him this appointment. The United States government told him to come to his appointment, and then we sent him to another country, not his own, and locked him up with no due process. That’s the issue.”
Garcia said that so far neither he nor his colleagues nor Hernández’s legal team were able to get “any answers from the administration, which is why we’re continuing to advocate, which is why we’re continuing to reach out to Secretary Rubio.”
“A lot more Democrats are now engaged on this issue,” he said. U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both from California, joined Monday’s letter. “The more that we can get folks to understand how critical this is, the better. The momentum matters here. And I think Pride does provide an opportunity to share his story.”
Asked what the next steps might be, Garcia said “we’re letting his legal team really take the lead on strategy,” noting that Hernández’s attorneys have “already engaged with the ACLU” and adding, “It’s very possible that the Supreme Court could take this on.”
In the meantime, the congressman said “part of our job is to make sure that that people don’t forget Andry and that there is awareness about him, and I think there’s a responsibility, particularly during WorldPride, and during Pride, all throughout the month — like, this is a story that people should know. People should know his name and and people should be aware of what’s going on.”
Congress
Wasserman Schultz: Allies must do more to support LGBTQ Jews
A Wider Bridge honored Fla. congresswoman at Capital Jewish Museum on Thursday
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday said allies need to do more to support LGBTQ Jewish people in the wake of Oct. 7.
“Since Oct. 7, what has been appalling to me is that LGBTQ+ Jewish organizations and efforts to march in parades, to be allies, to give voice to other causes have faced rejection,” said the Florida Democrat at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. after A Wider Bridge honored her at its Pride event.
Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat who represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, added the “silence of our allies … has been disappointing.”
“It makes your heart feel hollow and it makes me feel alone and isolated, which is why making sure that we have spaces that we can organize in every possible way in every sector of our society as Jews is so incredibly important,” she said.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when it launched a surprise attack on the country. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 people on that day.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed nearly 55,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the Israel Defense Forces killed last October, are among those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
A Wider Bridge is a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism and other forms of hatred.”
Thursday’s event took place 15 days after a gunman killed two Israeli Embassy employees — Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Police say a man who injured more than a dozen people on June 1 in Boulder, Colo., when he threw Molotov cocktails into a group of demonstrators who were calling for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages was yelling “Free Palestine.” The Associated Press notes that authorities said the man who has been charged in connection with the attack spent more than a year planning it.
Congress
Sen. Schiff proposes resolution urging DOD not to rename U.S. Naval Ship Harvey Milk
Pentagon reportedly plans to change the name of ship named for gay rights icon
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a resolution urging the U.S. Department of Defense not to rename ships that bear the names of civil rights leaders like gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk.
The move comes just after reports on Tuesday that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan to rename the U.S. Naval Ship Harvey Milk, with an announcement deliberately planned for Pride month on June 14.
The vessel, a replenishment oiler, is part of the John Lewis class fleet. The Pentagon is also considering renaming other ships in the fleet including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman, according to CBS News.
“By naming these ships,” Schiff wrote in his resolution, “the United States Navy has appropriately celebrated notable civil rights leaders and their legacy in promoting a more equal and just United States.”
Milk was assassinated in 1978 while serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Prior to his election to the Senate last year, Schiff represented California districts in the U.S. House since 2001.
Part one of his resolution “strongly supports the naming of John Lewis-class fleet replacement oilers after the aforementioned civil rights leaders as a fitting tribute to honor their contributions to the advancement of civil rights,” while part two “strongly encourages the Department of Defense not to take any action to change the names.”
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PHOTOS: Capital Pride Honors
