Tim Walz says it’s a “mistake” for Democrats to abandon trans people

The challenge, he said, is not making LGBTQ+ issues a “focal point” in future campaigns.

By Alex Bollinger Tuesday, May 20, 2025 (lgbtqnation.com)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a town hall on March 14, 2025, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Minnesota Gov. and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz (D) said that Democrats shouldn’t abandon LGBTQ+ voters and should continue to defend trans equality going forward.

“It’s a mistake,” he told The Independent. “And here’s the thing: we need to tell people your cost of eggs, your health care being denied, your homeowner’s insurance, your lack of getting warning on tornadoes coming has nothing to do with someone’s gender.”

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During the 2024 election, the Republican presidential campaign and allied PACs spent over $215 million on anti-trans ads portraying Kamala Harris as obsessed with helping trans people at the expense of cis people. One ad summed it up: “Kamala Harris is for they/them.” This was despite the fact that the Harris-Walz campaign studiously avoided discussing rights for trans people more than even previous Democratic presidential campaigns had.

After the elections in November, several Democrats have suggested the party move to the right on transgender rights issues. “The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) said in November. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports. Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.”

Walz, though, said that the problem for Democrats is finding a way to defend transgender people’s rights without making the issue a “focal point” in future campaigns.

“I think we have to figure out how to not get sucked in and allow that to be the focal point only, and that we can multitask, and we can hold several things simultaneously,” he said.

“We can protect LGBTQ rights and basic human rights at the same time. We can make sure that we hold drug companies accountable for high prices.”

Walz has a solid record when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. He signed a bill in 2023 making Minnesota a trans sanctuary state and ordered the Minnesota Department of Health to prepare a report summarizing scientific evidence about the safety and effectiveness of gender-affirming health care. That same year, he signed a ban on conversion therapy, and in 2024 he signed a bill banning the LGBTQ+ panic defense.

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