The White Bias of the LGBTQ-forum

[JI7]

this is an example of what i meant about Harris being more vetted than most other candidates .


<Kamala Harris was with us. Her fight against Proposition 8 in California is a big part of the reason we have marriage equality today. That is not an overstatement. Had she not become Attorney General of California in 2010, LGBT history in this country might look quite different.

That doesn’t mean that her record shouldn’t receive scrutiny, or that she shouldn’t have to stand up for it. But it certainly means that she has been a long-term ally of the community and comes to any and every conversation about LGBT issues from the perspective of someone who has been in those good fights for longer than most in the current presidential field.

What happened at the Glaad LGBTQ-forum on Friday was incredibly disrespectful to her, for that and a number of other reasons.

Moderator Lyz Lenz asked Harris about a case during her tenure as California’s Attorney General, where she filed a brief on behalf of her client (the California Department of Corrections) to oppose the gender reassignment surgery of a transgender inmate. The question seemed to understand that she was doing her job (“You’ve stated that you were just enforcing the existing law”), but goes on to say: “With this history how can trans people trust you will advocate for them?”

In her answer, Harris goes on to explain what she has explained before: She was representing a client, though she was personally opposed to her client’s views, but worked behind the scenes to change the policy. And for what it’s worth, California later became the first state to change its policy on this specific issue.  

Compare this to how Elizabeth Warren was later asked about the same topic, based on her statements in 2012 where she opposed transgender inmates getting gender reassignment surgery. The question was framed very differently. “In January of this year, you said you had changed on this issue, which is great,” Lenz said. “But so many people in America haven’t. […] You just said we have to get everybody on board, how do we even do that?”

While the moderator presented Harris as an “other”; somebody that the trans community might not be able to “trust”, Warren is presented as a part of the collective “we.” The question is framed “How can people trust you?” versus “How can people evolve like you?”, and it’s difficult to find any justification for this based on Harris and Warren’s records, particularly given that Harris worked to change the policy in California, while Warren just changed her position at the start of her presidential campaign.

Every candidate has their strengths and weaknesses. People have longer histories on certain issues than others. That’s fine. When it comes to LGBT issues, Elizabeth Warren doesn’t really have a history. She has admitted that she voted Republican for many years, including during the time of the AIDS epidemic, which affected countless of gay people, and which the Republican party chose to ignore. She didn’t have a public position on gay marriage until 2012 – she hadn’t held public office before then.

It’s certainly interesting that she enjoys the presumption of allyship and good intent, while that same presumption is not afforded to Kamala Harris, who has been in the trenches with the LGBT community for fifteen years – or in other words, her entire public life. It’s certainly interesting that Harris is the one who gets painted as “untrustworthy” on LGBT issues. And again, it’s difficult – or rather, impossible – to find a substantive reason why.>


https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/21/1886908/-The-white-bias-of-the-LGBTQ-forum
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[oldsoftie]

1. Man, what a stretch. Its like listening to a song backwards;

you'll hear what you WANT to hear.

[Devil Child]

2. You said it much nicer than I could've oldsoftie n/t

[dsc]

5. she clearly treated Harris worse than Warren

and it should be noted Biden as well.

[Blue_true]

6. The OP is right.

Warren got a much softer question. Harris was put into a position where she had to convince the audience that she was with them, Warren was not. The appended article showed that Harris actually had a record of being pro LGBTQ in government, whereas Warren has only spoken about it conceptually. This is coming from a person who leans more toward Warren than Harris (i.e., don't accuse me of being biased against Warren because it would be a wrong claim).

[JI7]

8. yes, and this isn't really about WArren but more about Harris and what she has faced

which i think has been tougher than others. Biden has gotten a lot of criticism for things also but people know him so it doesn't hurt him as much and i think being a white man helps.

i'm not saying Harris would be doing better without this either. i can't stay for sure and i do think she has made some mistakes. and Warren does deserve credit for the hard work she has put in which whe can all see.

it's more about what i notice in the different standards i see when it comes to Kamala HArris . and it's probably not even intentional all the time but i think being a black women she does automatically face things that others wouldn't.

another thing i notice is how they always bring on some black person to question her on criminal justice and there is never the benefit others are given where even if people disagree with their votes or whatever they did they still don't think the meant for the negative effects .

[Drunken Irishman]

3. So, how does that explain the questions lobbed at Biden?

[JI7]

4. i have said that Biden is also being vetted but he is a long time

known and familiar figure so attacks don't hurt him as much. people know him and already have formed opinions of him.

this is not true with Harris.

[5starlib]

7. Harris has been vetted more than Warren in general

Warren hasn't received near the vetting that Harris has had. Warren gets soft questions in the debates too. She is skating by not having to answer tough questions about anything. I've never seen anything like it. She hasn't been tested at all. And no, being called "Pocohontas" is not being vetted.