Tim Walz’s Complete Track Record on LGBTQ Issues
Minnesota Governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’ track record with LGBTQ issues dates back to the 90s.
Pre-government
1999
As a geography teacher and championship-winning football coach at Mankato West High School, in Mankato, Minnesota, Walz agrees to be the faculty advisor to the school’s first ever gay-straight alliance. Explaining his decision years later, Walz said,“It really needed to be the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married.”
Congressional Campaign
Oct. 19, 2006
When Walz is asked in his first district debate about a proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as “only of the union of a man and a woman,” he says, “This Constitution is a sacred document. States have every right to make the decisions they need to make, religious institutions have every right to make every choice that they need to make but to change 230 years of history to start writing in discriminations and limitations is something that I’m not comfortable with”
Representative Walz
2007
Walz joins the majority to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 which would give federal funding to law enforcement to prosecute hate crimes committed “because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability of the victim”. This version of the bill is added to a defense act which is vetoed by George W. Bush.
Walz votes with the majority to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 which would make it unlawful for employers to discriminate against individuals on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. This version of the bill died in the Senate as did future versions of the bill.
Oct. 6, 2009
Walz defends the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 on the House floor. He uses his 24 years of military service and his position as the highest ranking military officer to serve in Congress to denounce the continuation of the law that forbade people from being openly gay in the military. “Not once in my career did the question of sexual orientation ever come up,” he says. “Not once was the ability of that unit to … deliver their mission ever predicated on sexual orientation. Not once did I see that this nation was safer because a soldier was removed because of sexual orientation.”
Representative Walz votes with the majority to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 which includes the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment. This bill is signed into law by President Obama on October 28, 2010. It broadens the definition of hate crimes to include those who are victimized because of their sexual orientation, gender, or disability.
Dec. 5, 2010
In a speech on the House floor, Rep. Walz again defends the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010: “This discriminatory policy is hurting our military readiness and weakening our nation such as releasing dozens of Arabic linguists simply because they were homosexual. Serving in the military we believe in duty, honor and country, asking these brave people to lie goes against all of our values” Walz says before voting with the majority to pass the bill that is signed into law by President Obama in front of an ecstatic audience.
Representative Walz tweets a link to a marriage equality petition on his campaign website.
Nov. 20, 2013
Representative Walz presents the Protecting the Freedoms and Benefits for All Veterans Act, to the House. The bill would revise the definition of “surviving spouse” for purposes of veteran benefits to remove the requirement that the spouse must be of the opposite gender. This bill was passed around Congressional Committees and never went to a vote.
July 27, 2017
Representative Walz joins other House members to make a statement outside the Capitol denouncing President Trump’s ban on transgender troops. “Our brave transgender troops serving this great nation are not a burden nor a distraction, they’re American patriots. They volunteered to put their lives on the line for our freedom, and their service should be welcomed, celebrated, respected, and honored,” Walz says.
Representative Walz wishes his constituents a “Happy National Coming Out Day!” via a social media video.
Governor Walz
August 2018
Rep. Walz launches his campaign for Governor of Minnesota and releases a campaign ad reaffirming his support of the LGBTQ community. In it he remembers his students asking him if he would help start a gay-straight alliance group. “My answer was, absolutely!”
The Human Rights Campaign endorses Walz for Governor of Minnesota.
June 21, 2019
Governor Walz flies a pride flag at the Governor’s Mansion for the first time in Minnesota history.
July 15, 2021
In an executive order, Governor Walz protects Minnesotans from conversion therapy by targeting health care providers and state health insurance practices.
March 8, 2023
Governor Walz signs an executive order titled “Protecting and Supporting the Rights of Minnesota’s LGBTQ Community Members to Seek and Receive Gender Affirming Health Care Services.” The order protects those seeking, receiving or providing gender affirming care from punishment including the restricting of parental rights on the basis of obtaining affirming care for their child and declares Minnesota will not help other states penalize those involved with providing or receiving the care.
April 27, 2023
Governor Walz signs two bills protecting Minnesota’s LGBTQ community. HF 16 officially bans mental health providers from practicing conversion therapy and prohibits deceptive advertisements for conversion therapy. HF 146 prevents state courts and officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests, or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care received by anyone in Minnesota. In a press conference on March 23, 2023, author of the bill Rep. Leigh Finke said, “HF 146 would make Minnesota into a trans refuge state protecting trans people, their families and medical practitioners from the legal repercussions of traveling to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming care.”
May 24, 2023
After Governor Walz signs education finance bill HF 2497, Minnesota public schools are directed to provide free menstrual products for all “menstruating students” in all bathrooms used by anyone in grades 4 to 12. This earns Walz the nickname of “Tampon Tim” from conservatives outraged at the presence of period products in boys’ restrooms.
May 17, 2024
Governor Walz signs SF 3567 which prohibits book banning in public and school libraries and mandates inclusive curricula.
May 24, 2024
Following the example of a California law championed by then Attorney General Kamala Harris ten years earlier, Governor Walz signs HF 5216 to prohibit the use of the LGBTQ Panic Defense. The bill states, “It is not a defense to a crime that the defendant acted based on the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”
July 30, 2024
While on the shortlist for vice presidential picks, Governor Walz was a guest on the podcast Pod Save America. When co-host Jon Lovett jokingly asked Walz “for being such a friend to the queer community, why don’t you dress better?”, Walz laughingly responded, “It is true. You gotta have the ally that looks like this dude, the old white dude.”
Aug. 6, 2024
In his first speech after being chosen by Vice President Harris to be her running mate, Walz reveals an important part of his personal philosophy. While Republicans think the government belongs inside doctors’ offices, Democrats have a counter-message: “Mind your own damn business.”
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Wow! What a fantastic piece about Walz's leadership on queer policy! Fantastic reporting Abbie!