2020 Democrats discuss LGBTQ issues during CNN's Equality Town Hall


Nine 2020 Democratic candidates attended CNN's Equality Town Hall Thursday evening in Los Angeles, and fielded questions on everything from AIDS to preventing hate crimes to faith.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is gay, and said that "religious liberty is an important principle in this country and we honor that. It's the case that any freedom that we honor in this country has limits when it comes to harming other people." Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) said religious institutions should not receive tax-exempt status if they are against same-sex marriage, and conversion therapy should be illegal as it's "tantamount to torture."
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) revealed he "absolutely" believes the Food and Drug Administration ban on blood donations from certain gay men should be lifted, and former Vice President Joe Biden said he would ensure the Equality Act is passed to give anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ people. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer shared that he was shocked when he learned that half of all transgender youth attempt suicide, and he vowed to take action against this "dire situation."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got the biggest laugh of the night, when she was asked what she would say to someone who told her marriage is between a man and a woman. "Well, I'm going to assume it's a guy who said that, and I'm gonna say, 'Then just marry one woman,'" she said. "'I'm cool with that. If you can find one.'" Read more about what all the candidates had to say at CNN.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from