Ryan Nicol
Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE), a Miami-based organization that promotes LGBTQ rights, is praising a new nondiscrimination plan from Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg.
Bloomberg released his LGBTQ plan on Tuesday. That proposal includes promises to reinstate benefits for individuals who left military services before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, launches a federal initiative to combat bullying and harassment, and supports several pro-LGBTQ laws should they be approved by Congress.
Bloomberg’s plan is earning support from SAVE, a prominent South Florida group that describes itself as an “organization dedicated to protecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) against discrimination.”
Orlando Gonzales, the group’s executive director, issued a statement Thursday promoting Bloomberg’s proposals.
“It is important for the LGBTQ plus community to see thoughtful and robust platforms developed, which touch on the experience of discrimination, our health and healthcare, the most vulnerable stages of life such as youth or older adults,” Gonzales said.
“Mike Bloomberg provides a thorough platform that is prospectively promising and that also retrospectively repairs the harm of the current administration.”
Bloomberg’s proposal calls out President Donald Trump directly.
“First and foremost, Mike will reverse the multitude of policy setbacks to LGBTQ+ Americans under the Trump administration,” reads an excerpt of the plan from Bloomberg’s website.
“Over the past three years, the Trump administration has acted to dismantle federal protections and resources for LGBTQ+ Americans, including stripping transgender people of their recognized identities and civil rights and nominating judges and officials with strong anti-LGBTQ+ records.”
Bloomberg also voiced support for the Equality Act, which would extend nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ individuals. He would also push for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Both of those measures would require prior action from Congress, however. Republicans have broadly been opposed to those bills and still control the Senate.
Bloomberg’s plan also includes a push to end HIV/AIDS by 2030 and would “make hate and bias crimes a top federal priority.”
He specifically highlights violence against trans women of color. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 25 transgender or gender non-conforming people were killed in 2019. The vast majority were black trans women.
A recent survey from St. Pete Polls put Bloomberg in second place in the Florida primary behind Joe Biden. The former Vice President courted a commanding 41% of the vote, with Bloomberg earning 17%.
