Presidential candidates from the US Democratic Party held the so-called meeting at the Town Hall - an evening of open communication with voters. Such events are not part of the official pre-election debate, but this meeting attracted the attention of the media because it was entirely devoted to the topic of the LGBT community.

Democratic politicians competed with each other for several hours in tolerance and breadth of views. This led to some curious moments, and also caused several controversial statements from the point of view of the American political system, experts say.

The event was attended by nine candidates from the Democratic Party. Among them are two “first-tier” politicians - former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, according to opinion polls, occupy leading positions among Democrats.

The remaining seven participants in the meeting cannot boast of a serious level of support from voters - no more than 5% of voters are going to vote for them. At the same time, two Democratic candidates - socialist Senator Bernie Sanders and businessman Andrew Young, popular among young people - refused to participate in the meeting, citing employment.

During the last presidential campaign and midterm elections, the Democratic Party relied on a younger voter and members of American society who are gay or sympathetic to the LGBT community, said Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt U.S. Study Foundation at Moscow State University, in an interview with RT.

Now all democratic candidates must follow this course and try to show which of them is more politically correct.

“Democrats, spraying their policies between various minorities, do not necessarily benefit certain categories of voters, in particular African Americans and Hispanic Americans, who are quite skeptical about this course. Therefore, their voices pass to the Republican Party. The life of the country is not limited to supporting minorities. Democrats today advocate for minorities, forgetting about the majority of their voters, whose interests also need to be protected, ”said the expert.

Religious Freedom and Same-Sex Marriages

One of the central issues at the current meeting with voters was the attitude of candidates to churches and religious organizations in the United States, which do not accept the LGBT community as such and reject the very issue of any rights for it.

One of the candidates, former Texas congressman Robert O'Rourke, said that if elected president, he would cancel tax exemptions for churches or any other organization if they did not support the agenda of the LGBT community.

“No one and no institution, no organization in America that fully recognizes the human rights and civil rights of each of us, can receive neither remuneration, nor benefits, nor tax breaks. And as president, I will make this my priority and intend to stop those who encroach on the human rights of our fellow Americans, ”O'Rourke quoted Washington Examiner.

  • Beto O'Rourke
  • Reuters
  • © Mike Blake

He was supported by another candidate - the mayor of the town of South Bend, Pete Buttidzhich, who himself is in a same-sex marriage, but at the same time calls himself a devout Christian. According to him, American politicians should not infringe on the rights of sexual minorities, attributing this to the covenants of their religion.

“I believe that using religion in this way means belittling God. I consider it an insult not only for LGBT people, but also for believing that it can be used to infringe on people in this way, ”said Buttigic.

In turn, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobushar believes that in order to protect the rights of the LGBT community, it is necessary to change the composition of the US Supreme Court.

“First of all, the basis of our Constitution, as you know, is the separation of the church from the state. There are different religions in our country, but the law is in force, and the law is applicable when it comes to discrimination and other things. I can tell you that I will appoint such judges of the Supreme Court who understand this, ”Klobushar said.

Transgender issue

The event was not without the speeches of activists and representatives of minorities, who considered that the American media did not pay enough attention to them. So, at one point, a black transgender activist interrupted a question asked by Robert O'Rourke and grabbed a microphone, claiming that CNN had allegedly deleted it from the “black transgender women” agenda.

  • Pete Buttigic
  • Reuters
  • © Mike Blake

“Baby, deeds are more important than words, you know what? Today, the microphone was not in the hands of any of the black transgender women. And none of the black transgender men, ”said the activist.

Pete Buttigic immediately picked up the topic, saying that if he becomes the American president, he will definitely support transgender people and lift the ban on military service introduced by Donald Trump for them.

Recall that permission to serve transgender people in the country's armed forces was signed by Barack Obama in 2016. However, in July 2017, Donald Trump, who took the chair in the Oval Office, canceled it, arguing that the American army could not afford the “burden of huge medical costs and frustration” that would entail the presence of transgender people in the army.

According to Yuri Rogulev, such flirting with minorities will not give the democrats the expected dividends, but only provoke a split within the party itself.

“Previously, the basis of the Democratic Party was traditionally made up of representatives of trade unions and the working class. Today, moderate democrats - representatives of the working class do not feel that they protect their interests, respectively, because of this there are contradictions in the party itself, ”the expert noted.

LGBT education

When Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, according to some polls, became the leader of the election race among the Democrats, appeared on the scene, she was asked a nine-year-old child who introduced himself as "Jacob, an American transgender." He asked Warren what measures she would take as president to “make children like me safe in schools.”

  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Reuters
  • © Mike Blake

Warren, who is positioning herself as a progressive left-wing politician, reacted to the question in a peculiar way, using it as an excuse to attack the Trump administration and personally the Minister of Education.

“In my office I want to see the Minister of Education, who will support state educational programs and equally value all our children, as well as comply with civil law. We had good ministers, and now we have a minister who is much worse. Her name is Betsy Devos. So when I become president, she will leave this post, ”said Warren.

It should be noted that the appointment of Betsy Devos was one of the most controversial personnel decisions of Donald Trump, and Devos herself has been criticized more than once by the media and Democrats for a number of steps as minister.

The Democratic Party hopes that, having gained the trust of these groups, it will receive high-profile propagandists who will advocate for the Democrats with all available methods at all available venues, political analyst Alexander Asafov said in a conversation with RT. However, some of the traditional Democrats — white Americans, especially from the regions of the Midwest — this policy may push away.

“The current US president is accused of racism, sexism, but his voter is the silent white majority that LGBT people and social justice activists accuse of all troubles. His supporters are the personification of the image of the enemy, which is forged by LGBT people and the "progressive" public. However, for Trump, accusations of racism, sexism and a bad attitude towards LGBT people are a plus, as his voters begin to trust their president more and are more and more willing to vote for him again, ”the expert concluded.