Presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced specifics for his campaign's five-part, multi-pronged LGBT platform the afternoon of Jan. 28.
Bloomberg, a relative latecomer to the crowded field seeking to capture the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race, has nevertheless spent about a quarter of a billion dollars on his campaign. He has pledged to give substantial financial backing to whoever becomes the Democratic candidate facing off against Trumpeven if that's someone other than himselfin the general election in Nov. 2020.
On a Jan. 28 conference call, Bloomberg said that among his myriad goals was passage of the federal Equality Act; eliminating new HIV transmissions by the year 2030; ending laws criminalizing HIV transmission; ending the so-called "panic defense" to justify anti-LGBT crimes; reversing the military transgender-ban; and fortifying laws and rules protecting transgender Americans.
Bloomberg discussed lobbying New York State lawmakers in support of marriage-equality when he was mayor of New York City.
"I know something about convincing Republicans to do the right on gay rights," Bloomberg said. He added that, even though the "march for equality" has been steady, "I think it's up to the president to keep up the pace."
The candidate emphasized, "This is a fight and cause I care deeply about … I'm going to bring this country back together and repair the damage that has been done by the president."
Among those on the leadership council the Bloomberg campaign has assembled to advice on the issues are Chris Svoboda, producer and former president, Virginia Equality Bar Association; Danielle Yoo, Alumni Talent Executive at mthree; Gail Marquis, former U.S. Olympian and basketball player; Isaac Mizrahi, designer and performer; Jon Barrett, former editor-in-chief of The Advocate; Jonathan Mintz, founding president and chief executive officer of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund; Jorge Mursuli, former executive director of Save Dade; Mathew Shurka, co-founder of Born Perfect, a program of the National Center of Lesbian Rights to end conversion therapy; Michael Michaud, Maine state co-chair of Mike Bloomberg 2020, and former congressman; Rev. Paula Stone Williams, teaching pastor at RLT Pathways; and Tim Gunn, Making the Cut host and executive producer and former Project Runway host.
See mikebloomberg.com .