Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
CHICAGO | Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rebuffed Republican attacks against the LGBTQ community, reproductive freedom and other foundational, fundamental liberties in an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention Aug. 21.
“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” said the former teacher and football coach, who agreed to serve as faculty advisor to his high school’s gay-straight alliance club in 1999.
“We also protected reproductive freedom, because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves,” Walz said. “We’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. And that includes IVF and fertility treatments.”
The governor discussed his family’s struggles with infertility. He and his wife had children through IVF.
“Some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor,” Walz said, pointing to the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees. “Take Donald Trump and JD Vance: Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives.”
“They spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this,” he said, “but look, I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this, when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.”
Walz added, “here’s the thing, it’s an agenda nobody asked for. It’s an agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us. And it’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need. Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong, and it’s dangerous.”
“We’ve got 76 days,” he said. “That’s nothing. There will be time to sleep when you’re dead. We’re going to leave it on the field. That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, where health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.”
“That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry,” Walz said, “where no community is left behind, where nobody gets told they don’t belong. That’s how we’re going to fight. And as the next president of the United States always says, when we fight [crowd: we win!] When we fight, [crowd: We win!] When we fight [crowd: We win!]”
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