Former Vice President Joe Biden

The Human Rights Campaign today (Wednesday, May 6) announced the national LGBTQ advocacy organization is endorsing Vice President Joe Biden for president, with HRC President Alphonso David calling Biden “the leader our community and our country need at this moment.”

The announcement of the HRC endorsement coincides with the eighth anniversary of Biden publicly coming out in favor of marriage equality on Meet The Press, according to HRC’s daily AM Equality email.

David, who announced the endorsement this morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said in the email that Biden’s “dedication to advancing LGBTQ equality, even when it was unpopular to do so, has pushed our country and our movement forward.”

Biden chose to come out in support of marriage equality “at a time when few people saw it as the right political decision,” David told Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough. “But [Biden] knew it was the right moral decision.”

“This November, the stakes could not be higher,” David said in the email. “Far too many LGBTQ people, and particularly those who are most vulnerable, face discrimination, intimidation and violence simply because of who they are and who they love. But rather than have our backs, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have spent the last three and a half years rolling back and rescinding protections for LGBTQ people.

“Joe Biden will be a president who stands up for all of us.”

During the Morning Joe interview today, Scarborough asked David, “What more would you like to see from Joe Biden? What’s at the top of the list on your agenda as we move through this campign?” David pointed to The Equality Act which, he said, “would effectively protect” LGBTQ people from discrimination.

“In 29 states in this country, LGBTQ people are at risk of being fired from their job simply because of who they are, and we currently have no federal law that explicitly protects LGBTQ people. Joe Biden has said, publicly and to us directly, that the Equality Act will be a priority in his administration.

“In addition, we know that transgender members of our community are suffering high rates of violence,” David continued. “Last year alone, 26 transgender people of color were murdered, were killed, in this country. This year alone, we have had at least 10 transgender or gender non-conforming people who have been killed. … Vice President Biden has made a commitment to address these issues to make sure we are at the front lines of addressing violence that is affecting marginalized communities, including members of the transgender community.”

David added, “And of course, this goes without saying, the Trump administration is looking to roll back our rights. The Trump administration has banned transgender troops from the military. The Trump administration has effectively said that if you are a federal contractor you should be allowed to fire [an LGBTQ] person. The Trump administration has said that they want to change to rules so that if a same-sex couple wants to foster or adopt a child, a foster care agency or adoption agency should be allowed to discriminate against them, should be allowed to discriminate against single women, should be allowed to discriminate against religious minorities.

“So we have in Joe Biden someone who is a fighter for equality, someone who will protect marginalized communities. And we know that the majority of voters support equality.”

Watch the video of David on Morning Joe here.

— Tammye Nash