After waiting four days for all votes to be counted, the 2020 presidential race was finally called on Saturday. By winning the popular count with almost 75 million votes and the electoral college with 22 states, former Vice President Joe Biden has beat out Donald Trump to become the 46th President of the United States.
President-elect Biden accepted his new position at a drive-in rally in Wilmington, DE on Saturday. While speaking to the American public, Biden discussed his plans to help and protect the country across a variety of issues, including coronavirus and climate change. But for many of us queer Americans, what really stood out was Biden’s mention of both gay people and trans people: the first mention ever in a Presidential acceptance speech.
“I am proud of the coalition we put together, the broadest and most diverse in history,” said Biden. “Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Progressives, moderates, and conservatives. Young and old. Urban, suburban, and rural. Gay, straight, transgender. White. Latino. Asian. Native American. … I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that. Now that’s what I want the administration to look like.”
The President-elect went on to discuss how he hopes to bring all parts of the governmental system together — specifically Democrats and Republicans — to help make the country a better and safer place for all people.
“Too many dreams have been deferred for too long,” he said, referencing “A Dream Deferred,” a poem by Langston Hughes (a gay Black man). “We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability.”
Biden ran on a platform of mostly undoing a lot of the work the Trump administration has done to strip away the rights of marginalized communities across the nation. Aside from that, Biden also proposed solid plans for combating the coronavirus, such as a nationwide mask mandate and a contract tracing program — both of which Trump had opposed (or, at least, never supported). Biden also is staunchly in favor of climate change referendums that are based on science, unlike the Trump administration.
Along with Biden’s presidential victory comes that of Senator Kamala Harris — now Vice President Kamala Harris. Her election is truly historic, as it marks Harris as the first-ever Black Vice President of the United States, as well as the first-ever person of Indian descent and the first-ever woman in the role.
This is a truly historic moment for the entire nation — not just because of our leaders’ identities, but also because of our ability to come together and vote Trump out of office. Our country realized that enough was enough, and when we came together as a nation — and we did, with the highest voter turnout ever at almost 160 million ballots — we can do what’s right for all of us.
