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Compare Trump and Harris’ views on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality

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Washington — Among the topics voters may consider in the 2024 presidential election are LGBTQ rights — and it’s an issue where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have starkly different messages and backgrounds.

A large majority of Americans support legal protections for LGBTQ people, according to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute. But support is stronger in blue states than red states, and has declined overall in recent years — especially among Republicans. And support for same-sex marriage has also seen a slight decline.

Meanwhile, 38% of Americans said LGBTQ rights are a factor in their voting decisions, and 30% say they will vote only for a candidate who aligns with them on the issue. 

Here’s what to know about the candidates’ views and records on the issue:

Donald Trump on LGBTQ issues

The former president has been inconsistent on the issue during his time in the public eye, and his administration rolled back protections for LGBTQ people — especially transgender individuals.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before he entered politics, Trump expressed support for domestic partnership laws that granted couples the same benefits of married couples — a position that the GOP widely opposed at the time — and often showed personal tolerance for LGBTQ issues more broadly. In a 1999 interview, where he also said he was “very pro-choice” Trump said that “it would not disturb me” for gay people to serve in the military. 

Years later, Trump said in 2011, amid speculation about a possible presidential bid, that he was “opposed to gay marriage.” In 2015, he said he supports “traditional marriage.”

Trump became the first GOP presidential nominee to mention LGBTQ issues in his 2016 RNC speech, pledging to protect the community in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting. 

Trump chose a conservative running mate in 2016, Mike Pence, who had staunchly opposed same-sex marriage, but Trump’s own comments on the topic varied. 

Trump said during his 2016 campaign that he would “strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriages. Then, days after he was elected, he said he was “fine” with same-sex marriage and suggested he wouldn’t appoint justices to the high court with the goal of overturning the ruling. His wife, Melania Trump, called him “the first president to enter the White House supporting gay marriage” as he sought reelection in 2020.

On transgender issues, Trump said in 2016, amid a controversy over a North Carolina bathroom ban, that transgender people should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.” But his administration went on to reverse a policy that required schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, and his administration banned some transgender people from serving in the military while Trump was in office — a policy that President Biden reversed. Trump’s administration also tried to repeal health protections for transgender people and sought to end protections for transgender individuals in federal prison, among other policies.

Anti-trans sentiments would go on to become a prominent talking point for Republicans on the campaign trail in the 2022 midterm elections. In early 2023, Trump said he would use his powers, should he return to the White House, to punish doctors who provide gender affirming care for minors and impose consequences for teachers who discuss it with students. 

In the final months of the 2024 campaign, Trump and his allies leaned into anti-trans rhetoric, spending millions on advertisements focusing on the issue in battleground states.  

Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, sponsored legislation in 2023 that would ban access to gender-affirming care for minors, along with a bill to bar the State Department from allowing the gender marker “X” on passports. The Ohio Republican also said he would vote no on the Respect for Marriage Act, which provided federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, while campaigning for Senate in 2022, citing religious liberty concerns.

Kamala Harris on LGBTQ issues

Harris has generally been an early adopter of pro-LGBTQ policies and stances, doing so before other prominent members of her party.

The former San Francisco district attorney officiated some of the nation’s first same-sex marriages in 2004, after then-mayor Gavin Newsom directed the county clerk to approve the marriages although the law didn’t yet recognize them. The marriages were invalidated months later. Then, when she was elected as California’s attorney general in 2010, Harris said she would not defend in court a voter-approved measure known as Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage.

As district attorney, Harris had prosecuted violence against LGBTQ people, establishing a hate crime unit to look into crimes against LGBTQ youth. As attorney general, she sought to end the “panic defense” that allowed homicide defendants to seek lesser sentences if they attested to being panicked by the victim’s sexual orientation. 

Harris has been criticized by LGBTQ advocates for denying gender-affirming surgeries for transgender inmates when she served as attorney general; she said she was bound by the Department of Corrections policy in place at the time. She later expressed support for providing such care to inmates during her 2020 presidential bid. During that campaign, where she ran on a more progressive platform, Harris also said she supports decriminalizing sex work, though she noted that it’s not a simple issue.

As a senator, Harris sponsored a handful of bills aimed at addressing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, along with other LGBTQ issues. Harris’ record has also been tied to the Biden administration, which expanded Title IX protections for LGBTQ students, although they were blocked by the Supreme Court. In 2022, Mr. Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, enshrining federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. 

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has a reputation as an advocate for LGBTQ rights. When Walz was a high school teacher, he served as the faculty adviser who helped form his school’s first gay-straight alliance in the ’90s.



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Minnesota may get snow Thursday. Here’s how much more the Halloween Blizzard Of 1991 dropped.

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What do you remember about our biggest snowstorms?


What do you remember about our biggest snowstorms?

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MINNEAPOLIS — When it comes to Halloween in Minnesota, you can expect to hear the sounds of ghosts and goblins. You can also expect the sound of lifelong Minnesotans (Gen X or older) collectively reminding the never-not-reminded rest of Minnesota about that one time it snowed a lot on Halloween.

While WCCO meteorologist Joseph Dames says this year’s Halloween forecast does call for some snowflakes, it will be nothing compared to the wave of white that plopped down on the area 33 years ago.

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 is a story that is brought up year after year as a badge of honor for those who lived through it. Blustery winds and plummeting temperatures on Halloween night made going house-to-house for trick-or-treaters or just about anywhere a challenge.

But Halloween night was just the start.

On the spooky night itself, Minneapolis-St. Paul got just over eight inches of snow. And on the next day? Another 18.5 inches. The day after that another inch fell. And on Nov. 3, a few more tenths of an inch, bringing a whopping 28.4 inches of snow, the biggest single storm still on record.

But there was an even bigger event roughly a decade prior. Two consecutive snowstorms hit the Twin Cities just days apart in January of 1982. Those two waves resulted in 37.4 inches, which is significantly more than even the famed 1991 Halloween blizzard.

Former WCCO team member reminisces

Former WCCO Meteorologist Paul Huttner remembers the around-the-clock updates on a blustery Nov. 1 morning.

“It came fast and was a shock,” Huttner recalled. “We’re saying that’s going to be more than 20 inches of snow! That’s not really going to happen, right?”

As the Twin Cities woke up, the snow picked up, at times falling two inches an hour. The wet, heavy snow collapsed rooftops and stranded firefighters. Police swapped their squads for snowmobiles to navigate the roads while others used skis to get down the street.

“As a meteorologist, you always want to work the big storm,” Huttner said. “As I saw there that morning, I knew it was huge. I had no idea this would stand as the biggest snowstorm in Twin Cities history as I sit here 30 years later.”

That blizzard left mountains snow on the ground. It melted away about a week later, but we picked up another 14 inches over Thanksgiving. And that snow stuck around until early March.

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Suspect “led us to the evidence” in Montana camper’s brutal killing, initially thought to have been bear attack

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A suspect has been arrested nearly three weeks after a Montana camper was found brutally killed in an attack that was initially reported as a bear attack, authorities late Wednesday.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said it had identified a suspect in the murder of Dustin Kjersem, who was found dead in his tent earlier this month. The suspect, who was not identified, was in custody on unrelated charges, authorities said.

“The suspect is cooperating with our detectives and has led us to the evidence we have identified in prior press releases,” the sheriff’s office said.

Kjersem, 35, was found dead earlier this month by a friend who reported Kjersem appeared to have been killed by a bear — but officials soon discovered the camper was actually the victim of a brutal murder.

dustin-463429997-873040798350582-4487928707270897907-n.jpg
  Dustin Kjersem

Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office


The sheriff’s office said Wednesday the investigation is ongoing but “it is believed the suspect acted alone and there is no longer a threat to the community.”

Last week, authorities said they were are looking for a large axe and other items that were likely taken from the crime scene. Authorities said they were looking for a blue and silver Estwing camp axe, likely with a 26″ handle, as well as a Remington shotgun and Ruger Blackhawk revolver. The sheriff’s office said it was also looking for an orange Tundra 45 cooler made by YETI.

Earlier this month, a friend discovered Kjersem’s body in a tent at a makeshift campsite along Moose Creek Road and called 911, telling responders the death appeared to have been caused by a bear attack, the sheriff’s office previously said.

But a state wildlife official found no signs of bear activity, and investigators said they soon found evidence of a “vicious attack.” An autopsy later showed Kjersem sustained “multiple chop wounds,” including to his skull.

Kjersem’s sister Jillian Price said her brother was a skilled tradesman and a doting father.

A GoFundMe set up for Kjersem’s children has raised more than $27,000.



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Pennsylvania is the top prize among battleground states. Here’s what to expect for the 2024 election.

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Pennsylvania was a pivotal state in the 2020 presidential election, sealing Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump after four days of vote counting. So it’s no surprise the Keystone State is again front and center this election cycle, with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump investing time and resources there ahead of Election Day.

In the past few weeks, the presidential candidates have been regulars in Pennsylvania, often joined on the campaign trail by celebrities and fellow politicians. They’ve made some memorable pit stops — from Harris snapping selfies at Famous 4th Street Deli to Trump donning an apron during a campaign event at a McDonald’s in Bucks County, which Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro calls the “swingiest of all swing counties in the swingiest of all swing states.” Trump also returned to Butler for a rally at the same fairgrounds where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

CBS News’ Battleground Tracker shows an effectively tied race in Pennsylvania a week before Election Day. The state is part of the Democrats’ “blue wall” along with Michigan and Wisconsin, considered crucial for the party’s path to the White House. 

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Election Day:

Pennsylvania Election Day fast facts

  • Polls open: 7 a.m. ET
  • Polls close: 8 p.m. ET
  • Mail-in ballot deadline: 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024
  • Where to vote: Look up your polling place here
  • Electoral votes: 19
  • Voter turnout: 76% of registered voters cast ballots in 2020, government data shows

Pennsylvania vote-counting rules

Every state has its own rules when it comes to vote counting. In Pennsylvania, state law requires county election workers to wait until polls open on Election Day (7 a.m. ET) to start processing — removing ballots from envelopes — and counting mail-in ballots. 

Pennsylvania counties also can’t begin to record or release mail-in ballot results until after the polls close at 8 p.m. ET. That means there will be a lag in announcing the final tallies and, in turn, projecting the state’s winner. How long of a delay, however, is unclear.

Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes

Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes, making it an important prize in the presidential race. The state had 20 electoral votes in the 2020 race but lost one in the congressional redistricting that followed the 2020 Census.

When will we know who won Pennsylvania?

In 2020, Mr. Biden was named the projected winner of Pennsylvania late morning on Saturday, Nov. 7 — the fourth day of vote counting — after taking an insurmountable lead in the state. Winning the state’s then-20 electoral votes helped him top the 270 needed to win the presidency.

But it’s hard to draw any conclusions from 2020 when more voters opted for mail-in voting for the first time due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. It was the first year Pennsylvania allowed no-excuse mail-in voting, leading to a record 2.6 million mail-in ballots. In 2020, 38% of Pennsylvanians voted either early or by mail, compared to 4% in 2016, according to CBS News’ records.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also ruled in 2020 that mail-in ballots couldn’t be rejected over signature mismatches.

Kathy Boockvar, former Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, told CBS News that 2024 will likely look different since election officials have had four more years of practice, bought new equipment and have a better idea of how much staffing they’ll need.

“Nobody knows on election night who wins or loses. What we hope to do is count the ballots securely, accurately, and then after that as quickly as humanly possible,” Boockvar said.

In 2020, about 54% of total votes cast were reported by 12 a.m. ET after Election Day, according to the Associated Press. The “overwhelming majority of ballots” were counted by Thursday night into Friday morning in 2020, according to Boockvar.

Boockvar estimates this year, given all of the lessons learned from 2020 and improvements made to the counting system, that the majority of ballots will be counted by the end of Wednesday instead of Thursday, which may help speed up the process of projecting a winner.

However, if the race is close, then that may delay things further. Pennsylvania has an automatic recount if the margin in any statewide race is 0.5% votes or less. The state also allows losing candidates to file a request for a machine recount if they pay for it. A refund may be available depending on the findings. 

Could Latino voters in Pennsylvania decide the election?


Latino voters face surge in misinformation as election nears

05:00

In order to secure a Pennsylvania victory, both Harris and Trump may need to win over Latino voters. There are nearly 580,000 eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania, according to the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute’s latest data. Pennsylvania’s share of eligible Latino voters has more than doubled since 2000, the data shows.

Roughly about half of the Latino population lives in the center part of the state called the “222 Corridor” — a stretch of small cities including Reading, Allentown, Lancaster and Bethlehem, where the presidential candidates and their running mates have visited frequently.

A recent poll from the Hispanic Federation and Latino Victory Foundation found that 66% of Latino respondents said they’d vote this year in Pennsylvania.

Who won Pennsylvania in past presidential elections?

Pennsylvania has voted for the presidential winner dating back to 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president. Here’s a look at who has claimed the state over the years:

  • 2020: Democrat Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump
  • 2016: Republican Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton
  • 2012: Democrat Barack Obama defeats Mitt Romney
  • 2008: Democrat Barack Obama defeats John McCain
  • 2004: Democrat John Kerry defeats George W. Bush
  • 2000: Democrat Al Gore defeats George W. Bush



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