When Jon Ossoff walks into a room of LGBTQ people, loud applause happens. Why? The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate says it’s the result of his clear support for LGBTQ equality.
“There's no place for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Those should be not merely a matter of principle, but a matter of law,” Ossoff says in a wide-ranging interview with Project Q Atlanta.
But that LGBTQ support – which he’s enjoyed since his first campaign in 2017 – is not something he takes for granted.
“I humbly hope that perspective which informs my positions on the issues, and how I conduct myself in public, and the kind of leadership that I try to offer, explains some of the support which I do not take for granted, and which I'm constantly trying to build and reaffirm,” Ossoff says.
The Q&A with Ossoff is the latest episode of Podcast Q. Ossoff, who faces Sen. David Perdue in the fall election, discusses LGBTQ equality, protecting transgender people, racial justice, voter suppression and the coronavirus pandemic.
Their records on LGBTQ issues are starkly different, and Ossoff called Perdue’s positions on LGBTQ issues “discriminatory.”
“Senator Perdue is wrong on the issues. He's seeking to impose his personal morality on the people he's sworn to protect and serve. And he needs to be defeated,” Ossoff says.
Listen to the podcast above and subscribe with your favorite podcast app.
You can also watch a video of the interview with Ossoff in our coverage of the Q&A on Project Q.
Highlights
(1:22) His “deeply rooted belief” in LGBTQ equality
(2:10) Not taking his LGBTQ support for granted
(4:14) Protecting transgender people in healthcare
(5:34) “Sen. Perdue is wrong on [LGBTQ] issues”
(6:58) Why he supports the Equality Act
(10:38) How to help LGBTQ farmers in rural America
(11:42) Including black transgender people in the ongoing racial justice movement
(14:29) The need for a new Civil Rights Act to hold police accountable
(16:27) His approach to battling the coronavirus pandemic
(22:18) Concerns about voting access in the upcoming election
(24:10) How LGBTQ voters can help his campaign
(27:23) “The choice in November couldn’t be clearer”
Jon Ossoff on why LGBTQ equality should be ‘a matter of law’