Local LGBTQ+ community shows support for Kamala Harris at Ellipse rally – or at least near it

Waiting hours in a line that snaked around Washington D.C.’s The Ellipse several times, not even to be let into the political rally, was a no-brainer for Michael Ledford. He instead happily huddled with others in the massive crowd around a Jumbotron on the National Mall, watching Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speak.

“This is hope. This is change. This is what the country needs,” Ledford said as a Beyoncé song accompanied hoards of people scattering in all directions after Harris finished her remarks.

Harris’s event at The Ellipse, where roughly four years ago then-president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump lit up a crowd that went out and stormed The Capitol, filled practically the entire immediate neighborhood. Harris spoke about the high cost of groceries, health care, housing, border security and what she vows to do to work toward solutions for average Americans. 

“If you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way,” Harris told a crowd of an estimated 75,000 people, according to CSPAN. 

Ledford, 57, and Christopher Howell and Ken Miller, both in their 40s, are all LGBTQ+ identifying men living in D.C. In their opinion, this election isn’t about them. It’s about marginalized groups of all kinds and what their fates would become under another Donald Trump presidency. 

Howell and Miller live in Logan Circle and have been together for many years but are not yet married. They both said their top issue this election cycle is abortion protections.

“I’m most excited about the reproductive rights,” Miller said. “I think that that’s the most important thing. I know how important it is to women. I have a lot of women in my life that I love.”  

In her speech, Harris vowed to support a congressional effort to restore national protections for reproductive choice following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade. She said she would “proudly sign” it into law. 

Ledford highlighted Harris’s comments on housing as a particularly inspiring moment of the speech. 

“As president, I will fight to help first-time homebuyers with your downpayment, take on the companies that are jacking up rent, and build millions of new homes,” Harris said. 

For Ledford, housing is an issue close to home. As an LGBTQ+ person from Texas, he said he’s experienced discrimination in the housing market searching for a home. That signals to him a much deeper systemic problem. 

“I’m a very straight-presenting white man, but, yeah, I’ve been discriminated against. So I can’t even imagine what people that don’t look like me go through. It’s much worse,” Ledford said, wearing a shirt with the Tide logo that read “Kamala – removes stubborn orange stains.”

The three men stood in a crowd that stretched from Constitution Avenue to behind the Washington Monument. Many had toddlers on their shoulders or in strollers. The crowd cheered wildly when Harris presented progressive agenda items and booed loudly when she mentioned her opponent. 

“I think that it’s just time to turn the page,” Miller said. 

“There’s a lot of people hurting out there,” Ledford said. Under a Harris presidency “we will change the trajectory that we’re on.”