For the first time, the Democratic National Committee will invest in an advertising campaign devoted entirely to LGBTQ publications in major metropolitan areas and several key battleground states.
The DNC will run the ad campaign, worth at least $100,000, on Friday morning in 16 publications in eight states and is estimated to reach more than 1 million voters in the first week. Those publications include the Washington Blade and Metro Weekly, based in Washington; Outside of South Florida; Qnotes Charlotte, North Carolina; Las Vegas Spectrum; Georgia Voice; GoGuide Voter’s Guide to Iowa; The Dallas Sound; Philadelphia Gay News; Magazine Ambush in New Orleans; ION Arizona; and SWERV Magazine, a national Black LGBTQ periodical.
The campaign will be featured on Georgia Voice during Atlanta’s Pride weekend and on Philadelphia Gay News during Pennsylvania’s OurFest festival to celebrate National Coming Out Day.
“This historic investment by Democrats aims to meet voters where they are, recognizing that the LGBTQ+ community is a large and diverse voting bloc,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “Our fundamental freedoms to be who we are and to be known are on the ballot this November, and we’re empowering different corners of the LGBTQ+ community to make their voices heard.”
Harrison added: “In this fractured media environment, we know we need to be smart about how we talk to people, reach voters through trusted platforms so people in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond can easily check their voter registration status and know when, where and how to vote. necessary”.
Aside from saying it was a six-figure ad buy, the DNC declined to say how much it spent on the campaign.
In the advertisements, “Freedom is on the ballot.” Make a plan to vote,” and they urge voters to visit I will vote.com is a platform operated by the DNC that helps eligible voters register and check their registration status, check the status of their ballots, and learn more about voting. Advertisements use a simple red, white and blue scheme, and some have these features progress Pride flagit also includes transgender flag colors and colors to represent LGBTQ communities of color.
The DNC worked on the ads Rivendellthe nation’s oldest LGBTQ marketing and media company.
The ads will air a day after the Harris-Walz campaign and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, kick off 10 Days of Action aimed at mobilizing LGBTQ and allied voters.
These efforts contrast with recent Trump campaign ads featuring prominent LGBTQ figures for example, drag performer Pattie Gonia and photos of trans people are examples of what the campaign sees as far-left views on gender.
Two Trump ads in the last few weeks working nationally and locally in swing states — especially during NFL and college football games — criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ past support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming health care for people in prison. The ads end with the tagline: “Kamala is for them,” “President Trump is for you,” referring to the gender-neutral pronouns used by some LGBTQ people.
Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, a firm specializing in LGBTQ marketing, described the DNC’s ad campaign as “brilliant.” He told DNC officials in 2000 and 2004 about running a similar campaign, but told them he didn’t have the budget for it.
In 2003, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, a Democrat running for president, hired Witeck to write an ad in The Advocate, the oldest LGBTQ magazine in the United States. in presidential politics.
“He risked his political career to stand with us,” the announcement read, referring to the April 2000 law the dean signed that made Vermont the first state to legalize same-sex unions. “It’s about time we stood by him.” The law sparked a backlash and led to an attempt to oust the dean and restore Republican control of the state Legislature.
Witeck said the ad was effective simply because the LGBTQ community had never seen a presidential candidate advertise in gay media — and take a supportive stance.
The DNC paying for an ad this comprehensive after more than two decades, Witeck said, “is a breakthrough.”
“I hope this will be a wake-up call that people will see,” Witeck said.
Gabriele Magni, associate professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and director of the school’s LGBTQ Policy Research Initiative, said her initial reaction to the DNC’s historic ad buy was: “Finally.”
He noted that 7.2% of US adults identify as LGBTQAccording to a Gallup poll released last year, LGBTQ people made up a significant voting block.
LGBTQ voters have historically been embraced by the Democratic Party, Magni said most vote for Democratsoften because Republicans have supported anti-LGBTQ policies and voters feel they have no other choice.
“But I think the problem with that mentality is that we’re overlooking the fact that it’s important to mobilize voters on Election Day to convince them to go to the polls,” Magni said, adding that LGBTQ voters are less likely to swing their votes. To the Republican Party, if they are not mobilized, they can stay at home.
“That’s why this initiative is so important, especially given how close the election is in many swing states, and mobilizing even a few 1,000 voters — people who would otherwise stay home — can really determine the outcome of an election,” he said.