Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Andrew Yang are the only two top Democratic presidential candidates who are declining to participate in both LGBTQ candidate forums. The first, hosted by GLAAD, The Advocate, The Gazette, and One Iowa, will be held Friday evening in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The second, hosted by HRC and CNN will take place in October in Los Angeles.
The ten Democratic presidential candidates who agreed to participate in Friday’s LGBTQ Presidential Forum are Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Julián Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Sestak, and Marianne Williamson, according to The Advocate. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke appears to be the only other top Democratic candidate who will not be participating in Friday’s event, but he is slated to participate in the second event.
The LGBTQ Presidential Forum can be watched live via YouTube (video embedded below) starting at 7PM Central, 8 PM Eastern.
The evening will be hosted by “Pose” star Angelica Ross, who wasn’t shy about comments she was receiving about Senator Sanders’ decision to decline to participate.
She later tweeted this explanation:
The Advocate reported Senator Sanders is “the only frontrunner who will miss both events aimed at discussing LGBTQ equality and rights,” noting his “team has cited ‘scheduling conflicts’ for both events.”
Friday’s LGBTQ Presidential Forum is open to all Democratic presidential candidates. Next month’s HRC/CNN LGBTQ Town Hall is limited to only those who meet the DNC’s debate requirements. Nine candidates have agreed to participate in October. They are: Tom Steyer, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), former HUD Secretary Julián Castro.
Watch Friday’s LGBTQ Presidential Forum here: