For the first time, the Democratic National Committee will invest in an advertising campaign entirely dedicated to LGBTQ publications in major metropolitan areas and several key states.
The DNC will launch an ad campaign worth at least $100,000 in 16 publications in eight states on Friday morning and is expected to reach more than 1 million voters in the first week. These publications include the Washington Blade and Metro Weekly in the Washington, D.C. area; For South Florida; Qnotes of Charlotte, North Carolina; Las Vegas Spectrum; Voice of Georgia; GoGuide Voter Guide for Iowa; The Voice of Dallas; Philadelphia Gay News; Ambush Magazine in New Orleans; Ione Arizona; and SWERV Magazine, a national Black LGBTQ periodical.
The campaign will be featured in Georgia Voice during Atlanta Pride weekend and in Philadelphia Gay News during Hourfest, a festival celebrating National Coming Out Day in Pennsylvania.
“This historic investment by Democrats aims to meet voters where they are, recognizing that the LGBTQ+ community is a large and diverse voting bloc that we do not take for granted,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “Our fundamental freedom to be who we are and who we love is up for vote this November, and we are empowering all corners of the LGBTQ+ community to make their voices heard.”
Harrison added: “In this fragmented media environment, we know how we are talking to people, we need to be smart about reaching voters through trusted platforms so that the LGBTQ+ community and others can easily check their voter registration status and know when, where, how to vote.”
Other than saying it was a six-figure advertising buy, the DNC declined to say exactly how much it spent on the campaign.
The ad carries the message “Freedom is at the ballot box. Make a Plan to Vote,” and they ask voters to pay attention I will vote.com, a platform powered by the DNC that helps eligible voters register and check their registration status, check ballot status, and learn more about voting. The ad uses a simple red, white, and blue scheme and features few Progress is the Pride Flag It also includes the colors of the transgender flag and colors to represent the LGBTQ community
He worked in advertising with the DNC Rivendell, the country's oldest LGBTQ media and marketing company.
The ads will be released just one day after the Harris-Walz campaign and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, launched 10 Days of Action, a series of events aimed at uniting LGBTQ voters and allies.
The efforts contrast with recent Trump campaign ads featuring prominent LGBTQ figures like drag artist Patty Gonia and images of transgender people as examples of what the campaign sees as far-left views on gender.
Two Trump ads in recent weeks Running 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 incarcerated people . The ads end with the tagline: “Orange is for them/them “President Trump is for you,” referring to the gender-neutral pronoun used by some LGBTQ people.
Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, a company specializing in LGBTQ marketing, described the DNC's ad campaign as “brilliant.” He said he spoke with DNC representatives in 2000 and 2004 about running a similar campaign, but was told they didn't have the budget for it.
In 2003, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, a Democrat running for president, hired Witek to write the copy for an ad in The Advocate, Witek's oldest LGBTQ magazine in the US. In presidential politics.
“He risked his political career to be with us,” the ad said, referring to a law signed by Dean in April 2000 that made Vermont the first state to legalize same-sex unions. “Now is the time to support him.” The law provoked a backlash and led to efforts to recall Dean and regain Republican control of the state legislature.
Wittek said the ad was only effective because the LGBTQ community had never seen a presidential candidate advertise in gay media — much less take a supportive stance.
More than two decades later, the DNC paid for such a far-reaching ad, Wittek said, “a breakthrough.”
“I hope this is the wake-up call that people see,” Wittek said.
Gabrielle Magni, an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and director of the school's LGBTQ Political Research Initiative, said her initial reaction to the DNC's historic ad buy was: “Finally.”
He mentioned that 7.2% of US adults identify as LGBTQ. According to a Gallup poll released last year, LGBTQ people form a significant voting bloc.
Magni said LGBTQ voters have historically been recognized by the Democratic Party because most of them vote Democratic, often because Republicans support anti-LGBTQ policies and voters feel they have no other choice.
“But I think the problem with this mentality is that we ignore the fact that it is essential to mobilize voters on election day to convince them to go to the polls,” Magny said, adding that LGBTQ voters are less likely to change their vote. . For the Republican Party, if they don't speak out, they can stay at home.
“So this initiative is important, especially given how close the elections are in many swing states, to bring together as many as 1,000 voters – who would otherwise have stayed home – which could really determine the outcome of the election.” , he said.
