Xavier Becerra
Xavier Becerra’s record on LGBTQ+ rights is defined by his transition from California’s “Legal Shield” to a federal architect of healthcare equity.
As he campaigns for Governor in 2026, he is leaning heavily into his role as a defender against anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric coming from Washington and conservative states.
Here is a deeper look at his specific policies and history:
1. Healthcare as a Human Right (The HHS Years)
During his time as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Becerra was the point person for institutionalizing LGBTQ+ protections within the federal government.
-
Section 1557 Reinstatement: Becerra famously reinstated protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that prohibit healthcare providers from discriminating against patients based on sexual orientation or gender identity.This was a direct reversal of previous policies that had stripped those protections.
-
Defending Gender-Affirming Care: He has been one of the most vocal federal advocates for gender-affirming care, calling it “life-saving medical care.”He explicitly challenged states like Missouri and Texas when they moved to restrict access for minors, framing it as a civil rights and public health crisis.
2. The “Litigation King” (The Attorney General Years)
As California’s Attorney General, Becerra filed over 120 lawsuitsagainst the first Trump administration. A significant portion of these were dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights:
-
Transgender Military Ban: He led California into the legal fight against the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
-
Travel Bans: He enforced and defended California’s “State-Funded Travel Ban” (AB 1887), which prohibited state employees from traveling to states with discriminatory LGBTQ+ laws.
-
Hate Crime Enforcement: He revamped the California DOJ’s approach to hate crimes, specifically focusing on the rise of violence against Black transgender women.
3. Current 2026 Gubernatorial Platform
In his current campaign, Becerra has branded himself as the “Health Care Governor.”His LGBTQ+ platform for 2026 focuses on:
-
Sanctuary Protections: He supports strengthening California’s status as a “sanctuary” for trans youth and their families fleeing restrictive laws in other states.
-
Fighting “Forced Outing”: At a recent March 2026 gubernatorial forum hosted by Equality California, Becerra strongly condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent moves that allow schools to implement “forced outing” policies (requiring teachers to tell parents about a student’s pronoun changes). He has vowed to use the Governor’s office to block such policies in California.
-
HIV/AIDS Funding: He is campaigning on expanding the PrEP Assistance Program and ensuring California meets its goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.
