LGBTQ+ Protections

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto:

• Received near-perfect scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s congressional scorecards since taking her seat in 2017. Scorecards score members of Congress based on a range of key indicators of support for LGBTQ+ people.

• Is a three-time cosponsor of the Equality Act, legislation to provide clear, consistent non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, pushed for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity to ensure the LGBTQ+ community’s needs were understood and met.

• Supported LGBTQ+ rights abroad by sponsoring the International Human Rights Defense Act in 2020, which directed the Department of State to continue defending the human rights of LGBTQ+ people around the world.

GOP Nominee for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt:

• Paid thousands to a person running an anti-LGBTQ+, anti-semitic Twitter account in support of Laxalt. The now deleted Twitter account claimed that “Trans children aren’t real,” that “guns should have more rights than women,” and said “Jews are not a religious sect and are a cult.”

• Praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for signing the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill into law, which stigmatizes LGBTQ+ kids and the children of LGBTQ+ families, bans teachers in grades K-3 from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people, prevents teachers at all grade levels from providing a safe classroom, and undermines existing protections for LGBTQ+ students.

• Spread lies during a discussion of child sex abuse, falsely saying that LGBTQ+ people want to “indoctrinate” young children with “transgenderism in kindergarten.”

• Praised the Trump administration for allowing health care workers to refuse to treat transgender patients, provide abortions, or provide other medically necessary care based upon the providers religious and moral beliefs.

• Vowed to uphold the ban on same-sex marriage in Nevada.

• Wrote an op-ed that said repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would “make fighting wars harder.” In addition, said men “love to have sex,” that the military “cannot tolerate sex in combat,” and that the military “cannot tolerate the tensions that surround sexual relationships or potential ones.”

Abortion

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto:

• Criticized the efforts of some Senators to enact a national abortion ban saying: “Right now we’re seeing some politicians once again declare that they know what’s best for every family in this nation. They want to force the state of Nevada—and other states like Nevada—to limit women’s freedoms, even though voters in my state voted to legally protect the right to choose that Nevada women have had for fifty years.

• Earned a 100% score in National Abortion Rights Action League’s (NARAL) Congressional Record on Choice every year she has served in the Senate.

• Helped lead the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would enshrine Roe protections into federal law and guarantee equal access to abortion nationwide.

GOP Nominee for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt:

• Called Roe “a joke” and lamented that Nevada was not one of the states that would ban abortions.

• Filed multiple briefs as Nevada AG for anti-abortion causes: He asked the Supreme Court to overturn a California law imposing rules on crisis pregnancy centers, he asked an appeals court to uphold a Texas law effectively banning abortions in the second trimester, and he asked a different appeals court to uphold an Alabama law that would do the same.

• Praised a federal rule that would empower nurses, doctors, and pharmacists to refuse care to people seeking emergency contraception or abortion, refuse gender-affirming care to transgender patients, and deny people living with HIV medication to manage their condition.

• Tweeted about attending the Nevada Right to Life Gala, deleted the tweet, and then reposted it when others called him out for the deletion.

Election Outcomes:

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto:

• Accepted the 2020 election results.

GOP Nominee for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt:

• Actively tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and has never acknowledged President Joe Biden legitimately won the election. As a Trump campaign co-chair, helped spearhead challenges to the 2020 results that courts rejected, mostly due to lack of evidence. Nevada's GOP Secretary of State published an investigative report that found only 20 cases of potential voter fraud out of 4,000 alleged by the Nevada GOP.

• Told the Associated Press that he believes “very few” people broke laws on Jan. 6 and accused Democrats and the media of exaggerating the event. More than 850 people had been charged with a crime at the time of his statement in February 2022.

• Refused to commit to accepting this year’s election results and is strategizing on how to reject them.

Endorsements

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto:

• Endorsed by the 14 members of Laxalt’s family and most major pro-equality and pro-choice organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign.

GOP Nominee for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt:

• Endorsed by Trump.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.