From Vetoes to VP Potential: How Gov. Andy Beshear has protected Queer Kentuckians
photos by Jon Cherry for Queer Kentucky
So, um, not sure if y’all heard, but apparently Gov. Andy Beshear might be the next Vice President of the United States.
It isn’t a done deal yet. But he’s allegedly one of a handful of folks being vetted to be current Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate now that current President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
Beshear is facing off against some prominent Democrats from spots like North Carolina and Pennsylvania to join the ticket, but if he gets tapped, he’ll be the first sitting Kentucky governor to attend Kentucky’s annual Fairness Rally to go on to become a vice presidential nominee.
That’s mainly because he was the first sitting Kentucky governor to attend the annual LGBTQ+ rights rally in the state Capitol, and has made a point to keep coming back and defending LGBTQ+ rights in his veto messages (even if they get overturned by the GOP-dominated legislature every time) throughout his time in office.
“I’m here for a simple reason,” Beshear said at the 2020 Fairness Rally, about two months after he took office in December 2019. “As governor, it’s my job to make sure that every single Kentuckian counts, and we’re here to fight to make sure that every Kentuckian counts.”
Since then, Kentucky’s GOP-dominated legislature has pushed a series of high-priority, high-profile, high-consequences bills aimed at the LGBTQ+ community throughout Beshear’s time in office.
Let’s run through Beshear’s track record.
2020
Just a few months into his first term as governor, Beshear became the first sitting Kentucky governor to speak at the annual Fairness Rally at the state Capitol.
While there, he spoke in favor of a perennial push to enact a statewide fairness ordinance — a measure that has been filed in both the House and Senate each year for more than a decade without success. He also supported efforts to ban conversion therapy — a legislative effort that also hasn’t been successful.
While at the event, Beshear took a photo with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an activist drag troupe. At least one Republican latched on in the moment, and several others brought it up again in a few years when Beshear ran for — and easily won — reelection.
Beshear stood by the photo, saying in 2020 he would take the picture again and calling one of the Republican critics “absolutely homophobic” and asking that he personally apologize. (As far as I’m aware, the latter never happened.)
2021
Beshear became the first sitting Kentucky governor to declare June as Pride Month in the Commonwealth.
“All Kentuckians deserve the right to fairness, respect, dignity, the right to be heard and the right to be who they are,” Beshear said on social media at the time.
2022
The GOP-dominated legislature’s efforts to thwart LGBTQ+ rights kicked up a notch in 2022, with a push to prevent trans girls and women from competing on sports teams that aligned with their gender identity.
Senate Bill 83, sponsored by Republican Sen. Robby Mills, cleared both chambers despite protests from trans children, their parents and allies. Beshear vetoed the measure, pointing to legal challenges against similar bills in other states and the fact Republican supporters had been unable to give an example of when such legislation would’ve been needed in Kentucky.
Some Republicans agreed but argued it was a preventative measure. Lawmakers overrode Beshear’s veto, forcing SB 83 into law.
2023
Anti-LGBTQ+ efforts in Frankfort hit a fever pitch in the 2023 legislative session, with a series of bills aimed at marginalized communities that the Fairness Campaign dubbed the “Slate of Hate.”
Most of the bills failed. Some never even got a committee assignment or vote — the first step to passage. One of them was the drag show bill, Senate Bill 115, which tried to restrict where drag shows could be held and potentially criminalize performers and businesses.
But a major one got to Beshear’s desk: Senate Bill 150, which, at the last second, was turned into an omnibus anti-trans measure, blocking trans youth from gender-affirming health care (even if their parents were onboard) and allowing teachers to misgender their students, among other things.
Beshear vetoed that one, too, saying in part SB 150 would “endanger the children of Kentucky.”
Once again, the GOP-dominated legislature didn’t listen, overriding Beshear’s veto and putting SB 150 into law. (SB 150 is currently in the middle of a legal proceeding, but remains in effect.)
2024
Lawmakers didn’t push too hard on LGBTQ+ issues during the 2024 session, instead focusing on other issues such as the budget and trying to tackle crime.
We saw a reprise of 2023’s drag show bill, but apparently after meeting with a drag queen or two, the bill sponsor GOP Sen. Lindsey Tichenor watered down the bill. Even then, it didn’t make it to Beshear’s desk.
So, where does that leave Beshear?
Beshear would only have to leave office if he gets elected as vice president. He can’t do both jobs. But he doesn’t have to leave the governor’s mansion just because he gets tapped as a nominee.
If he gets picked, and if he gets elected, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman would take over as governor and handle the rest of Beshear’s term until the next regularly scheduled governor’s race in 2027.