California voters selected its two front runners for the state’s open governor seat following the second election of Gavin Newsom.
Last week former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra became the Democratic nominee for governor, setting up a general election matchup against Republican nominee Steve Hilton, a former political adviser in the UK and Fox News commentator.
Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, has spent nearly three decades in public service. Over the course of his career, he has served as California attorney general, U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a member of the California Assembly.
Hilton comes from a very different background.
Raised by Hungarian parents who fled communism and settled in the UK, Hilton entered politics after graduating from Oxford University. He worked within the Conservative Party — beginning during the era of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and later served as Director of Strategy for Prime Minister David Cameron. After relocating to California in 2012 with his wife, Hilton taught at Stanford University, became a U.S. citizen, and later established himself as a Fox News political commentator.
As the race enters the general election phase, policy questions surrounding healthcare, civil rights, and the future of LGBTQ protections in California are expected to feature prominently in both campaigns. The Washington Blade sat down with former Biden-Harris administration health officials who worked under Becerra’s leadership and also with LGBTQ advocates. Both paint a clear picture of Becerra — a longtime ally whose support for LGBTQ rights and health equity has spanned multiple decades and offices.
“For Equality California, he has been a staunch ally over his decades of service serving California. From his time in Congress to attorney general to HHS secretary, he’s been a partner to the LGBTQ community at large, and specifically to Equality California, advancing LGBTQ equality,” Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California told the Blade. “As he’s been the front-runner making the top two, we’re excited to get behind him in the race so that he wins the general election in November.”
Hoang argued that California’s next governor will play a critical role in protecting LGBTQ rights amid continued attacks from the Trump-Vance administration.
“It is critical that California remains a bulwark against what’s happening from the Trump administration. That’s why we were so supportive of Secretary Becerra’s campaign for governor,” Hoang said. “He has been there in that fight. When he was attorney general, he sued the Trump administration over 100 times, including a lawsuit where Equality California was an organizational plaintiff around the transgender military ban. Over the remainder of Trump’s term, it’s critical that California continues to fight to stand up for our values, including LGBTQ people in all facets of equality.”
Former HHS official Adrian Shanker, who oversaw LGBTQ health initiatives during the Biden-Harris administration, pointed to Becerra’s emphasis on health equity as one of the defining characteristics of his leadership.
“As Secretary, Xavier Becerra required all of us to include a health equity lens in all policies. No matter what the policy was, he wanted health equity to be centered. Health equity means ensuring that all people can attain their highest levels of health,” Shanker explained. “One of his priorities was clinical trial diversity. He wanted to make sure that new drug modalities and treatments were studied on all kinds of bodies, including populations that had historically been excluded from research.”
Shanker also emphasized that while leading HHS, Becerra consistently relied on scientific expertise rather than political considerations when making policy decisions.
“He really believed that we can’t politicize science. We have to let science drive the policy. He established a very strong scientific integrity policy for the department. That’s important for LGBTQ health, but it’s also important for everyone’s health.”
Shanker expanded on the multiple HIV prevention efforts including making the medication covered by nationwide subsidy programs allowing for americans of all income levels to get this life saving healthcare during Becerra’s tenure at HHS.
“We worked to make PrEP free for anyone on Medicare. The secretary trusted the scientists in the department to determine what was safe and effective and then championed the results,” Shanker said.
For many LGBTQ advocates, California’s role as a refuge state has become increasingly important as Republican-led states enact restrictions affecting transgender people and LGBTQ healthcare access.
Admiral Rachel Levine (ret.), the first openly trans person confirmed by the U.S. Senate and Becerra’s former assistant secretary for health, said California’s next governor will be central to those fights.
“We have an increasingly hostile federal environment against the LGBTQIA community in general, but particularly against the transgender and nonbinary communities. They have targeted the most vulnerable among us, especially trans youth, their families, and their medical providers. California is a refuge, and no one is a stronger supporter of our broader community and our transgender community than Secretary Xavier Becerra,” she told the Blade.
“He articulated his strongest and most enthusiastic support for our community throughout his time at HHS. Health equity was really principle number one for Secretary Becerra, and that includes health equity for our LGBTQIA+ community.”
Levine, who worked directly under Becerra, also praised his leadership style.
“Xavier Becerra really is an outstanding leader. I worked for him and with him when he was secretary and I was assistant secretary for health. He’s so down to earth and unassuming, and he talks a lot about his background, his parents, and his family. He exhibits all the traits you would want in a leader. He is personable, always professional, always compassionate, organized, and knowledgeable.
“I think that he will make an outstanding governor of California. He has local experience in California, where he served as attorney general, and he also has experience in Washington as a member of Congress and as Secretary of Health and Human Services. His background and his character make him an outstanding choice for governor.”
Shanker similarly pointed to Becerra’s engagement with LGBTQ communities and transgender advocates during his time at HHS as one of his strong suits — one that shows he is willing to commit to the right thing even if it is what some in higher powers, disagrees with.
“Secretary Becerra visited LGBT centers. He spoke at our HHS Pride Summit each year. He met directly with transgender health leaders and advocates.”
One meeting in particular stood out to Shanker– where Becerra’s leadership and tenacious dedication to committing to serving the American public.
“He said that his policy is to never do anything mild. He wanted actual policy change that advances the health and well-being of all Americans. He wasn’t looking for small, little tweaks. He wanted structural improvements.”
Shanker went on explaining that Becerra’s approach to all things — but especially very trivialized trans healthcare thoughts remained rooted in scientific evidence.
“He wasn’t reading the tea leaves to determine what policy we should enact. He was trusting the science and wanted to do the right thing for the people affected by our decisions,” Shanker said.
Hoang said that commitment to the evidence — and what LGBTQ advocates have point blanked asked from him has continued throughout Becerra’s gubernatorial campaign.
“I will say that he has done everything that we’ve asked of him and continues to speak proudly in support of the trans community. Full stop. We were lucky enough to work with him during his time as attorney general, but also as HHS secretary, ensuring that decisions are based upon science versus the rhetoric coming from MAGA extremists.”
As a recent example, Hoang pointed to Becerra’s support for trans student-athlete AB Hernandez.
“Just last week, he put out a statement that was read at the track meet for AB Hernandez, the trans athlete who was competing in the track and field championships.”
He added: “He has been a staunch ally, a proven staunch ally, of the LGBTQ community and specifically trans people.”
Levine said the importance of the California governor’s race extends far beyond state borders.
“I think it’s very important because states like California, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and others are ground zero for these battles. They serve as places of refuge, particularly for trans youth and nonbinary youth who may have to leave their states because of these attacks and hateful laws,” she said. “The governors of those states, including the governor of California, could not be more important. We could have no better defender than Xavier Becerra.”
For Hoang, the stakes of this election are difficult to overstate.
“I think because we see that the stakes are high. It’s trite to say, but this is truly one of the elections of our lifetimes, where you are seeing access to essential health care being denied to trans youth, having billions of federal dollars being up for grabs, and ensuring life-saving programs. Ensuring that LGBTQ Californians understand what’s at stake in this governor’s race is really critical, and we’re going to do all that we can to ensure that Xavier is our next governor.”
Hoang said many LGBTQ Californians are feeling anxious about the current political climate.
“It’s all over the place. I think in this time where it is a relentless onslaught of attacks from the federal government, folks feel disillusioned and feel scared.
“That is why it’s imperative that we ensure that LGBTQ people and our allies understand that even though there’s so much misinformation out there, it’s critical that folks turn out to vote — not just for the governor’s race — but ensuring that we take back Congress into pro-equality hands, and that they have strong champions in state legislatures all the way down to school boards.”
Looking ahead, both advocates pointed to healthcare access as a major challenge facing LGBTQ Californians.
“One area that we’re working on now, and that we know will continue, is backfilling dollars from the state government to the extent that the federal government continues to strike funding from things like HIV prevention programs, funding for trans health care, among others,” Hoang said.
“Ensuring that California does not let our communities get thrown under the bus is critical. Particularly when you have some folks in the broader Democratic Party who think that our rights are expendable, ensuring that the governor continues to step up and work with the state legislature to advance pro-equality legislation and budget priorities.”
Levine specifically pointed to the closure of some gender-affirming care programs in California.
“Even though California has tried to protect access to gender-affirming care for youth, a number of academic medical centers have closed their programs. It would be great for a governor to work with those programs, universities, deans, and presidents to see if they can reopen them.
Levine clarified that although there is currently no legislation in California restricting gender-affirming care, there is always a chance with the strike of the president’s pen or a conservative legislator to bring that to California.
“There is no law or regulation currently forcing those programs to close. There are threats—threats from executive orders, threats involving Medicaid—but those matters are still being fought through the courts.”
She concluded:
“Secretary Becerra is a fighter for health equity. He’s a fighter for disadvantaged communities, and I’m sure that he will take this on.”
Asked why LGBTQ voters should trust Becerra, both Shanker and Hoang pointed to his record.
“Actions speak louder than words. He has a record of action in terms of advancing the health and well-being, and in prior roles, the legal rights, of LGBTQI people,” Shanker said.
“It’s easy to say what you think you need to say to win political office. It’s harder to point to a record of results, which is what he can do because of his years in Congress, his years as attorney general, and his four years as secretary of Health and Human Services.”
Hoang offered a similar assessment.
“Especially in this moment, where there are a lot of platitudes out there, we have a candidate who has shown proven leadership in support of our community when it wasn’t popular. Looking back to his days in Congress, when he was one of 67 members of Congress who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, and when he stood up to the Trump administration as attorney general by suing over LGBTQ rights, he has shown time and time again that he will reach out to the most vulnerable and use his platform to serve.”
Levine, meanwhile, declined to weigh in on political strategy but reiterated her confidence in Becerra’s support for LGBTQ Americans.
“I’m not a politician. I’ve always been a physician and public health professional. Even though I was in a politically appointed position, my job was health equity and the protection of public health. It’s hard for me to comment on the politics of it. But all I can tell you is that there’s no bigger supporter of our community than Xavier Becerra.”
The Blade reached out to both the Becerra and Hilton campaigns seeking comment on their LGBTQ policy platforms, including how they would address trans rights in California as the federal government has taken an increasingly adversarial approach toward transgender Americans. Neither campaign responded to requests for comment by press time.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
