Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised to make LGBTQ+ issues a hallmark of his future administration, and Reggie Greer, 33, a D.C. resident and longtime LGBTQ political strategist is the man behind mobilizing LGBTQ+ Americans to vote for Biden in November.
As Vote Director for the Biden campaign, and through the Out For Biden initiative, Greer's focus is on activating the estimated 11 million LGBTQ+ Americans to pull the lever for the Biden/Harris ticket on election day.
“I think that our country is at an inflection point,” Greer says. “I believe in Vice President Biden’s leadership style, his empathy, and ability to bring people together. He will bring a diverse set of voices together to address the nation’s problems.”
Greer was deputy director of public engagement at the U.S. Department of Transportation when Biden was vice president and Barack Obama was president. That gave him a chance to know Biden and to develop faith in his ability to deal with challenges that include a pandemic, systemic racism, and the damage inflicted by Donald Trump reports The Advocate.
His desire to help elect Biden is also rooted in his identity and background. “I am a gay Black man with a disability who grew up in a middle-class family,” says Greer, who underwent 18 surgeries before his 16th birthday for a degenerative birth defect called hemifacial microsomia. “I have been fortunate enough to benefit from the way the systems are designed to work, and I want them to work for everybody.”
A native of Texas, Greer is the son of an engineer and a nurse, so thanks to his parents’ jobs and insurance, he had access to high-quality health care—the type of health care everyone should have, he notes.
Greer adds, “I am a person of faith. I think about the types of values we need to return to…assuring people that government represents them and does right by them.”
“Voter turnout’s going to be the key” to winning the election, Greer says, adding that a Biden win will produce an administration dedicated to inclusion, something that brings out the best in the nation, unlike the exclusionary vision promoted by those who claim to be making America great again.
“What makes this country great,” Greer says, “is that we include every voice in the political process.”