The Everygirl was created as a space for all those who identify as women to come find inspiration, to see themselves represented in our content, to feel like they’re spending time with a friend. It’s always been at the heart of our mission to inspire women to be the best version of themselves and lead informed, thoughtful decision-making.
Since launching the site in 2012, The Everygirl has steadfastly remained a nonpartisan platform, covering the elections and encouraging readers to vote for whichever candidate and party they felt was the best person for our country.
We have always spoken out on issues we regard as foundational in upholding basic human rights:
- In 2015 when the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all states, we cheered.
- In 2016 when Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were murdered by excessive force of police officers two days apart, we publically stood with the Black Lives Matter movement–and still do.
- In 2018, when conditions at detainee border camps were exposed (and still are being exposed), we spoke up and encouraged people to help.
- When a victim speaks out, just as Christine Blasey Ford did in her testimony against then Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, we believe her.
But when it came to specific candidates, we have never officially endorsed one over the other.
This year, that changes.
This year, we found ourselves in an unprecedented America. An international pandemic has left families mourning, the public panicking, small businesses shuttering, and it has placed our essential workers severely at risk. Worldwide, strangers are uniting in the streets to protest police brutality and push for reform. An unapologetic rise in anti-semitic, xenophobic, and racist rhetoric online and in communities has fueled a surge in hateful incidents. Families who are looking for a better life are torn apart from their children and held prisoner in sub-adequate conditions. Individuals and businesses face an impending economic crisis with 12.6 million still out of work, and many having to choose between paying utilities or buying groceries for their children.
In these frightening and uncertain times, we feel it is our duty to inform and push for change. In 2020, the answer is simple: we are voting for Former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris.
Let us be clear. As a company, we:
- Wholeheartedly denounce white supremacy
- Support science
- Believe that love comes in all forms
- Stand with undocumented immigrants
- Recognize the need for universal health care
—all things President Trump has shown to disagree with through his rhetoric, his policies, and his self-aggrandizing Twitter feed.
However, we find it especially important in the 2020 election to focus on the candidate who encourages us to move forward together rather than revert backwards. Based on these core values of The Everygirl Media Group, these are the reasons we support the Biden/Harris ticket:
We value equity, fairness, and inclusion.
The Everygirl Media Group firmly believes that Black lives matter and that systemic racism exists in the United States.
Joe Biden firmly condemns white supremacy and has created a plan to tackle systemic racism. The Trump/Pence administration has made it clear that they don’t believe systemic racism exists, with Mike Pence even stating it openly at the Vice Presidential Debate. Have Biden and Harris made missteps in their careers in their treatment of BIPOC? Yes, but we believe their commitment to eliminating the cash bond system, banning chokeholds, creating a plan for racial equity, and addressing racism within healthcare and the education system are reasons enough to get our vote. Although Biden’s plans do not completely match those of the Movement for Black Lives, it is important to elect a leader who is willing to have those conversations and move forward.
Biden’s plan for racial equity focuses on developing an economy in which Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are supported and included. This includes a small-business fund supporting BIPOC-owned businesses and communities and a housing plan to reduce the segregated nature of the U.S. housing market, including a tax credit for first-time home buyers, an investment to develop additional homes and public housing units, and eliminating housing regulations that have kept BIPOC from certain neighborhoods. This is especially noteworthy in how it finally recognizes and addresses just some of the systemic racism BIPOC have faced in various facets of our economy.
One president isn’t going to eradicate the systemic racism our country has faced since the beginning. However, we find it important to put people in power who recognize the work that needs to be done to dismantle it, rather than telling white supremacists to “stand back and and stand by” during a Presidential Debate.
We stand up for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community.
As a company comprised of women, it is imperative that we support a candidate who will be an advocate for our rights—both for our bodies and our livelihoods. The Trump-Pence administration has worked to dismantle Title X—a federal program that helps expand access to essential services like breast cancer screenings, STD tests, and health education—and seemingly abandoned the Obama-Biden era White House Council on Women and Girls.
Biden has a written plan to address gender-based issues, which includes investing in female-owned small businesses, tackling health disparities like maternal mortality, and working to end violence against transgender people and LGBTQ+ individuals. Biden vows to enact the Equality Act in his first 100 days, which will finally protect people from being discriminated against based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, 29 states haven’t outlawed the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people.
We also cannot forget the importance of keeping abortion safe and accessible for the individuals who need it. Data shows that restrictions to abortion access have little impact on national abortion rates; instead, what may be at the root of our declining numbers across the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute, is the availability of comprehensive family planning and access to affordable contraception.
Biden believes reproductive rights are constitutional, and his public option under the Affordable Care Act will include abortion and access to contraception. As President, he plans to put Roe v. Wade into federal law. This is especially necessary as the current administration eagerly attempts to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett, guaranteeing a conservative majority in the Supreme Court and potentially risking abortion access based on her jurisprudence.
We believe women and families deserve support at work and at home.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many mothers and women have left the workforce to take care of their families for a number of reasons, including lack of childcare. The U.S. is the only industrialized country without paid family leave. The United States also does not have universal childcare. Even before the pandemic, mothers were forced to take on multiple jobs just to pay for childcare, or they’d be forced to forgo working at all because their paycheck didn’t equal the amount they’d pay a daycare or nanny. Biden has proposed a national Pre-K for children ages 3-4, hoping to get more women in the workforce and reduce the achievement gap for Children of Color and those living in poverty. He’s also proposed an $8,000 tax credit per child (up to $16,000) for parents earning less than $125,000 a year, meant to expand childcare facilities to encourage parents to return to work.
We trust science.
Our team trusts scientists, researchers, and current events that illustrate the climate crisis is real. We firmly believe legislation to curb emissions and waste are paramount and urgent, as well as investments in alternative renewable energy resources.
We deserve leadership who puts that at the forefront, understanding that if we don’t work to fix our planet now, the generations behind us might not have a choice. Biden has put forth a climate responsibility plan that puts clean energy and infrastructure at the forefront, pushing the U.S. closer to a carbon-pollution-free future by 2035. Biden also plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement immediately after taking office, which will put the U.S. in the fight with almost 200 other countries to reduce fossil fuel pollution.
We want a president who believes the scientists and experts, especially regarding COVID-19, and leads the country accordingly. President Trump’s handling of the pandemic crisis in the spring of 2020 was shameful; especially how he misled–and continues to mislead–the public about the severity of the virus, even after more than 200,000 Americans have died in nine months. He has claimed the coronavirus is nothing to fear as hundreds of thousands of people have had to say goodbye to loved ones this year–often doing so over a phone call because of quarantine restrictions. The American people deserve honesty, and we deserve someone who will help in a crisis rather than fuel chaos, panic, and misinformation.
The Biden/Harris administration has created a seven-step plan to reduce COVID-19 numbers and bring back our economy, and it’s based on listening to science, being transparent, and trusting the experts. Biden plans to increase testing throughout the country; provide clear national guidance for educators, businesses, and parents; develop an “effective, equitable” plan to distribute any treatments or vaccines; implement a mask mandate in conjunction with governors; and protect high-risk Americans like the elderly and those who are immunocompromised. Not only does the Biden/Harris administration commit to transparency throughout the process, but they have actionable steps to eliminate the pandemic.
We believe healthcare is a human right.
It is necessary that everyone in America have the opportunity to receive medical care without worrying if it will bankrupt them, especially during a global pandemic. Biden’s plan to expand the Affordable Care Act by lowering the Medicare enrollment age, creating a new public insurance option, and making healthcare more affordable long-term shows us that this is something he values too.
We believe leadership sets the tone for the country.
As much as the policies of each candidate affect our lives, we also can’t ignore the necessity of having a role model as a leader for our country—both for ourselves and for our families, namely young children. It’s important to us to see someone in the White House who will work to heal our divides, who shows respect for others, and is trustworthy, responsible, accountable, and empathetic to the struggles of the American people. We appreciate a leader who rolls out plans in a thought-out and professional manner rather than Tweeting federal policy to the entire world in the middle of the night.
As a team of women, mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts, we feel a unique pull to elect a candidate who shares our same goal: create a better world for our families. The policies above have a lot to do with that, but having an inspiring leader at the head of our country is at the top of the list. We want a president who pledges to represent all, not just their supporters.
Senator Kamala Harris, if elected, will be the first woman, Black person, and Asian-American person to hold the second-highest seat of office in America. Seeing a Black woman in this leadership position is something Women of Color, young and old, can look up to. To see someone who looks like you in a leadership position is empowering and inspiring, and we see this election as a strong opportunity to use our influence to help women experience this pivotal moment in history.
Why we’re voting
We know there are people out there who see the missteps of both candidates and don’t feel comfortable voting for either; however, we strongly urge that you look to the previous election. In 2016, many people felt both parties failed to produce a viable candidate and chose to vote third-party or not at all. In the end, we still elected a candidate of that two-party system. To not vote means to give up your vote, and therefore make someone else’s even stronger. No third-party candidate has won the presidency in America, and it would take a lot longer than the next few weeks to make it happen in 2020. Choosing to vote third-party, or not at all, ultimately could have the unintended consequence of helping a person you don’t agree with.
When we discovered Donald Trump would be our next president, the impact of the 2020 election felt ages away. Regardless of the feelings that moment of history evoked in you, we can all agree that America certainly looks much different now than it did four years ago. We encourage you to tap into that feeling on Election Day, knowing that your vote can make a difference in how our country might look in a few short years. Whether you’re voting by mail, in-person early, or in-person on Election Day, it is imperative that you choose a candidate you feel comfortable affiliating yourself with—through their policies, their values, and their character. We stand by the Biden/Harris administration because their commitment to the issues we care about—equity, science, inclusion, and humanity—is something we frankly cannot risk in 2020.
We value differing opinions and welcome feedback, but please keep discussions between readers respectful.
