What President Oprah Winfrey would mean for LGBT rights

The Democrats are without a serious star player to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

But beloved talk show host, media entrepreneur and businesswoman Oprah Winfrey burst onto the list of frontrunners in January with a defiant speech at the Golden Globes.

(Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Winfrey, who is as close to universally admired as pretty much anyone gets in the USA these days, has fuelled speculation by refusing to rule out a Presidential bid – and sources close to the star say she is considering the matter very seriously.

Polling suggests she’d trounce Donald Trump in a one-on-one race, which will only increase pressure to run if no other serious contender emerges.

A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll gives Oprah an 11-point lead

So, if we’re taking this seriously, let’s ask: what’s her record like, and what would President Oprah mean for LGBT equality?

An early and unwavering ally

Obviously Oprah has never been in Congress, so she doesn’t have a voting record for us to pick through – but luckily pretty much every thought she’s publicly expressed for the past three decades has been meticulously documented in the press.

The star was one of Hollywood’s earliest and most prominent LGBT allies, giving a platform on her show as far back as 1991, when she held a pioneering discussion about same-sex marriage.