In the KBOO Evening Newscast that aired on 8/6/24, we misstated when Vice Presidential Nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz helped advise a high school Gay-Straight Alliance club. Walz took on this role in 1999. We mistakenly said he started the role in the early 2000s.
Walz was a high school social studies teacher, and the football coach at Mankato West High School in Minnesota. It was in 1999 when one of his students asked him to become the faculty advisor to a new Gay-Straight Alliance club. The timing is significant, because the political climate of acceptance towards LGBTQ+ people was very different than it is today. This part of his biography has been highlighted since he was announced as the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic presidential ticket.