Nine Democratic presidential candidates in the US are to take part in a debate next month on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.

Tom Steyer, Cory Booker, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, Amy Klobuchar and Julián Castro will appear in the town hall-style event in Los Angeles.

Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang declined the invitation to participate, citing scheduling conflicts.

It is a joint event between the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and broadcaster CNN.

The HRC is billing the October 10th town hall as 'Power of our Pride'.

Two candidates will appear back-to-back each hour throughout the evening and take questions from the audience and a CNN moderator.

The moderators will include Dana Bash, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon.

An HRC Foundation spokesperson said the audience will be made up of invited guests, LGBTQ stakeholders and members of civic organisations.

However no public tickets will be available for the event.

Invitations to participate in the town hall have been extended to Democratic presidential hopefuls, who have reached 2% in at least four national polls identified by the Democratic Party.

CNN says additional invitations will be extended to candidates who meet the quota before September 25th.

Alphonso David is president of the HRC.

He says: "For nearly 40 years, the Human Rights Campaign has fought to realise a world in which LGBTQ people are safe, equal and free in every aspect of our lives.

"Today, at a time when our most basic civil rights and democratic values are under attack, our work has never been more urgent.

"We are eager to hear from this field of Democratic presidential candidates about how they plan to win full federal equality, defend the fundamental equality of LGBTQ people, and protect the most vulnerable among us - both... in the United States and around the globe - from stigma, institutional inequality, discrimination, and violence."