While Donald Trump surged to victory in Tuesday’s election, there were some positive signs for our community, including the success of LGBTQ candidates and voting efforts in some states and districts.
The night’s biggest victory was the narrow reelection of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who managed to overcome a voter backlash against Democrats who swept presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Baldwin, who is lesbian, will be the only LGBTQ member to return to the Senate, joining bisexual Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and lesbian Sen. LaFonza Butler (D-Calif.) Become. resigned and did not seek re-election.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund congratulated Baldwin on his victory, and President and CEO Annise Parker said she was “thrilled” by the development. “Wisconsin voters made the right choice by keeping a long-time champion in Washington,” Parker said in a statement.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the number of members of the LGBTQ Caucus will increase by three members, from nine to 12, with the addition of Texas Congresswoman Julie Johnson, the first LGBTQ person to be elected to Congress from the South. Washington state senator Emily Randall is the first LGBTQ Latina elected to Congress. And Delaware Sen. Sarah McBride is the first senator to come out as transgender.
HRC Texas state director Melodia Gutierrez hailed Johnson’s victory as a “historic milestone,” and LPAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing LGBTQ women and nonbinary candidates, said Randall’s historic He praised the victory.
“As a Latina who comes out as a lesbian, I sleep well knowing that Emily Randall will fight for LGBTQ+ equality, racial justice, immigration reform, and reproductive freedom in Congress,” said LPAC Executive Director. said Janelle Perez.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign congratulated McBride on his victory, calling him a “competent lawmaker” who will not only serve his constituents, but whose presence in the House of Representatives will reflect the growing acceptance of transgender people in public office. He called him a “dedicated public servant.”
All current LGBTQ members of Congress — Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Minn.) , Kansas), Chris Pappas (DN.H.), Ritchie Torres (DN.Y.), Becca Balint (D-Vermont), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Eric Sorenson ( (Democrat of Illinois) was reelected.
At the state level, LGBTQ women and non-binary candidates celebrated historic victories, with I’m Wigtendaal winning a seat in the Iowa House of Representatives and being elected as an openly transgender person to the Iowa Legislature. He became the first person to do so.
In addition, Gabby Salinas became the first LGBTQ woman to be elected to the Tennessee State Senate, and Kentucky Representative Ketla Herron became the Commonwealth’s first genderqueer person to be elected to the state senate. All three Democrats will serve in Republican-controlled legislatures in states that have passed a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills in recent years.
In North Carolina, state Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Raleigh) was re-elected, becoming the only LGBTQ member in the Senate. Similarly, in Montana, state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), who was barred from the Montana House of Representatives after delivering a passionate speech denouncing efforts to restrict gender-affirming care, was reelected to her seat in the state House of Representatives. Ta.
According to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, 274 of the 477 LGBTQ candidates running this cycle (57%) won in Tuesday’s election. Meanwhile, 64 candidates, or 13%, lost the election, and as of Thursday afternoon, the results of the race involving 139 other LGBTQ candidates had not yet been announced.
Despite President Trump’s victory, North Carolina’s LGBTQ voters are relieved that Attorney General Josh Stein was elected governor, defeating anti-LGBTQ Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, known for his dehumanizing remarks against LGBTQ people. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Robinson was dogged by accusations that he patronized adult video stores during the final months of his campaign. Contains inflammatory, racist, or anti-gay comments On a porn website bulletin board from decades ago.
Adam Polasky, communications and political director for the Southern Equality Campaign, which works with LGBTQ activists across the South, said voters “firmly rejected Mark Robinson’s divisive and hateful rhetoric” in electing Stein. celebrated the defeat.
North Carolina Democrats also won a House seat in eastern North Carolina, breaking the Republican legislative majority. That means Republicans won’t be able to override Mr. Stein’s veto in the future, if they are forced to compromise with Mr. Stein or Democratic leaders. We want to achieve our legislative priorities.
Tuesday also brought positive news regarding pro-LGBTQ voting efforts. In California, voters approved Proposition 3, repealing the now-unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage known as Proposition 8.
The 2008 ballot initiative had previously been struck down as unconstitutional by a federal court, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn those lower court rulings and left only the text on the books. On Tuesday, California voters removed that language from the state constitution by a nearly 2-1 margin.
By similar margins, voters in Colorado and Hawaii also voted to remove language explicitly banning same-sex marriage from their state constitutions. Even though both states had already approved marriage equality measures, outdated language banning such marriages remained on the books.
In New York, voters approved Proposition 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment. The New York State Constitution will now explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and other gender-based factors. The measure also protects people’s right to bodily autonomy and access to reproductive health care services.
Although the focus of Proposition 1 was primarily on reproductive health care, opponents of the proposal sought to defeat it by campaigning against the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. Many of these debates argue that the proposal would infringe on women’s space, allow transgender youth to receive gender-affirming care without parental consent, and call it “trans panic.” I tried to employ tactics. Voters ultimately approved the measure 62% to 38%.
“New Yorkers took a historic step by voting to enshrine protections for all communities into our state constitution,” New Pride Agenda Executive Director Elisa Crespo said in a statement. “As attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights and reproductive freedom escalate across the country, New York has chosen to protect our essential freedoms for generations to come.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
