Monday, November 12, 2012

Big Wins For State and Local LGBT Candidates


So, Election Day was a big win for the Democrats, the 47%, and for women. But it was also a big day for the LGBT community. We saw marriage equality become a reality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, and we witnessed the people of Minnesota saying they do not want discrimination written into their state Constitution.

It was a good day, a beautiful day.

But, perhaps overshadowed by those wins, were the wins for more than 110 LGBT candidates at state and local levels around the country. According to Denis Dison, of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the number of state legislatures with no out LGBT members went from 17 to 10; like West Virginia elected its first out state lawmaker, ever, in Stephen Skinner.

Up in New Hampshire, Democrat Stacie Laughton became that state’s first out transgender legislator. In fact, Laughton's win not only made history in the state, but she becomes the first out trans person ever elected to a seat in a state legislature.
"We are people, too, who still have talents and ideas. And I hope that people won't be afraid to get into politics, or any other position, for that matter. I want the community to feel inspired." Stacie Laughton
In Colorado, Mark Ferrandino brought LGBT leadership to new levels in the state. After the election, his fellow Democrats nominated him for speaker of the House, marking the first time an out gay person has presided over the chamber. Colorado now joins California and Rhode Island as one of the three states to have an out speaker.

Also in Colorado--which banned same-sex marriage in 2006--openly gay state Senator Pat Steadman is expected to run for President of the Colorado Senate. If Steadman is successful, as many suspect he will be, it would mark the first time both chambers of a state legislature have gay leaders.

In Oregon, control of the House of Representatives flipped from Republican to Democrat, and Democratic Leader Tina Kotek is expected to become speaker of the House and the first lesbian speaker in American history.

Ohio Republican Tim Brown also won election on Tuesday to the state House of Representatives, becoming the only out Republican state legislator in the nation. 

A younger generation of LGBT leaders also won their races, including Craig Cassey, who won election to Washington D.C.'s Advisory Neighborhood Commission [ANC]. At 20-years-old, Cassey is the youngest out gay person ever elected to office. And up in Maine, 21-year-old Justin Chenette was elected to Maine's House of Representatives, becoming the youngest state legislator in the nation.

I remember waking up the morning after North Carolina voted to add anti-LGBT discrimination to their state Constitution and wondering what was wrong with this country.

This week I woke up after Election Day realizing that, in many parts of the country, it didn't matter if you were L, G, B, or T, all that mattered as that you could do the job.

And we can.



6 comments:

  1. This news is nothing less than breathtaking.

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  2. the more gay, women, hispanic candidates that run AND are voted in will make it harder for others to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that "these people" do not exist.

    thanks for providing this list; truly impressive and wonderful!

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  3. Never consider somone unworthy because of the way they are categorised. It's who you are, not what you are, that counts.

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  4. With every local, state and federal election, our governing bodies are at long last beginning to reflect what american actually looks like. Every shade of skin under the sun, every religion, every sexuality, every gender, any age.

    With each of these "minorities" voted into office, it becomes a little harder to legislate hate.

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  5. Anonymous1:08 PM

    We had an openly gay candidate run for mayor of San Diego. Carl DeMaio lost, but not because he's gay. He lost because he's an asshat that accepted money from Prop H8 funder Doug Manchester and gives shade to the local LGBTQ community.

    Karl Rove may have funded his campaign as well, but not sure.

    ReplyDelete

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