{"id":274070,"date":"2020-11-04T22:48:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T03:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=274070"},"modified":"2020-11-04T22:48:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T03:48:27","slug":"rainbow-wave-of-lgbtq-candidates-run-and-win-in-2020-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/11\/04\/rainbow-wave-of-lgbtq-candidates-run-and-win-in-2020-election\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Rainbow wave’ of LGBTQ candidates run and win in 2020 election"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
While an estimated 5% of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, just 0.17% of elected officials across all levels of the American government are LGBTQ. (Pixabay photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More LGBTQ candidates ran for office in the United States in 2020 than ever before \u2013 at least 1,006<\/a>. That\u2019s a 41% increase over the 2018 midterms, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.<\/p>\n

While an estimated 5% of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, just 0.17% of elected officials<\/a> across all levels of the American government are LGBTQ.<\/p>\n

Better political representation could help LGBTQ Americans maintain some of their hard-won rights, which have come under attack over the past four years. Since 2016, the Trump administration has weakened trans-inclusive protections in schools<\/a>, attempted to remove LGBTQ protections in health care<\/a> and proposed allowing homeless shelters to turn away transgender people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marriage equality, too, may be under threat. In early October, Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito suggested that the 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal across the United States, should be overturned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In short, candidates and LGBTQ rights were both on the ballot in the 2020 election, either explicitly or implicitly. While many questions remain undecided at press time, here\u2019s the takeaway from four down-ballot races I\u2019ve been following as a scholar of LGBTQ politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Delaware<\/h2>\n

Democrat Sarah McBride<\/a> made history on Tuesday when she won a state Senate seat<\/a> in Delaware. In doing so, she\u2019ll become the United States\u2019 highest-ranking transgender elected official<\/a> and the first openly transgender person to serve in a state Senate<\/a> anywhere in the nation. McBride defeated Republican Steve Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Previously, Danica Roem<\/a>, a Virginia Democrat who won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017, was the highest-ranking transgender person in elected office<\/a>. Roem was re-elected<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n

Other transgender women, including Taylor Smalls of Vermont<\/a> and Stephanie Byers of Kansas<\/a>, also won state-level races on Tuesday in notable victories.<\/p>\n

Hawaii and South Dakota<\/h2>\n

At the start of this election cycle, only three U.S. states \u2013 Hawaii, South Dakota and Mississippi \u2013 had no openly LGBTQ elected officials<\/a> at any level of government. This year, candidates in Hawaii and South Dakota hoped to get their states off that list.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/a>
Rep.-elect Tam of Hawai\u2019s 22nd district.<\/span>
\nFacebook<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Democrat Jared Nieuwenhuis<\/a> of South Dakota was unable to win a seat<\/a> for state House District 25 to become the state\u2019s first openly LGBTQ elected official in the state Legislature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, in Hawaii, Adrian Tam<\/a> \u2013 who upset a 14-year incumbent<\/a> in the August Democratic primary for the state House of Representatives \u2013 defeated Republican Nicholas Ochs<\/a>, making him Hawaii\u2019s only openly LGBTQ elected official<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Georgia<\/h2>\n

One Georgia Senate race remained undecided on election night<\/a>. The other \u2013 an unusual race called a \u201cjungle primary<\/a>\u201d between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and 20 other candidates from various parties<\/a> \u2013 has drawn national attention from LGBTQ advocates.<\/p>\n

A political newcomer, Loeffler was appointed to her seat<\/a> by Gov. Brian Kemp in late 2019 following the retirement of longtime Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. Neither Loeffler nor her top opponent in the jungle primary, Democratic contender the Rev. Raphael Warnock, received over 50% of the vote, so a runoff election will be held in the coming weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This runoff will be significant for the LGBTQ community because of Loeffler\u2019s recent sponsorship of a Senate bill to ban transgender girls<\/a> from playing school sports.<\/p>\n

Loeffler\u2019s proposed legislation is similar to Idaho\u2019s new \u201cFairness in Women\u2019s Sports Act<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a law that could require girls who excel in athletics to \u201cprove their gender\u201d through a genital exam, DNA test or testosterone test<\/a>. LGBTQ rights groups fear Loeffler\u2019s bill would allow schools across the country to conduct genital examinations of student athletes<\/a> who are presumed to be transgender.<\/p>\n

Warnock, a pastor at Georgia\u2019s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, has made a strong public commitment<\/a> to LGBTQ rights and condemned Loeffler\u2019s legislation,<\/a> saying in an interview with the LGBTQ outlet Project Q that \u201cno one is free until we are all free.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same interview, Warnock expressed his support for the Equality Act<\/a>, proposed legislation that would add LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections into federal law.<\/p>\n

[Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter and get expert takes on today\u2019s news, every day.<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n

Historic victories and challenges ahead<\/h2>\n

LGBTQ Americans vote heavily Democratic<\/a>. In 2008, John McCain won 27% of the LGBTQ vote while running for president against Barack Obama. In 2012, Mitt Romney won 22% of the LGBTQ vote. And in 2016, nationwide exit poll data of LGBTQ voters<\/a> shows that Donald Trump received roughly 14% of the LGBTQ vote.<\/p>\n

Harvey Milk, the late San Francisco city councilman, is often incorrectly cited<\/a> as the first openly LGBTQ elected official. That pioneer was actually Kathy Kozachenko, who at age 21 won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan in 1974.<\/p>\n

\"Black-and-white<\/a>
Kathy Kozachenko was an out lesbian and a college student when she was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council.<\/span>
\nHuman Rights Party records \/ Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly 50 years later, LGBTQ candidates have made historic strides in political representation<\/a>. In 2017, there were under 450 openly LGBTQ elected officials<\/a> in the entire U.S. Over 150 LGBTQ candidates won<\/a> elections at the federal, state and local levels in the 2018 midterm elections<\/a>. Another \u201crainbow wave\u201d<\/a> came in 2019, bringing the total number of openly LGBTQ American elected officials to just under 700<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Social acceptance of LGBTQ people<\/a> is growing too, with over 70% of Americans saying transgender people should be protected from discrimination, according to polling by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law<\/a>, and a similar percentage supporting marriage equality<\/a>. That has translated into ever more openly LGBTQ candidates running for office \u2013 and winning.\"The<\/p>\n

Timothy R. Bussey<\/a>, Associate Director for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Kenyon College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More LGBTQ candidates ran for office in the United States in 2020 than ever before \u2013 at least 1,006. That\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":169032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-timothy-r-bussey-kenyon-college","mauthors-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274075,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274070\/revisions\/274075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}