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Dark Cloud Of Trump Victory Had Rainbow-Colored Linings

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LGBT Candidates Made History Nov. 8

There is no sugarcoating the fact that the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States on Nov. 8 was a disaster, both for the LGBT movement and for the country as a whole.

The potential danger of a Trump presidency is augmented by the fact that Republicans maintained control of both houses of Congress, though Democrats did cut slightly the majorities held by the GOP in each.

Yet in many ways, the election was less a “change election,” as Trump partisans claim, than it was a status quo election. After all, the large majority of incumbents running for House and Senate were re-elected.

Trump not only did not receive a mandate to erode LGBT rights (or for any other policy position), but he also failed to receive even a plurality of the popular vote, much less a majority. When all the votes are counted, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to have received more than 2,000,000 votes than Trump.

The new Republican mantra echoed this week by Sen. Ted Cruz, among others, that Trump won “overwhelmingly” is a lie that must be denounced every time it is uttered.

Moreover, it is useful to remember that this election brought, in addition to heartbreaking losses, some significant successes as well.

Not only were the anti-gay North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (apparently) and the seven-term anti-gay New Jersey Congressman Scott Garrett (definitely) defeated by LGBT allies, but a number of the newly elected senators, such as Kamala Harris of California, Chris van Hollen of Maryland, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire are strong allies who put LGBT rights at the very center of their campaigns.

In addition, although we did not add any new members to the openly LGBT Congressional caucus, many LGBT candidates for other offices won. The Victory Fund, an organization devoted to electing openly LGBT candidates at local, state, and federal levels, reports that 87 of the 135 candidates the organization endorsed won their races.

Victory Fund President Aisha C. Moodie-Mills expressed her disappointment with the presidential election, remarking that “The devastating results hit the LGBT community particularly hard because we are unique in spanning all the demographic groups targeted by the president-elect throughout the campaign.” Still, she observed, the election also provided some “rays of light.”

For example, the 2016 election saw the first openly LGBT person elected governor and all six openly LGBT members of the House handily re-elected.

Kate Brown, who had previously served as Majority Leader of the Oregon State Senate and as Secretary of State, became governor of Oregon in February 2015, when she succeeded John Kitzhaber, who resigned in the midst of a corruption scandal. On Nov. 8, she was elected governor in her own right. Her victory makes her the first openly LGBT person elected governor of a U.S. state.

Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado crushed his Republican opponent to win re-election to the seat he won in 2008, when he became the first openly gay man elected to Congress as a freshman. (When he and his partner Marlon Reis announced the birth of their son in 2011, Polis became the first openly gay father to serve in Congress.)

Amassing 64% of the vote, Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island easily won re-election to the seat he first won in 2010.

Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin coasted to victory with almost 70 percent of the vote to retain the seat he won in 2012, when he succeeded Tammy Baldwin in the seat she vacated to run for the U.S. Senate.

Upstate New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, running in a competitive district, defeated his Republican challenger 51 percent to 41 percent to retain the seat he won in 2012.

Rep. Mark Takano, who became the first openly LGBT person of color to serve in Congress when he won California’s newly created 41st Congressional District in 2012, easily retained his seat.

In Arizona, bisexual Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who won her seat in 2012 in a bitter, nail-biter of a race, coasted to re-election in 2016.

Among other highlights of the 2016 election include some notable triumphs by newly elected LGBT candidates.

In Gwinnett County, Georgia, a 31-year-old political newcomer, Sam Park, upset a well-funded three-term Republican state representative to become the first openly gay man elected to the state Legislature. He will join three lesbian lawmakers in the Legislature.

In Denver, Leslie Herod won her race for the Colorado House of Representatives to become Colorado’s first African-American LGBT elected official. She explained her victory as a result of having built “a coalition of folks of all races, class, gender and sexual orientation.”

“They all came together to support me,” she said.

In Arizona, Daniel Hernandez won a seat in the state House of Representatives. Hernandez, who serves on the Sunnyside Unified District School Board, is credited with helping save the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during the Jan. 8, 2011 shootings in Tucson. At the time he was a congressional intern accompanying Giffords at a constituent event when a gunman shot her and 18 other people. His medical training, quick thinking, and bravery on that day has earned him plaudits as an American hero.

In Florida, Carlos Guillermo Smith was elected to the state House, becoming the state’s first openly gay Latino legislator. He will represent the district that includes the University of Central Florida and the Pulse nightclub. Smith, a former legislative aide and a lobbyist for Equality Florida, defeated his opponent by a margin of 69 percent to 31 percent.

In Minnesota, activist Erin Maye Quade upset a favored Republican to win a seat in the state House of Representatives. The race turned ugly when remarks by Maye Quade’s opponent that disparaged “identity politics” were perceived as homophobic.

In Washington, Nicole Macri easily won Seattle’s “legacy seat“ in the state House of Representatives. The seat, which includes Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, has been held by an openly LGBT person for the last 29 years.

In a surprise victory in Houston, Democrat Kim Ogg decisively ousted the incumbent district attorney of Harris County.

But perhaps the most reassuring news we have received is the pledge from Sen. Charles Schumer, who will become the Senate minority leader in the new Congress.

In a letter published in The Advocate, Schumer reassured the LGBT community. “I will do all in my power to prevent any backsliding on hard-won rights and to push back against a national discourse that allows for anything less than a full measure of respect for all Americans and would-be Americans.”

He said: “I will not forget what happened at Stonewall or what happened at Pulse — or any of the countless physical assaults, emotional taunts, and bullying endured by homosexual fellow citizens over the generations. I will not forget North Carolina’s passage of House Bill 2 or the trickle-down of hateful rhetoric inspired by these laws that causes children to take their own lives rather than continue to face the torment of bullies at school. I will not forget the 24 transgender Americans murdered this year alone.”Â

He added: “I also won’t forget when West Point opened the doors of its historic chapel for its first same-sex wedding after President Obama repealed ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ I won’t forget Edie Windsor’s boundless joy when the Supreme Court handed down its decision to make marriage equality the law of the land. And I won’t forget my family, my friends, my colleagues, or the New Yorkers who depend on me to protect their constitutional rights.”

This resolve from the leader of a united Democratic caucus will make it far more difficult for those who would like to erode LGBT rights to succeed in the first two years of the Trump presidency.
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‘Where You Been?’: Harris Rips GOP ‘Hypocrites’ Over Abortion in Fiery Speech

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September 20, 2024

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Vice President Kamala Harris blasted GOP “hypocrites” who are banning abortion while they suddenly start claiming they want to protect women and children.

In a fiery speech focused on reproductive rights and abortion in Atlanta, the Democratic presidential nominee was met with cheers and applause as she tore into Republicans, asking them where have they been.

“One in three women in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban,” Harris told the crowd. “This includes Georgia and every state in the south except Virginia,” she added, to which the audience started to grumble.

“Think about that when you also combine that with what we know has been long standing neglect around an issue like maternal mortality,” Harris continued, as the audience could be heard starting to agree and clap.

READ MORE: Vance Ducks Question on Trump-Endorsed ‘Black Nazi’ by ‘Throwing His Kid Under the Bus’

“Think about that when you compound that with what has been long standing neglect of women in communities with a lack of the adequate resources they need for health care: prenatal, during their pregnancy, postpartum.”

“Think about that, and these hypocrites,” Harris said loudly, “want to start talking about this is in the best interest of women and children?”

“Well, where you been? Where you been?” Harris demanded powerfully as the audience roared and clapped in support and agreement.

“When it comes to taking care of the women and children of America, where you been?” she continued to cheers.

“How dare they? How dare they?”

READ MORE: After Oprah, Harris Resolves Interview Issue by Answering ‘Most Searched Questions’

Harris also “invoked the name of a 28-year-old woman, Amber Nicole Thurman, who died of an infection after being unable to access abortion care at a Georgia hospital,” The Washington Post reports.

“We understand the impact of these bans and the horrific reality that women and families, their husbands, their partners, their parents, their children are facing as a consequence, every single day since Roe was overturned,” Harris said. “We will speak her name: Amber Nicole Thurman.”

Harris went on to say, “this is a healthcare crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of this crisis.” She warned that if elected, Donald Trump will sign into law a national abortion ban.

Watch Harris below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Straight Up Fascist Project’: Vance Slammed for Vowing to Call Legal Immigrants ‘Illegal’

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Vance Ducks Question on Trump-Endorsed ‘Black Nazi’ by ‘Throwing His Kid Under the Bus’

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8 hours ago

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September 20, 2024

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U.S. Senator JD Vance lashed out at the Harris-Walz campaign on Friday after refusing to comment on the bombshell allegations against a Trump-endorsed Republican Christian nationalist gubernatorial nominee who allegedly has expressed an affinity for transgender porn, has had an adulterous affair with his wife’s sister which he described in intimate detail on a porn website, has called himself a “Black Nazi,” said he wanted to own slaves, and allegedly had an account on a dating site for people who want to cheat on their spouses.

Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, was asked by a reporter on Thursday afternoon if he had any reaction to the news about North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, a far-right extremist and the subject of damning reports at CNN and Politico that day.

Caught on camera in the halls of Congress (video below), the Ohio Republican continued walking and did not respond to the reporter or her question.

The Harris campaign quickly posted the video, quoted the reporter, and added, “Vance: *rushes into other room*.”

READ MORE: After Oprah, Harris Resolves Interview Issue by Answering ‘Most Searched Questions’

Friday, Vance slammed the Harris campaign, and his own child, in what is reportedly his first public reaction to the Robinson scandal.

“I was *walking* to the doctor (because one of my kids gave me the plague) My comment on Mark Robinson is that Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Explosion Act and because of that a lot of Americans can’t afford groceries,” the Ohio GOP Senator claimed.

Some on social media were taken aback by the GOP nominee’s remarks.

“That is not in fact a comment on Mark Robinson,” responded journalist Stephen Robinson. “Also, stop blaming your kids for ever[y] inconvenience in your life.”

Senator Vance recently bragged he had told his 7-year old son to “shut the hell up” during his call accepting the vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump.

RELATED: Mark Robinson Scandal Could Bring Trump Down in ‘Reverse Coattails’ Effect: Expert

“Between Vance telling his young son to ‘shut the hell up’ to throwing one of his kids under the bus for ‘giving [him] the plague,’ it seems pretty obvious that childless cat ladies are not the ones with issues around family dynamics,” remarked former Fox News and CNBC contributor Julie Roginsky. “And PS: He never did answer that question about where he stands on Mark Robinson’s candidacy.”

Some suggested by “the plague” he was stating he tested positive for COVID.

The Daily Beast’s senior political reporter Roger Sollenberger, meanwhile, observed: “Vance’s comment on a GOP gubernatorial candidate in a critical swing state identifying himself as a ‘black NAZI’ on a porn site and saying he wants slavery to come back—a guy Donald Trump repeatedly & recently praised—is to openly dismiss it as somehow unworthy of discussion.”

Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist, noted that Vance had still not answered the question, while stating his claims about the Inflation Reduction Act are incorrect.

Watch the video of Vance and his response below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Straight Up Fascist Project’: Vance Slammed for Vowing to Call Legal Immigrants ‘Illegal’

 

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After Oprah, Harris Resolves Interview Issue by Answering ‘Most Searched Questions’

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10 hours ago

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September 20, 2024

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The Harris-Walz campaign has been taking heat for its decision to not spend time doing formal interviews or press conferences with many mainstream media reporters, but instead, find other ways to reach voters that allow the Democratic presidential nominee help the electorate get to know her on her terms and in more casual settings.

Thursday night, Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a “star-studded and, at times, deeply emotional 1.5-hour-long event, set up to mimic Winfrey’s former television show,” as Politico reported, that “was live streamed on multiple social platforms.”

“The armchair conversation allowed Harris to display a level of empathy for the challenges some Americans are facing while highlighting her personal bio, something she didn’t spend much time on during her debate with former President Donald Trump this month.”

READ MORE: Mark Robinson Scandal Could Bring Trump Down in ‘Reverse Coattails’ Effect: Expert

Democratic strategist Matt McDermott called it “a brilliant campaign strategy for Kamala Harris to do a sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey. Millions of Americans are watching across digital platforms in real time, meeting voters where they are.”

Evan Roth Smith, the lead pollster for Blueprint, commented on the Harris-Oprah event:

“Harris should do more of these! Just-released @Blueprint_2024 testing of her interview clips found:

– Every clip tested was viewed positively by 60%+
– Every clip moves support toward Harris
– Voters feel they know Harris better with every clip

Do more!”

READ MORE: ‘Straight Up Fascist Project’: Vance Slammed for Vowing to Call Legal Immigrants ‘Illegal’

Meanwhile, Fox News has been attacking Vice President Harris, at times daily, with reports like this one on Friday: “61 days: Kamala Harris has yet to do formal press conference since emerging as Democratic nominee.”

On Friday, WIRED published its “Autocomplete Interview” with the Democratic presidential nominee, another opportunity for Harris to sit in a less formal setting while letting voters get to know her better.

“Vice President Kamala Harris talked about her childhood, her debate with Donald Trump, her gun ownership, and the policies that define her campaign in this special edition of the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.”

WIRED calls it a “wide-ranging” interview and a “lively tour of Harris’ past and a preview of her plans for the future.”

Essentially, WIRED gave Harris large cards that look like Google search windows, and had her “respond to some of the most-searched terms about” her. “In this case, the prompts hit on her policies around reproductive rights, gun ownership, marriage equality, and more. But Harris also talks about more personal details, like her relationship with her stepchildren and her deep ties to her college sorority.”

“Most of all,” WIRED reports, “Harris took the opportunity to highlight the differences between her perspective and Donald Trump’s. ‘His vision for our country is very grounded in the past,’ she says, ‘and frankly an attempt to take us backward.'”

Watch the interview below or at this link.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Just Made One of His Most Racist Attacks Yet – and the Media Is Ignoring It

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