Elijah Root-Sanchez

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Why the “Rainbow Wave” at the 2018 Midterm Election Matters for Future Queer Generations

The 2018 midterm election has been considered the most diverse election in terms of candidates and elected officials in America’s history.

It was the lowest year ever in terms of straight white male candidates running for political office. There were a record number of queer and transgender candidates in the 2018 midterms, many of them winning their races.

With over 150 queer and trans folks victorious in their respective elections, this midterm was a major advancement in social progress.

Many are calling this “Rainbow Wave” a major checkpoint in the fight to achieve equality for queer and trans people in the United States. There were many queer and trans people who made history this election season, being the first of their people to be elected in their position.

Colorado elected the nation’s first openly gay governor with Democrat Jared Polis. Coming from a state with homophobic bakery owners to electing an openly gay man to the state’s highest elected position, this midterm election has shown Colorado’s evolution with gay rights and equality. As the first openly gay governor elect, Polis is the first to have such major influence over queer and trans policy in a state.

Sharice Davids became the first ever queer person to be elected to Congress from the state of Kansas. Winning Kansas’s 3rd District, Davids was also one of two women this midterm election to be the first Native American women to be elected to U.S. Congress, joining Debra Haaland of New Mexico. In a year where thousands of Native Americans were threatened to be disenfranchised, its is encouraging to see two Native American women victorious.

New Hampshire elected to two openly trans women to their state legislature. Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon make history by joining the very few openly trans officials in elected positions. With their victories, this can be considered a major triumph for trans rights.

Over 110 million people and counting voted in the 2018 midterm election, making this the highest ever voter turnout in a midterm election, with around 48 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot this November, according to AP projections.

Undoubtedly, the spike in queer and trans representation can be attributed to the spike in voter turnout. Historically, high voter turnout favors left-leaning candidates, and there were no queer or trans candidates for the republican party.

With more representation, queer and trans folks will have more of a say in creating, defending, and combating policy that will directly affect them.

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Documentary A Looks at the First AIDS Unit in WeHo

In an era driven by fear and ignorance of the unknown, the dedicated medical staff of the AIDS Unit at a West Hollywood hospital during the one of darkest periods in the LGBTQ+ history brought glimpses of hope and light.

The Pride was honored to have the privilege of speaking with two amazing nurses who worked at the AIDS Unit at Cedars Sinai Hospital, a hospital that was at the center of the AIDS Crisis. Certified Nursing Assistant John Rios Knuckles and Jennifer White Geller, RN “gave a voice to the voiceless.”

According to the City of Los Angeles AIDS Coordinator Office, “Since the epidemic began 31 years ago, about 31,000 individuals have been diagnosed with AIDS, 13,000 of them still are living.” The extraordinary staff at Cedars were there on the front lines, trying to end an AIDS epidemic that was targeting and already wounded LGBTQ+ community.

Knuckles and Geller,  along with the rest of the staff, worked every day to provide quality care to the patients of this unit. The AIDS Unit staff members at Cedars Sinai were emotionally supportive for each other.

Photo: Screenshot from “The Unit”

“Some people would come in and out of the unit, Knuckles said. “So, you really got to know some people.”

He said that nurses would “pick up each other’s patients” when they knew that another nurse had lost someone.

Work didn’t stop at the hospital doors, though. Both Knuckles and Geller said that they had to educate friends and family about the AIDS Crisis.

“Never my mom, dad or my brother, they were really supportive,” Geller recalled. “But my [extended] family would always ask ‘Aren’t you afraid of working there?’”

Both Knuckles and Geller said that thie answers to those questions were always “no, not at all.”

They loved what they did.

Knuckles said that even family members of patients would put on masks and gloves.  He said that he would tell them that they were fine and that they could touch each other, but people were so driven by fear of the unknown.

“Even within the hospital, people were afraid… that was the main thing: fear,”Knuckles reflected. He said that the kitchen staff would ask him to give the food trays to the patients, but he would refuse. Other units would even “hold their breath while walking through [the unit].”

Photo: Screenshot from “The Unit”

Even though the rest of the world may have criticized them, Knuckles and Geller explained how much they enjoyed their experience working in the unit. Both nurses actively chose to work in the AIDS Unit. Geller said that she “looked forward to coming to work every day.”

What these two, and the rest of the nursing staff at the AIDS Unit, did for their patients is nothing short of heroic. Jennifer told The Pride that

“It wasn’t clear what you would be, Geller said. “Sometimes you would be a mother, sometimes you would be a sister,” whatever the patients needed to  enrich the last moments of their lives.

A documentary on the AIDS Unit of Cedars Sinai Hospital called “The Unit,” which you can watch here, was released as a part of STORIES: The AIDS Monument Project. The documentary tells the stories of Knuckles, Geller and other dedicated staff members  at Cedars Sinai Hospital’