When Stephanie Ocasio-Gonzalez heard that the Connecticut Parentage Act passed the state Senate in a late-night session on May 20 and was headed to the governor’s desk, she congratulated her wife.
“I told Denise, ‘You’re now the owner of a 14-year-old boy,’” she said.
It was a joke shared between two people who have long struggled to have their family recognized. Despite being there for their teenage son, Jayvin, for over a decade, Denise Gonzalez is still not officially recognized as Jayvin’s parent under Connecticut law.
“She bought his first bike. She was there for the first day of kindergarten and every first day of school since,” Ocasio-Gonzalez said of her wife. “She was there for his surgery, taught him math, and so much more. She’s his mom.”
Soon the state of Connecticut will recognize her as such. On Tuesday, the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month, Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, signed a ceremonial copy of the Connecticut Parentage Act into law. The measure, which was officially signed last week and takes effect Jan. 1, will make it easier for those who don’t share a biological connection with their child, like Gonzalez, to establish parentage.
“This is such an important day — what it says for our kids, what it says for Connecticut, what it says for respecting everybody and who they are,” Lamont said at the signing ceremony.
Ocasio-Gonzalez and Gonzalez have been married since 2014, and they share a 2-year-old daughter, Destiny, in addition to their teenage son. Both women are on Destiny’s birth certificate, but even though they were married at the time of her birth, Gonzalez is still not considered Destiny’s legal parent outside of Connecticut.
Denise’s parental rights are limited because she did not go through what is often referred to as a second-parent-adoption process. As a result, routine activities like taking her children to the doctor or picking Jayvin up from school have been anxiety-provoking events that require extra paperwork and preparation.
“It just took a lot more work,” Ocasio-Gonzalez said.
But the adoption process seemed daunting, she said. In addition to the costs involved, the couple worried about interacting with Jayvin’s birth father, according to Ocasio-Gonzalez.
“I read that in some cases, even though I have full custody, I would have to get the other parent to give permission, and just thinking about having to go through that was emotionally draining,” she said. “I know he would not agree to it.”
Once in effect, the Connecticut Parentage Act will allow the family, and others like them, to avoid a potentially lengthy and costly second-parent adoption.
This means starting Jan. 1, Gonzalez can declare her de facto parentage in court and be legally recognized as Jayvin’s parent. The process to become Destiny’s legal parent outside of Connecticut is even easier.
“The really great thing this bill does for those families is that it allows them to establish parentage through a simple administrative form,” Douglas NeJaime, a professor at Yale Law School and the principal drafter of the bill, told NBC News. The new law changes the existing acknowledgement of paternity form to an acknowledgement of parentage form, making it gender-neutral. The form “has the effect of having a judgment from a court, and all other states have to treat it as valid,” NeJaime said.
So if Ocasio-Gonzalez and her family move to another state — any other state, regardless of its parentage laws — they will both be recognized as the legal parents of their two children.
The newly enacted law makes it easier to establish parentage at birth regardless of the sexual orientation, gender or marital status of the parents and adds protections for children born using assisted reproductive technologies. The new measure also removes gender-specific language from the state’s parentage law to make every path to parentage available on a gender-neutral basis. To be inclusive of transgender parents, for example, the new law makes references to the “person” who gives birth, rather than the woman who gives birth.
State Sen. Alex Kasser, one of the bill’s lead sponsors, called its passage a “historic and long overdue moment for Connecticut.”
“Finally all children will be given equal protection under the law, and all parents will be recognized when their child is born,” Kasser, a Democrat, said in a statement. “This bill confirms that there is no place for discrimination in Connecticut.”
Variation in state parentage laws
With Lamont’s signature, Connecticut will join Maine, Washington, Vermont, California and Rhode Island in passing bills that update parentage laws to recognize the realities of LGBTQ families. However, many states continue to have gaps in their legislation that make the children of same-sex couples vulnerable.
For example, many states do not recognize the parental rights of nongestational parents who are not married. Only 14 states afford rights to these parents, according to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project. The other states, according to the group, explicitly recognize the nongestational parent only if the couple is married and lack clear guidelines for unmarried couples, leaving them in a legal gray zone.
“We have a lot of states that do not treat LGBT families as full members of the community, and that is the problem,” NeJaime said.
Connecticut’s new law is a version of the Uniform Parentage Act of 2017. The model legislation is intended to help lawmakers update laws to include LGBTQ families and those who have used assisted reproductive technology. The act, originally promulgated in 1973, was drafted by members of the Uniform Law Commission, a group of experts, academics, practicing lawyers and judges, who work on model legislation for states.
What’s next?
Advocates already have their eyes on upcoming legislation in other states, including Massachusetts. Like Connecticut’s legislation, Massachusetts’ bill is also based on the Uniform Parentage Act.
“People are not aware that some of these core protections are still not in place,” said Polly Crozier, a senior staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, or GLAD.
The bill, currently in committee, would provide protection for children born through assisted reproductive technologies and through surrogacy.
Ocasio-Gonzalez said she hopes Massachusetts follows Connecticut’s lead so more families like hers can enjoy equal rights.
“We already know we are a family, and now with this bill passing, no one can tell us differently,” she said.
When Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone first ran for office in 2017, she struggled to be considered a serious candidate.
“My first race was very difficult,” she said. “Neither the Democrats nor Republicans thought I had a chance to win.”
Titone, a Democrat, said she had to do all her own fundraising while continuing to go to school and holding down a day job.
“I had to go way above and beyond what anyone else had to do,” she said.
“By understanding the barriers better and working to reduce their impact, we can encourage more LGBTQ women to run and increase our numbers in elected office.”
ANNISE PARKER, LGBTQ VICTORY INSTITUTE
Despite the obstacles, including transphobic attacks on the campaign trail, Titone has two election victories under her belt and the distinction of being the first transgender lawmaker in the state.
The roadblocks Titone met are shared by many lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who are running or considering running for elected office, according to a new reportfrom the LGBTQ Victory Institute. The report surveyed nearly 300 former, current and prospective political candidates across the country and found that high campaign costs, physical threats, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, external perceptions of their qualifications and a lack of political mentors were among the most common obstacles cited.
“The barriers for LGBTQ women — and LGBTQ women of color and trans women in particular — are enormous, yet we know that when they run, they win,” said former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Institute. “By understanding the barriers better and working to reduce their impact, we can encourage more LGBTQ women to run and increase our numbers in elected office.”
While women across the gender identity and sexuality spectrum lack proportionate political representation in the U.S., LGBTQ women are particularly underrepresented. While women hold about a fourth of the seats in the House and the Senate, according to RepresentWomen, there are just four out lesbian and bisexual women in Congress out of 535 members (there has never been an openly transgender member of Congress). And out of 7,383 seats in state legislatures across the country, just 98 lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are known to be serving, or 1.3 percent, according to LPAC, an organization that promotes the election of LGBTQ women.
Financial barriers
The money required to run a competitive campaign discouraged many of the survey’s respondents, who said they worried about their ability to raise money and get access to donor networks.
Nearly half of former and current candidates and 60 percent of potential candidates said they hesitated to run because of fundraising concerns.
“With the evolution of campaigns, they are getting bigger, more expensive, more crowded — and a lot of LGBTQ women run in primaries,” LPAC Executive Director Lisa Turner said.
“Men have an advantage over women when it comes to political dollars,” she added, noting that even gay men are able to attract more campaign dollars (even though queer women have a higher rate of electoral success, according to the LGBTQ Victory Institute).
Some respondents also expressed concern about needing to take time off work to campaign. About 40 percent of prospective and 16 percent of current and former candidates reported that it made them hesitate to run. Respondents of color were more likely to report those concerns.
“You learn very quickly that it can be difficult to run if you do not personally or professionally come from wealth,” former Air Force Capt. Gina Ortiz Jones said. Jones, a lesbian, ran for Congress in Texas in 2018 and 2020 but lost to her Republican opponents.
Jones said that when she was first thinking about running, a member of the Democratic Party asked her whether she could raise $300,000 in 90 days.
“That’s a deterrent,” she said.
Threats of violence
Many LGBTQ women surveyed expressed concerns about facing violence and verbal attacks on the campaign trail.
The majority of potential candidates, 3 out of 5, reported being “somewhat” or “very” concerned about threats of violence based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Among current and former candidates, 45 percent reported such concerns.
Jenna Wadsworth, who lost her bid in November to become North Carolina’s agriculture commissioner, became the target of online vitriol during the campaign when she posted a video on social media asking viewers whether Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis was their “favorite or most favorite October surprise.”
While Wadsworth admitted her remark was in poor taste, the responses were downright frightening, and they made her fear for her safety. “I received gang rape threats after that video,” Wadsworth said. “Until election night, I was not able to stay in my own home for three weeks.”
Transgender women reported the greatest fear of violence: Nearly 4 out of 5 said they feared violence based on their gender identity.
Bigotry on the campaign trail
Along with fearing threats of violence, many of the respondents reported being worried about becoming the targets of homophobic, transphobic and racist attacks.
Over 50 percent of potential candidates said witnessing how LGBTQ and women candidates were targets of bigoted attacks gave them concerns about running for office. Over 60 percent of potential candidates of color said seeing others become the victims of racist attacks gave them concerns.
Jones was the target of attacks by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which was reported to have suggested that conservative advocacy organizations focus on her sexual orientation. Some ads also took aim at her support for transgender service members, claiming Jones would “radicalize” the country by diverting military spending to pay for “transgender reassignment surgeries.” According to The Washington Post, Republican officials believed the ads helped to derail Jones’ campaign and viewed them as part of a larger strategy to make transgender rights a political flashpoint.
“It was clear that this is a tactic they were going to be leaning into heavily,” Jones said.
Jones said with little chance of attack ads’ going away, particularly those focused on transgender issues, it was important for candidates like her to know how to counteract them in the media and with voters. “We know the attacks are going to come,” Ortiz Jones said. “What is the best way to push back on them?”
In addition to bigoted attacks, respondents anticipated sexist media commentary and harsher public evaluations than male candidates. They reported worrying about how to manage facial expressions and tone of voice “to come across as warm but serious,” according to the findings. They also expressed concern about how their appearance would be portrayed. Respondents worried about looking too masculine but also worried that attempts to look traditionally feminine would look inauthentic or less professional.
Those LGBTQ candidates and potential candidates also worried about coming across as “good moms” and feared that their political opponents would “weaponize their families” by emphasizing their “non-traditional” nature. On the other hand, respondents who did not have children or spouses worried that it would be used against them to portray them as “anti-family,” according to the report.
Internal and external doubts
Many participants worried that the media would question or devalue their qualifications or hold them to different standards than men.
Titone said that during her first run for office, she struggled to get media coverage, with just a few articles written about her in local news outlets. She also worried about being pigeonholed.
“Most of the news was pretty fair,” she said, “but at the same time, I was also telling a lot of reporters that I don’t want to be just the trans person running for office.”
Running for office also requires specialized knowledge — about how to file to run, how to build a campaign team and how party politics operate. The self-doubt that some LGBTQ women have about that political know-how stopped some of them from ever officially becoming candidates: Nearly 3 in 5 respondents delayed or hesitated to run because they were concerned about their lack of political knowledge.
Some respondents characterized politics as an exclusionary “good old boys” network and said party officials would not perceive them as viable candidates. Three out of 5 would-be candidates said a lack of familiarity with party politics discouraged them from running, and 2 of 5 candidates said the same.
Lack of role models
Many of the women surveyed said having mentors would help them feel more comfortable about running for office but reported that they did not have access to mentors.
Almost 40 percent of potential candidates expressed hesitation about running because of the lack of LGBTQ political role models, and nearly 30 percent of potential candidates said the same thing about politicians of color.
Jasmin Lewis, 33, an 11th grade English teacher in Palm Beach County, Florida, describes herself as a “proud Black bisexual woman” and “deeply passionate about education.”
She contemplated running for the school board but hesitated to put herself forward because of anxiety around being the first openly bisexual Black woman on the board.
“I would be a trailblazer in a sense,” she said. “It takes a lot of vulnerability.”
In addition to common barriers, the women who participated in the survey cited some common motivators, as well: the need for diverse representation among elected officials, a desire to work on issues personal to them, external encouragement to run for office and frustration with current elected officials and their agendas.
Lewis still dreams of running for the school board one day to give voice to the concerns of LGBTQ students and students of color.
“I’m not going to shut up about it until our students feel safe, until they can show up and see themselves represented,” Lewis said.
While the LGBTQ Victory Institute report notes that the structural obstacles for LGBTQ women candidates are “enormous,” it made several suggestions to break down some of the barriers. They include creating a mentorship network for LGBTQ women considering running for office, developing a national network of donors with a passion for supporting LGBTQ women candidates and supporting media literacy among journalists and media outlets to ensure fair reporting on LGBTQ women candidates.
Jones has simple advice for any queer women thinking about elected office: “Run.”
“Let the bigots take their best shot,” she said, because running “is how this changes.”
Bisexual women’s health and well-being may be affected by the gender and sexual orientation of their partner, according to a newstudy published in the Journal of Bisexuality.
Researchers asked more than 600 bisexual women (and those who report being attracted to more than one gender) about their mental health, how open they are about their sexuality, their experiences with discrimination, and any symptoms of depression. They also collected data about whether the respondents were single or in a relationship and about their partner’s sexual orientation and gender identity.
Among their findings is that bisexual women in relationships with heterosexual cisgender men were least likely to be open about their sexual orientation.
“Most research about relationships has been focused on heterosexual couples,” Casey Xavier Hall, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health at Northwestern University and lead author on the article, told NBC News. “There is very little relationship research around bi people’s relationships. There are meaningful differences in relationships depending on the sexual and gender identity of bi women’s partners.”
Outness
Bisexual women in relationships with cisgender lesbian women, bisexual cisgender women partners, and bisexual cisgender men partners were more likely to be out than those partnered with heterosexual men.
“Outness” was measured by asking participants, “How out/open are you about your sexual orientation?” with answers ranging from “out to nobody” to “out to everyone.”
Researchers speculated that bi women may be more comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation when in a relationship with a woman. However, bi women were more likely to be out with a bisexual male partner than a heterosexual male partner, suggesting that a shared bisexual identity might be meaningful.
“What’s unique about our finding is that bi women in relationships with bi men were also more likely to be out, compared to bi women in relationships with heterosexual cisgender men,” Xavier Hall said. “It’s about both the sexual and gender identity of the partner.”
Discrimination
Researchers found that the gender and sexual orientation of bisexual women’s partners mattered for their experiences of discrimination and the basis of their sexual identity.
“Relative to participants in relationships with heterosexual cisgender men, reports of discrimination experiences were higher among participants in relationships with lesbian cisgender women, bisexual cisgender women, bisexual cisgender men, and participants who are single,” the study states.
Xavier Hall said the exact reasons for this finding are unclear.
“The visibility of your identity could be at play,” he said. “If you are visibly queer, you may experience more discrimination.”
Xavier Hall also said that bisexual women experience two forms of stigma: homophobia and monosexism.
Monosexism is a kind of stigma experienced by individuals who are attracted to multiple genders, such as bisexuals, pansexuals and some other queer-identifying individuals. The stigma derives from the idea that monosexual identities like gay or heterosexual are normal or superior to sexual identities that are gender inclusive, according to Xavier Hall.
“More research is needed to understand what leads to the discrimination piece,” he said.
Depression
The study also found that bisexual women with cisgender lesbian partners had fewer depressive symptoms compared to single bi women.
Previous research found differences in mental health between bisexual women in relationships with women and men but had not explored the role of female partners’ sexual orientation.
“This makes me want to see more research looking at female-female relationships accounting for differences in partner sexual identity to really know if there are differences and to understand what might account for those differences,” Xavier Hall said.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of color are significantly more likely to experience the adverse health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic than white non-LGBTQ people, according to a new study.
The study from the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law, is based on a national survey of more than 12,000 U.S. adults, conducted between August and December. According to researchers, the impact of the pandemic cannot be understood without considering the intersection of race with sexual orientation and gender identity.
“People in America are experiencing the pandemic differently,” Brad Sears, interim executive director of the Williams Institute and an author of the report, told NBC News. “In many of the results, you can see a combined impact of sexual orientation and race and ethnicity.”
The disproportionate effects, the study notes, can be found “across a number of indicators.”
“LGBT people of color are more likely to have tested positive for COVID-19, to personally know someone who died of COVID-19, and to have experienced several types of economic instability as a result of the pandemic,” the study states. “They are also more likely to follow public health measures, such as getting tested for COVID-19, social distancing, and wearing masks than non-LGBT White people.”
The study comes on the heels of another from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found sexual minorities have higher rates of several underlying health conditions — such as cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes and asthma — that can increase the risk of severe illness related to Covid-19.
Previous studies from the Williams Institute have also found LGBTQ people to be at risk of serious illness resulting from Covid-19 and to face higher rates of unemployment as a result of the pandemic.
Health consequences
LGBTQ people of color were twice as likely as white respondents — regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity — to report having tested positive for Covid-19 (14.5 percent vs. just over 7 percent), according to the findings, while non-LGBTQ people of color had a positivity rate of 10.6 percent.
“Race is playing a huge role here,” Sears said, adding, “When we think about an intersectional impact, this is about as clear as we can see it in the data.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NBCNews&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1359289988442017794&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Ffeature%2Fnbc-out%2Fnonwhite-lgbtqs-twice-likely-test-covid-positive-straight-whites-study-n1258246&siteScreenName=NBCNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&width=550px
In terms of a personal impact, researchers found that people of color — regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity — were over than 50 percent more likely than their white counterparts to personally know someone who died of Covid-19.
Economic impact
The survey’s economic findings further underscore the intersectional impact of the pandemic, with LGBTQ people of color nearly three times more likely than non-LGBTQ whites to report being recently laid off (15 percent vs. 5.4 percent). LGBTQ whites and non-LGBTQ people of color reported similar rates (10.4 percent vs. 11.5 percent).
LGBTQ people of color were also nearly twice as likely than non-LGBTQ whites to report being concerned about their ability to pay their bills (63 percent vs. 33 percent), with rates for LGBTQ whites and non-LGBTQ people of color somewhere in between (42 percent and 55 percent, respectively).https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NBCNews&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1359171449697804291&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Ffeature%2Fnbc-out%2Fnonwhite-lgbtqs-twice-likely-test-covid-positive-straight-whites-study-n1258246&siteScreenName=NBCNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&width=550px
Sears speculated that several other factors in addition to race and LGBTQ status could be at play in the economic data, including age, gender and occupation.
The survey’s LGBTQ respondents were younger overall than the non-LGBTQ respondents, and he noted that “younger people were in jobs that were harder hit and have less economic stability.”
“The second thing that is important to keep in mind is that this is the first recession to hit women harder than men,” Sears said. “Women are more likely to identify as lesbian, bisexual and transgender.”
He also added that LGBTQ are overrepresented “in occupations that have been the hardest hit that include retail, food service and health care.”
Following public health guidance
LGBTQ people’s level of concern about the pandemic is higher than non-LGBTQ people, as is their propensity to follow public health guidelines, the report found.
Ninety percent of LGBTQ respondents said they were concerned about the pandemic, and 85 percent said they were worried about getting sick, compared to 82 percent and 75 percent of non-LGBTQ respondents, according to the report.
Approximately 94 percent of LGBTQ respondents said they followed public health guidelines like wearing a mask, compared to 89 percent of non-LGBTQ respondents, and 80 percent of LGBTQ respondents said they practiced social distancing, compared to 75 percent of non-LGBTQ respondents.
“You start seeing, not surprisingly, the groups most impacted are also the groups taking it most seriously and following through with precautions,” Sears said.
There was no significant difference between LGBTQ people and non-LGBTQ people in their intention to get the vaccination.
Government trust and missing data
The survey found a gap between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people when it comes to trust in institutions, with LGBTQ people reporting less trust in both the federal government (31 percent vs. 38 percent) and pharmaceutical companies (28 percent vs. 41 percent). They did, however, report a higher level of trust in the CDC than their non-LGBTQ counterparts (76 percent vs. 70 percent).
For Sears, deficits in public trust are one more reason why the lack of LGBTQ-specific data collection from the government is a problem.
“It is important for the federal government to add questions to thePulse survey,” he said, referring to the government survey launched in October to understand how Americans have been affected by the pandemic.
“The government responded very quickly in creating that survey to measure the impact that Covid was having on the American population, but they did not include questions on sexual orientation or gender identity,” he said. “We have been working to find data to fill in this gap.”
Sears noted the pandemic is revealing inequalities that have already existed in society along the lines of race, gender and sexuality, and said it would be “extremely helpful” for the Biden administration’s efforts to control the pandemic to have sexual orientation and gender identity data.
“It was no surprise that his epidemic has disproportionately impacted people of color, and it was not a surprise that this pandemic has disproportionately impacted LGBT people,” he said.
He added that an effective vaccine alone will not end the health crisis: “Addressing these entrenched inequalities of race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender is the only way to get through this pandemic and to prevent the next one.”
Legislators in Montana advanced two bills Monday focused on transgender youth: House Bill 112 would prohibit transgender student athletes from participating on teams that correspond to their gender identities, and House Bill 113 would prohibit health care professionals from providing gender-affirming care to trans minors.
“If passed into law, HB 112 and HB 113 will cause irrevocable harm to trans youth,” Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, said in a statement. “If these discriminatory bills pass — we will sue, and we will win. Trying to defend laws in court that stigmatize and target trans youth doesn’t seem like a good use of taxpayer dollars to us.”
University of Montana cross country runner Juniper Eastwood, center, warming up with her teammates at Campbell Park in Missoula, Mont., on Aug. 15, 2019. The proposed ban is personal for people like Eastwood, a transgender woman and former member of the University of Montana’s track and field and cross-country running teams. She said the legislation “would make it impossible for other young Montanans like me to participate in sports as who they are.”Rachel Leathe / Bozeman Daily Chronicle via AP file
The bills working through Montana’s Legislature are among an estimated 21 anti-LGBTQ measures that have been filed or pre-filed for 2021 state legislative sessions, according to Freedom for All Americans, an organization advocating for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections. Many of the bills, like those in Montana, focus on transgender youths.
“I think the volume of bills is going to dramatically increase, particularly because of what is happening at the federal level,” said Kasey Suffredini, CEO of Freedom for All Americans. “For the opposition, this is the only avenue for their narrative that treating LGBT people with dignity and respect is a problem for the country.”
Chase Strangio, deputy director of transgender justice for the American Civil Liberties Union, agreed.
“We often see backlash” after advancements in LGBTQ rights, he said, citing the flurry of measures targeting LGBTQ people after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, which expanded the scope of federal nondiscrimination law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Strangio said that with fewer opportunities to roll back LGBTQ rights at the federal level under President Joe Biden — who has signed multiple pro-LGBTQ executive orders — he’s not surprised that opponents are zeroing in on the states.
Anti-LGBTQ bills
Republican legislators in over a dozen states have proposed legislation that targets LGBTQ people. The bills touch on athletics, health care and a grab bag of other issues related to queer rights and recognition.
Legislators have also introduced bills to restrict transgender participation in student athletics in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Florida. The trend carried over from last year, when lawmakers took up the issue in several states. Idaho is the only state to have adopted such a law, and it did so just last year.
Proponents of such bills say it’s about fairness, while opponents say the measures are discriminatory.
Bills that would penalize or criminalize medical professionals for providing trans youths with gender-affirming care have been introduced in Utah, Missouri, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
“Criminal health care bans are unlike anything we have ever seen before,” Strangio said. “To cut someone off from their health care and make it a crime is pretty much unparalleled.”
In Kentucky, SB 83 would prohibit “discrimination” against any health care provider who refuses to administer care because of a religious objection.
In New Hampshire, HB 68 would expand the definition of “child abuse” to encompass parents’ provision of gender-affirming care, while bills in Alabama, Missouri and Indiana would make it a crime for physicians to give any gender-affirming care to a minor.
Research released in September in the journal Pediatrics found that transgender children who receive gender-affirming medical care earlier in their lives are less likely to experience mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
Strangio said he is alarmed by “how far-reaching these bills are becoming.” For example, a bill introduced by Mississippi state Sen. Angela Burkes Hill would criminalize access to care for young adults up to age 21.
Hill defended the bill on social media as necessary in the face of Biden’s pro-LGBTQ policies: “It should have been passed last year. Who is going to fight for your daughters not to be cheated by biological males deciding to identify as a girl?? Women shouldn’t have to change clothes in front of men either. That federal money will be the carrot. Get ready.”
Other bills that have alarmed LGBTQ advocates include Indiana’s HB 1456, which aims to prohibit transgender people’s access to bathrooms that match their gender identities; South Dakota’s HB 1076, which would require birth certificates to reflect biological sex; North Dakota’s HB 1476, which would codify discrimination against LGBTQ people; and Iowa’s Senate File 80, which would require schools to alert parents if their children are asked by school employees about their “preferred” pronouns.
Pro-LGBTQ legislation
For LGBTQ advocates, the news from legislatures isn’t all bad.
Suffredini expects several states to advance nondiscrimination protections, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan. In Michigan, advocates collected over 400,000 signatures to put a measure on the ballot to extend such protections, and the Legislature has 40 days to amend existing nondiscrimination legislation or the issue will appear on the November 2022 ballot for voters to decide.
Advocates in Arkansas — one of only three states that have no hate crimes law, along with South Carolina and Wyoming — hope an LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes bill makes it to the governor’s desk this session. Conservatives tried to derail the bill this month because it includes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In Indiana, the state’s first openly gay legislator, Sen. J.D. Ford, has proposed legislation that would outlaw conversion therapy for minors by licensed counselors. If the bill becomes law, Indiana would join 20 other states and 80 cities in banning the widely discredited practice.
North Carolina cities and municipalities have begun to pass nondiscrimination measures after the end of a moratorium on such local ordinances as a result of a 2017 compromise bill that repealed HB 2, the controversial “bathroom bill.”
New York Senate Democrats are advancing a bill that would strike down an anti-loitering statute, also known as the “walking while trans” law, which allows police to arrest and detain sex workers merely for being on the street. LGBTQ advocates say that the statute is used to harass transgender women of color and that its repeal is necessary to end targeted discrimination. The legislation is on track to pass next week.
Maryland legislators introduced a measure that would make it easier for transgender people to legally change their names.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, an openly gay lawmaker from California, has introduced a bill that would prohibit medically unnecessary surgical procedures on intersex children before age 6. If it passes, the law would be the first of its kind in the U.S.
An ally in the White House
Since he took office last week, Biden has taken several actions applauded by LGBTQ advocates, including issuing an executive order that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity across federal agencies and another that rescinds former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people’s serving openly in the military.
“The Biden administration is by far the most supportive of LGBT people in U.S. history,” Suffredini said. “He took action on day one to extend protections on day one. No other president has done that. That is a first.”
With Biden in the White House and Democrats in control of Congress, Suffredini and other advocates are optimistic about passage of pro-LGBTQ federal legislation, including the Equality Act, which would grant LGBTQ people federal protections from discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, use of public space, public funding and jury service.
“We are in the best position we have ever been to update federal civil rights law,” Suffredini said. “Our dedicated opposition knows this, and they know this moment could be coming. This is a last gasp.”
LGBTQ candidates once again made history in terms of the overall number elected to Congress and state legislatures across the country. However, many of them had to contend with homophobic and transphobic attack ads this election cycle.
“There is little doubt that millions of dollars in homophobic and transphobic attacks ads devastated our candidates in key swing districts during the final weeks of their campaigns,” said Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which trains and advocates for queer candidates at all levels of government. “Bigoted politicians and operatives who thrive in the politics of hate were able to peel away support from voters who don’t yet know our community.”
Bigoted ads did not spell defeat for all LGBTQ candidates they targeted, but even the candidates who overcame the attacks did have to invest resources to respond to them.
Impacts ‘hard to quantify’
When it comes to homophobic and transphobic political attacks, “it is hard to quantify the effects,” according to Gabriele Magni, an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
“When you have an incumbent president who is such a polarizing figure, it becomes harder to disentangle what is the effect the homophobic attack ad and what is the effect of having Donald Trump on the ballot,” he said.
He also explained that “voter suppression efforts that target constituents that are generally most supportive of Democratic candidates,” also hurt LGBTQ candidates, as the lion’s share of them run as Democrats (at least 90 percent, according to LGBTQ Victory Fund’s estimate).
Whether a candidate won or lost may not be indicative of the impact of the bigoted attacks either, as Magni said the bar tends to be higher for LGBTQ candidates who make it to the general election, so “the exceptional quality of some of these candidates allowed them to overcome the negative effects of some of these attacks.”
Nonincumbents and purple districts
Homophobic and transphobic attacks produced mixed impacts on congressional races, with nonincumbents and those in purple districts most likely to suffer defeat.
In New Hampshire, Democrat Chris Pappas — who in 2018 became the first openly gay man to represent the state in Congress — was able to stave off what supporters called homophobic challenges to his integrity to win re-election against Republican challenger Matt Mowers.
During a debate Oct, 21, Mowers brought up Pappas’ alleged relationship with a lobbyist and accused the candidate of impropriety. Pappas denied the claim, and in a statement after the debate, he said Mowers’ behavior was “despicable” and that he had “crossed a line.”
Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., speaks during a news conference on Sept. 27, 2019.Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call via AP
Mowers’ campaign manager, John Corbett, called the homophobia claims “untruthful accusations” designed to divert public attention from policy issues and obscure Pappas’ relationship with the lobbyist.
“Matt Mowers learned the hard way that his desperate homophobic dog whistle attacks cost him votes amongst Republicans and independent voters in the closing days of the campaign,” Lucas Meyer, campaign manager for Pappas, said in an email to NBC News after his election victory. “Granite Staters saw right through his baseless attacks and rejected his blatant bigotry that he made the focus of his closing message.”
While Pappas was in a purple district, which President Donald Trump carried in 2016, he had the advantage of incumbency this year. “Homophobic attacks are less effective against well-known candidates, because voters already know them,” Magni said.
Nonincumbent congressional hopefuls in purple districts had a tougher time trying to flip red to blue districts.
Two races for which LGBTQ advocates and Democrats had high hopes — Gina Ortiz Jones and John Hoadley — did not pan out.
Hoadley lost against incumbent Republican Rep. Fred Upton, who voted against the Equality Act last year and for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004 and 2006.
Texas Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, who ran for a House seat in 2018 and 2020, in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug. 10, 2018.Eric Gay / AP file
Former U.S. Air Force Capt. Jones lost to Republican Tony Gonzales, a Navy veteran, failing to flip Texas’ 23rd Congressional District for Democrats.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spent millions of dollars on attack ads against both of these candidates.
“If you are running for congress as a nonincumbent,” Magni said, “not so many people know who they are.” This means that voters may “rely more heavily on stereotypes or homophobic tropes,” especially in the context of Covid-19 in which personal contact is even more limited.
By contrast, derogatory comments directed at Rep.-elect Ritchie Torres did not harm his chances of becoming the first Afro-Latinx LGBTQ person elected to Congress. He easily won the general election for his congressional seat against his Republican opponent in one of the most progressive districts in the country. Magni said the attacks are “less consequential” in heavily Democratic districts like New York’s 15th.
Hateful messages
Magni explained that the diverse candidate pool, with many women, people of color and transgender candidates are “especially vulnerable targets” for anti-LGBTQ messaging.
Jenna Wadsworth, an outspoken progressive, lost her bid for North Carolina’s agriculture commissioner. In October, Wadsworth became the target of online vitriol after she posted a video asking viewers if Donald Trump’s diagnosis with Covid-19 was their “favorite or most favorite October surprise.”
Wadsworth, who described animosity toward her prior to the video as “minimal,” quickly became inundated with thousands of messages on social media.
Many of the hateful messages, however, were not about Wadsworth’s controversial remarks about Trump’s health — they were about her being unfit for office because of her sexual orientation, gender identity and sex.
“That does a lot to you emotionally, psychologically. It’s very draining,” she said.
Some of the messages made Wadsworth fear for her physical safety. “I received gang rape threats after that video,” Wadsworth said. “Until election night, I was not able to stay in my own home for three weeks.”
Magni described North Carolina as a “deeply divided state when it comes to LGBTQ attitudes” and added that part of the electorate “is receptive to these kinds of attacks.”
Wadsworth, who at 31 would have been the youngest LGBTQ statewide elected official in the country’s history, lost the race and said she believes her campaign suffered due to the bigoted attacks. She said she has not decided what is next for her politically.
Unexpected boost?
Several candidates experienced an unexpected boost in support and financing as a result of homophobic and transphobic attacks.
Shevrin Jones easily won his race for Florida Legislature last Tuesday to become Florida’s first LGBTQ state senator.
In August, a blood bank rejected Jones when he sought to donate plasma after recovering from Covid-19 because he is in a same-sex relationship. A robotext, whose sponsor remains unknown, was sent to voters saying Jones was “discriminated against for recent homosexual contact,” and linked to ShevJones.com, which is not Jones’ website and does not appear to ever have had any information on it. Jones was also the subject of a homophobic flyer with a photo of himself and his partner on vacation and asked, “Is this who you want for your next state senator?”
Shevrin Jones.Greg Reed Photography
The attacks did not stop Jones, and paradoxically may have helped in terms of support and funding.
“We raised over $1 million,” Jones said. “When those attacks were coming people just gave more.”
Brianna Titone, who won her bid for re-election to the Colorado Statehouse, experienced several transphobic attack ads.
The group Take Back Colorado released a Facebook ad this month that misgendered Titone and referred to her by her “deadname,” the name she used before her transition. The ad also claimed Titone has “always supported violence” and sexualizes children. Then Republican state Rep. Stephen Humphrey voiced a robocall paid for by the Colorado Family Values Victory Fund attacking Titone’s gender identity.
Magni said transgender candidates may be more likely to become the target of attacks because “public support for trans rights is still lower” than for lesbian and gay rights.
Titone triumphed over the attacks, which led to increases in volunteer support and campaign contributions. “The attacks I had to endure didn’t create any obstacles for me that I didn’t already have,” she told NBC News. “If anything, it helped me with raising money and it convinced some people to support me based on the ads.”
She also feels that her attackers were emboldened by the Trump administration that has “given permission to be rude.”
“I’m curious to see how my new colleagues will treat me. Will they be towing the line of those messages, or will they realize that that is not productive and move away?,” she said.
Omar Leos, who won his race for North East School District board in San Antonio, had a similar experience.
“I think it helped energize the campaign. It mobilized more people to come out to volunteer and it definitely helped me financially too,” Leos told NBC News.
“In my personal opinion, it backfired on them,” Leos said.
Texas Family Action, a political action committee affiliated with the conservative San Antonio Family Association, sent a mailer to voters in Leos’ district describing him as being “‘married’ to same-sex man” and noting he has “no children” in the school district. In contrast, the mailer described Leos’ opponent, Ione McGinty, as a “wife and mother of 6.”
While Leos still won, Magni said that such attacks can “force the campaign to redirect the resources and shift media focus,” he said. “The campaign has to respond.”
Leos did say the homophobic attacks prompted him to shift his campaign message to highlight the unwillingness of his opponent to be an advocate for LGBTQ students.
“Before on my signs was ‘Keep Omar Leos,’” he said. After the homophobic attacks he shifted his message to “A voice for all.”
“I’m a voice for all students, for all people,” Leos said.
‘Soldier on’
There is no reason to believe LGBTQ candidates have seen the last of homophobic and transphobic attacks, but Magni said a swift response by candidates and their allies is important to prevent their opponents from defining the narrative of the campaign.
LGBTQ candidates also need to remember that they are targets because they are strong candidates who have the potential to win, Magni added.
“That should encourage them to soldier on and to keep in mind the ultimate goal — that is, that they are running to serve their constituents.”
Shevrin Jones feels good. In fact, he said, he feels great after easily winning election last week to become Florida’s first LGBTQ state senator.
Jones said the election of so many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people across the country this election cycle “is a direct pushback on the hatred and bigotry over the last four years,” citing the Trump administration’s rhetoric against immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community.
“This is a win for all of us,” said Jones, who previously served in the Florida House of Representatives.
Shevrin Jones.Greg Reed Photography
Jones was among a record number of openly LGBTQ candidates on general election ballots last week. The LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization that trains, supports and advocates for queer candidates, puts that number at approximately 574, and NBC News’ review of their data, state election results and local reports found that more than 220 of these candidates have already claimed victory, with dozens of contests yet to be called.
The fund estimated that in 2018, there were approximately 432 openly LGBTQ candidates on general election ballots, with 244 winning their races. This year, they expect the total number of wins to surpass this number.
While there is power in numbers, Andrew Reynolds, a Princeton researcher who has been studying LGBTQ political representation, cautioned against putting too much emphasis on overall numbers.
“The really exciting thing about the election was not the increase — it was who is getting elected,” he said, pointing to victories by queer women, people of color and transgender candidates across the nation.
“You are seeing a different type of voice emerging,” Reynolds said.
Congressional firsts
Twenty-six openly LGBTQ candidates for U.S. Senate or House were on the November ballot — the most in U.S. history. Even with one gay incumbent’s House race yet to be called, LGBTQ representation in Congress will hit an all-time high next session.
Two nonincumbent LGBTQ victors, both progressive Democrats, easily won their races. If all incumbents win, as is expected, it will increase LGBTQ representation in the House to nine, from seven, with 11 total LGBTQ people in Congress.
Mondaire Jones, an attorney, and New York City Council member Ritchie Torres handily won their races for New York’s 17th and 15th Congressional Districts, respectively, becoming the first openly gay Black candidates elected to Congress.
“Mondaire and Ritchie have shattered a rainbow ceiling and will bring unique perspectives based on lived experiences never before represented in the U.S. Congress,” Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement. “As our nation grapples with racism, police brutality and a pandemic that disproportionately affects people of color and LGBTQ people, these are the voices that can pull us from the brink and toward a more united and fair society.”
Six of the seven LGBTQ representatives currently serving in the House, all Democrats, have already won re-election: David Cicilline of Rhode Island; Chris Pappas of New Hampshire; Mark Pocan of Wisconsin; Angie Craig of Minnesota; Mark Takano of California; and Sharice Davids of Kansas. The seventh, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, was leading his Republican opponent by nearly 3 percentagepoints as of Thursday with 78 percent of votes in.
There are two LGBTQ U.S. senators — Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both Democrats, neither of whom was up for re-election.
While an increase of two seats in the House is record-setting for LGBTQ representation in Congress, it was not the big boost advocates had hoped for. One particularly close race was the contest for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which out lesbian Gina Ortiz Jones lost by 3 percentage points.
“It’s all about turnout,” Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas, said. “Given the pattern over the whole night, I’m not surprised they didn’t make the inroads they thought they would. It looks like in 2020, Republicans were able to turn out their base in ways that blunted the gains Democrats, and LGBTQ candidates, could make.”
The LGBTQ Victory fund estimates that at least 90 percent of queer candidates on this year’s general election ballots were running as Democrats.
Historical state inroads
The picture is even brighter in state legislatures across the country, where a record-breaking number of more than 240 LGBTQ candidates were on the general election ballot. As of Thursday, at least 124 of these candidates had won their races, approximately three dozen of them nonincumbents. There are still a number of state legislative races with LGBTQ candidates that still have not yet been called.
“LGBTQ candidates made historic inroads in state legislatures across the country, winning in states and chambers where we never have before,” Parker said in a statement. “Trans candidates in particular had unprecedented victories, including electing our first trans state senator and almost doubling the number of trans state legislators. These down-ballot victories reflect where America stands on the inclusion of LGBTQ people in our nation’s politics and each one represents an important step forward on the march toward equality.”
Transgender activist Sarah McBride in Claymont, Del., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.Jason Minto / AP
Prior to Election Day, five states — Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee — had never elected an openly LGBTQ state legislator.
Delaware leaves the list following the election wins of Sarah McBrideto the state Senate and Eric Morrison and Marie Pinkney to the state House. McBride’s win also makes her the first transgender person elected to any state Senate in the U.S.
Tennessee will also leave the list after electing its first two out state legislators — one on each side of the political aisle. Bisexual Democrat Torrey Harris and gay Republican Eddie Mannis both won seats in the state House.
Haider-Markel said Mannis’ victory is relatively unusual, as the “Republican Party has still not been that welcoming to LGBT folks.” However, Mannis will join several GOP lawmakers who won re-election last week, including Tom Hannegan of Missouri, Jason Elliot of South Carolina and Dan Zwonitzer of Wyoming, who has played a vital role in preventing the passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation in that state.
Alaska could join Delaware and Tennessee in making political history: Out lesbian Lyn Franks is in a race for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives that is still too close to call.
“It’s really just a matter of time before you see LGBTQ representation in every state,” Haider-Markel said. “Every state has districts that are amenable to Democrats and therefore to LGBTQ candidates.”
He said LGBTQ candidates continue to win local offices and gain the political experience that allows them to run for higher office.
“The gap is really closing,” he said.
Historic wins for Black LGBTQ candidates
This year’s LGBTQ candidate pool was more racially diverse than ever. In addition to Torres and Jones in Congress in New York, many Black queer candidates had historic wins at the state level.
In Florida, along with Shevrin Jones in the Senate, Michele Rayner became the first Black queer woman elected to the Florida state House.
Parker said she hopes these wins “inspire more Black LGBTQ leaders to step up and run themselves.”
“The politics of division and hatred failed in this race and gave way to a government that is more representative of the people it serves,” she said in a statement.
Kim Jackson, Democratic candidate for Georgia State Senate District 41.Cindy M. Brown / Kim Jackson Campaign
In Georgia, out lesbian Kim Jackson made history when she won her race for state Senate, becoming the first LGBTQ person elected to that chamber.
Tiara Mack in Rhode Island and Marie Pinkney in Delaware also won their races, making major inroads for Black LGBTQ women across the U.S.
Jabari Brisport won his race and will become the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to New York’s state Legislature.
Prior to Election Day, there were just 42 openly LGBTQ state legislators of color serving nationwide, only 13 of them Black.
Regarding the diversity of LGBTQ candidates, Haider-Markel said: “It’s the same pattern we are seeing with the Democratic Party writ large. Democrats are running the kinds of candidates that reflect the Democratic base, which is a very diverse base.”
In addition to McBride’s win in Delaware, Taylor Small won her race for the Vermont state House, becoming the first out transgender person ever elected to that state’s Legislature.
Stephanie Byers of Kansas won her election, becoming the first out transgender person ever elected to the Kansas state House and the first out trans person of color ever elected to a state legislature in the U.S.
Educator of the Year honoree Stephanie Byers accepts her award at the GLSEN 2018 Respect Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York on May 21, 2018.Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images for GLSEN file
Incumbent transgender state legislators Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon in New Hampshire and Brianna Titone in Colorado, all won their races.
These victories take transgender representation at the state level from four to seven.
Danica Roem, who became the first openly transgender legislator anywhere in the country in 2017, congratulated the winners on social media.
“Before I ran in ’17, we had no out trans state legislators. In ’21, we’ll have 7,” she tweeted.
Mauree Turner won their race for the Oklahoma state House and became the first openly nonbinary person ever elected to a state legislature in the United States.
Joshua Query, running for re-election to the New Hampshire state House, will be the first openly gender-nonconforming person elected to a state legislature. Query did not run openly as gender-nonconforming when they first won in 2018.
Local milestones
At the local level, LGBTQ candidates achieved important milestones as well. Todd Gloria won his election for Mayor of San Diego, becoming the first out LGBTQ person elected mayor of that city.
Last month in Alaska, Austin Quinn-Davidson became the first openly LGBTQ mayor in Anchorage when the incumbent resigned.
Charmaine McGuffey will be the first LGBTQ person and first woman to serve as sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio.Courtesy Charmaine McGuffey
While last week’s victories for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer candidates have increased representation across the U.S., just a fraction of a percent of the country’s roughly half million elected officials are LGBTQ, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
On the federal level, LGBTQ representation in Congress stands higher, at about 1.7 percent, and that number is expected to increase to 2 percent in January once Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres are seated. At the state level, Reynolds of Princeton estimates the current percentage sits at 2.1 percent and will increase to 2.2 percent once all of this year’s election winners are seated — an increase he refers to not as a “rainbow wave” but as a rainbow “splash.”
With LGBTQ people making up an estimated 5 percent of the U.S. population, the Victory Fund estimates we would need to elect 22,000 more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer elected officials to achieve “equitable representation.”
“I truly believe when we all have a seat at the table and everyone is represented,” Shevrin Jones said, “it makes our nation better.”
Amy Coney Barrett has been fueling the fears of LGBTQ advocacy groups since President Donald Trump first nominated her to the federal bench in 2017. Now, with Barrett officially confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, advocates worry that she and the court’s five other conservatives could start stripping away gay rights imminently.
The most immediate concern for national LGBTQ and civil rights groups is Barrett’s presence on the court for next week’s arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case that looks at whether faith-based child welfare agencies can refuse to work with same-sex couples and other people whom they consider to be in violation of their religious beliefs.
Currey Cook, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, said Barrett’s “history and prior statements” about religious exemptions are “alarming” and have led him to conclude that Barrett would “be inclined to grant certain groups special permission because of their faith.”
Rachel Laser, CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called Barrett’s record on church-state separation “deeply problematic.”
“She has shown that she would allow claims of religious freedom to be misused to harm women, LGBTQ people, religious minorities and the nonreligious, among many others,” Laser said in a statement.
A number of LGBTQ and civil rights groups have also expressed concern about Barrett’s ties to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has been at the forefront of litigation arguing for an expansive view of religious freedom.
Over several years, Barrett delivered a series of lectures funded by the group, which submitted legal briefs against same-sex marriage inObergefell v. Hodges and successfully argued a Supreme Court case on behalf of Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding because he said it would violate his religious beliefs.
The Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group, said Barrett’s confirmation “threatens LGBTQ equality,” and it said her previous claim that she was “not aware” of the discriminatory history of the Alliance Defending Freedom was “rather incredible.”
When questioned about her association with the group by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., during her confirmation hearing, Barrett described her experience as “a wonderful one.”
The Human Rights Campaign warned in a report this month that the court’s ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia “could have a sweeping impact on the lives of LGBTQ people.”
“If the Supreme Court undermines nondiscrimination laws in Fulton, it could erode the efficacy of nondiscrimination protections that LGBTQ people enjoy across a wide spectrum of issue areas, including veterans’ services, public accommodations, economic security programs, and housing,” the report said. “Such a result would set a devastating precedent and create a significant roadblock on the path to full equality.”
The Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal were among 185 primarily LGBTQ organizations that sent a formal letter to the Senate last week opposing Barrett’s confirmation due to her approach to “issues like privacy, equal protection, and religious liberty.”
‘A time bomb waiting to go off’
Arthur Leonard, a professor of labor and employment law at New York Law School, said Barrett’s presence on the Supreme Court could have a profound impact on LGBTQ rights.
Regarding Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Leonard said, “That case is sitting there like a bomb waiting to go off, and I’m concerned how the court will deal with it with the addition of Amy Coney Barrett.”
Leonard said he expects Barrett to favor an “expansive view” of the free exercise of religion and to favor overturning lower court rulings that sided with the city of Philadelphia, which terminated its contract with Christian Social Services for foster care services after it refused to work with same-sex prospective parents.
Although they are seemingly unrelated, Leonard said, the ruling in Fulton could have implications for the right to marry.
Leonard said that while an outright overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case that made gay marriage legal across the U.S., is not on the horizon, the conservative court could “begin chipping way” at the right to marry by carving out a religious exemption that undermines the equal treatment of same- and opposite-sex couples mandated by the Obergefell decision.
“This case already gives the court the chance, within the current term, to say, ‘No, Obergefell does not require equal treatment for same-sex and different-sex couples.'”
Leonard said the Fulton case could also affect another landmark decision: Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, in which the court ruled in June that nondiscrimination law in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers sexual orientation and gender identity and extends protections to millions of LGBTQ workers.
“Depending on how Fulton is decided, depending on how broadly they rule, it is possible to tear a big exception in Title VII,” Leonard said. Such a ruling, he said, could result in the “dangerous undermining of civil rights law,” which would affect not only LGBTQ people, also but people of color, women and religious minorities.
A decision in the Fulton case could come as early as the spring.
State Rep. Brianna Titone, who made history in 2018 when she became the first transgender lawmaker in Colorado, is now running for her second term. But while her platform focuses on the bread-and-butter issues of transportation, education and jobs, her opponents have targeted her gender identity.
The group Take Back Colorado released a Facebook ad this month that misgenders Titone and refers to her by her “deadname,” the name she used before her transition. The ad also claims Titone has “always supported violence” and sexualizes children.
“It’s just a nasty, transphobic ad that’s blatantly full of lies,” Titone told NBC News.
Take Back Colorado is registered to Joe Neville, the brother of Patrick Neville, the Republican state House minority leader. When questioned by The Denver Post, Patrick Neville denied the ad was transphobic, saying it simply showed “the facts.”
Titone said the strategy backfired. She raised $11,000 in the 36 hours after the ad ran —about 20 percent of all online contributions to her campaign this cycle — and said she now had contributions from 43 out of 50 states.
“I’m getting support from places all over the country now,” she said. “People recognized that there was a group of people trying to beat up someone who is doing a really good job.”
Titone is not the only target of anti-LGBTQ political ads. Many LGBTQ candidates this cycle have been subjected to such attacks, prompting advocates to worry that it has become a trend.
“The homophobic and transphobic attacks on LGBTQ candidates are more frequent and more direct than we have seen in at least a decade,” said former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who now runs the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization that trains and promotes LGBTQ political candidates.
“The dog whistles of the last few cycles are still prominent, but they are secondary to more direct and blatant uses of anti-LGBTQ stereotypes that weaponize our sexualities in an effort to derail campaigns,” Parker added. “LGBTQ candidates are being falsely called ‘pedophiles,’ ‘sexual predators’ and ‘drug users.’ They are being told they are ‘deplorable’ and should ‘go to church.’ They are being misgendered. And their dating histories — including their use of dating apps — have become the targets of opponents.”
Competitive races
Many of the attacks are happening in close races in competitive districts, like Titone’s.
“My race was one of the hardest races to win in 2018, and I’m a top targeted seat in the House right now,” Titone said of the Colorado House of Representatives.
Gabriele Magni, an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said homophobic and transphobic attack ads “can be especially powerful and especially hurtful in districts that are not very progressive to start with.”
“They can bring out fear in the electorate,” Magni said. “It’s from an old playbook … trying to create fear about what can happen if transgender people are in office, or if people who are allies with transgender people are in office.”
Magni added that anti-LGBTQ attack ads are actually “validation of the strength and competitiveness of LGBTQ candidates.”
Gina Ortiz Jones, the Democratic nominee for a House seat in West Texas in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug. 10, 2018.Eric Gay / AP file
Gina Ortiz Jones, who’s running in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, has been the subject of attacks funded by the National Republican Campaign Committee. The committee ran an ad last week implying that Jones, a U.S. Air Force veteran, would put military “patriots out of work” so she could “divert military money for transgender reassignment surgeries.”
In August, HuffPost reported that the committee had been encouraging outside groups to remind Texas voters in Jones’ swing district about her sexual orientation.
“The national fundraising arm of the Republican Party has declared war on LGBTQ candidates this election cycle — and homophobia and transphobia are their weapon of choice,” Parker said. “It is despicable that Republicans would attack a military veteran simply because she believes the trans soldiers who risked their lives beside her deserve fair treatment when they return home.”
Jon Hoadley is a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives and is currently running for Congress. Fran Dwight
Jon Hoadley, an openly gay congressional candidate in Michigan, has been the subject of an attack ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to Congress, that has been criticized as homophobic. The ad makes reference to Hoadley’s sexual history and calls his judgment “disturbing.” Hoadley is running against an incumbent Republican, Fred Upton, who has not denounced the advertisement.
The ad drew from Hoadley’s personal blog that he kept in his early 20s. On the now-deleted blog, Hoadley wrote about going to a gay bar and mentioned “a four year old wearing a thong” in a post about a friend’s wedding. Hoadley has apologized in a Facebook video for any misunderstanding stemming from the posts.
Chris Pack, a spokesperson for the National Republican Campaign Committee, defended the ads.
Holding Hoadley accountable for “his disgusting comments about toddlers in thongs has nothing to do with his sexual orientation,” Pack told NBC News, “and the same is true regarding Gina Jones wanting to divert money from the military to foot the bill for transgender reassignment procedures.”
Progressive strongholds
Personal attacks on LGBTQ candidates can also occur in progressive strongholds.
Ritchie Torres, who is a shoo-in to win his seat in New York’s 15th Congressional District and become the first Afro-Latinx LGBTQ person in Congress, was called derogatory names on social media that many interpreted to be homophobic.
Torres was called a “first class whore” in a now deleted tweet by Ed Mullins, an officer with the New York Police Department and president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association.
The comments came after Torres criticized the NYPD amid an increase in gun violence. Mullins said his comments “had nothing to do” with Torres’ “race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”
“My comments had everything to do with his dangerous policies and worldview,” Mullins stated. “The city is burning and Councilman Torres wants to blame the police.”
New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres, left, in New York on March 19, 2018.Richard Drew / AP file
Magni said attacks like this are not surprising. He said that many of the attacks this cycle are “based on homophobic tropes” that cast gay men as promiscuous or sexual predators.
“American voters are OK with LGBTQ candidates if LGBTQ candidates are sexless,” Magni said.
Despite Torres’ near guaranteed win in November, personal attacks could still have a negative impact.
“The way homophobic attacks work in progressive strongholds … is by hurting candidates in an indirect way,” Magni said. “Some of these attacks isolate LGBTQ candidates and force some allies to distance themselves.”
Like-minded organizations might put endorsements on hold or volunteers and donors may pause contributions, causing LGBTQ candidates to “lose access to resources and allies that are needed at critical moments,” Magni added.
For example, openly gay Illinois state House candidate Ken Mejia-Beal has been subjected to comments from his opponent, Republican Rep. Amy Grant, that target his race and sexuality.
On a recorded fundraising call over the summer, Grant said, “That’s all we need is another person in the Black Caucus.” She went on to say: “I just think that maybe he’s afraid of the reaction that people might give him. Not because he’s Black, but because of the way he talks. He’s all LGBTQ.”
Equality Illinois, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, condemnedthe remarks as “racist and homophobic.”
Grant subsequently apologized, saying she “deeply regret[s] the comments” and added that they “do not reflect my heart or my faith.”
Mejia-Beal, however, does not buy Grant’s apology and said she’s out of touch with the people in his district. “She is not a nice person,” he said, adding that Grant’s comments reflect racist and bigoted beliefs.
Grant’s campaign also circulated a mailer insinuating that Mejia-Beal was connected to a cover-up of a sexual assault over a decade ago.
“Right out of the gate, when she started attacking me, I didn’t understand where it was coming from,” Mejia-Beal said. “When I heard the audio, that’s when I had the a-ha moment.”
Mejia-Beal’s opponents may have perceived his candidacy as more vulnerable to attacks because of his multiple marginalized identities.
Magni recently conducted research exploring voters’ reactions to LGBTQ candidates and found that gay men — particularly Black gay men — were the most likely to be penalized by voters.
“In the U.S., Black candidates are penalized more than white candidates for being gay, in addition to the separate, individual penalties that they face for sexual orientation and race,” he said.
He added that this penalty “does not come from Black voters.” When compared to white voters, he added, “Black voters are now more supportive overall of LGBTQ candidates, since LGBTQ candidates tend to be Democrats.”
Personal safety
Personal attacks can also threaten LGBTQ candidates’ personal safety.
Jenna Wadsworth, an openly bisexual candidate for North Carolina’s commissioner of agriculture, received rape and death threats after posting a TikTok video criticizing President Donald Trump, according to the Advocate.
Todd Gloria, a member of the California State Assembly and candidate for mayor in San Diego, also received threats of physical violence that his campaign said were incited by his opponent, fellow Democrat Barbara Bry.
Gloria came under criticism after he voted for SB 145, a bill that addresses anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the application of the sex offender registry.
“We have reported the threats to the San Diego Police Department, and they are currently investigating,” Gloria said in a statement. “While I refuse to let this paralyze our campaign, voters deserve to know that this is what Barbara Bry’s campaign is inspiring. Her campaign is bringing out the worst of who we are. We are so much better than this, and San Diegans should hold her and her campaign accountable this November.”
Bry’s campaign disputed Gloria’s claims and stressed that Bry is a “long-time supporter of LGBTQ rights.”
“While she disagrees with Todd Gloria on the issue of requiring those convicted of sexual assault on children to be placed on the state’s sex offender registry, regardless of sexual orientation, her campaign has never raised this issue in campaign advertising,” Tom Shepard, Bry’s campaign consultant, told NBC News in an email. “This controversy is a result of verbal attacks on Gloria by a rival leader in San Diego’s LGBTQ community, who criticized Gloria’s vote on this issue.”
Non-LGBTQ targets
Targets of homophobic or transphobic ads may not even be LGBTQ. For example, the American Principles Project, a conservative think tank and PAC, released an ad targeting presidential candidate Joe Biden and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., alleging that they support “policies which would allow biological males to compete in women’s sports and push children into dangerous, life-altering sex-change” procedures.
Magni said such ads are designed to “galvanize the most conservative base,” so these voters turn out on Election Day. The idea is to depict Biden and Peters “as out-of-touch liberals who threaten ‘traditions,’” Magni said.
‘Chilling effects’
While a record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for office this year, some advocates fear anti-LGBTQ attacks could derail this progress.
“The last few election cycles we have seen the number of LGBTQ candidates increase dramatically, but this trend is not inevitable,” Parker said. “Already we are hearing from LGBTQ elected officials that they may not seek higher office because they don’t want to expose their loved ones and families to these deeply personal attacks.”
Magni said these attacks could have a long-lasting impact.
“The damage that is done is not only to candidates right now but the potential chilling effects among younger LGBTQ people who are thinking about running,” he said. “It’s not only about scrutiny. Their personal lives are going to be distorted. Their dating lives are going to be weaponized … It makes them think twice.”
For her part, Titone is determined to keep campaigning and support the presence of other transgender women in office.
“When you are only 1 of 4 transgender legislators in the whole county, representation matters,” Titone said. “We cannot take a step back in trans representation at this point.”
More lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer candidates will appear on ballots across the country this November than ever before, according to a new report from the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a group that trains, supports and advocates for queer candidates.
These candidates are also more racially diverse than in past election cycles, according to the findings.
“A historic number of openly LGBTQ people are running for office this year and we have the opportunity to elect an unprecedented number on Election Day,” former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement. “While LGBTQ candidates are significantly more diverse than U.S. candidates overall, we must continue to break down the barriers LGBTQ people of color, women and trans people face when considering a run for office. Our government must reflect the diversity of America.”
Another record year
At least 1,006 openly LGBTQ people ran or are still running for office this election cycle, up from 716 in the 2018 midterms, according to Victory’s Out on the Trail report. Of these candidates, 574 will appear on the general election ballot in November, up from 432 in 2018, representing a 33 percent increase.
There are eight nonincumbent LGBTQ candidates running for the House of Representatives. If they all win, they would more than double LGBTQ representation in Congress’ lower chamber from seven to 15. There are currently two LGBTQ U.S. senators — Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. — though neither is up for re-election this year.
Some of these congressional hopefuls are looking to unseat incumbent conservatives. Tracy Mitrano, a lawyer and cybersecurity expert, is one of them. She’s gunning for incumbent Republican Tom Reed’s job in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.
“This district can do better than what it has had as representation in Congress for the past 10 years,” Mitrano told local NBC affiliate WTEM-TV on Saturday. “Affordable health care, good education, infrastructure, the internet. Let’s get jobs back, but the only way you’re going to do that is if you lay the foundation of health and education and infrastructure.”
Former U.S. Air Force Capt. Gina Ortiz Jones is looking to beat Republican nominee Tony Gonzales, a Navy veteran, and flip Texas’ 23rd Congressional District for Democrats. If she wins, Jones would be both the first Filipino American woman to serve in Congress and the first openly gay representative from Texas.
“I really felt called to protect the opportunities that allowed me to grow up healthy, get an education and serve our country,” Jones told NBC News. “That made my story, my service, possible, and that’s why I’m so committed to fighting for working families in this district.”
Jon Hoadley is currently in his third term as a Michigan state representative. He is taking on incumbent Rep. Fred Upton, who opposed nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people and voted to ban same-sex marriage. Upton has represented the historically conservative district since 1986.
“For his entire political career, Fred Upton has worked to deny basic rights and protections to LGBTQ people – so it will be poetic justice when he is defeated by an openly gay challenger next November,” Parker said of the race. “Few 2020 Congressional races are more important than this one – a swing seat in a swing state with a stark choice for voters. Jon aims to uplift all constituents and put real people at the center of his decision-making, while Fred Upton continues to play cynical politics with people’s lives and well-being.”
If elected, Hoadley would be the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress from Michigan.
Increasing racial and ethnic diversity
A notable trend this year is the substantial increase in the number of LGBTQ candidates of color. Nearly a third of the LGBTQ candidates who ran this year are people of color, compared to 10 percent of all candidates — LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ — who ran in 2018, the report states.
Two favorites to win their congressional races are Democrats Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, who are running for New York’s 15th and 17th Congressional districts, respectively,
Both Torres and Jones would be the first Black gay men elected to Congress if they were to prevail Nov. 3.
Rep. Sharice Davids won her House bid in 2018 and became the first openly gay Native American woman elected to Congress, and the first LGBTQ person Kansas has ever elected to federal office. She is back on the ballot this November, favored to beat Republican challenger Amanda Adkins, a former health care executive.
Georgette Gomez, currently a San Diego City council member, is running against another Democrat, Sara Jacobs, for the open seat left by Rep. Susan Davis’ retirement. If elected, Gomez would be the first Latina LGBTQ member of Congress.
Beyond the L and the G
Gay men and lesbians continue to make up the majority of LGBTQ candidates. However, bisexual, queer and pansexual candidates saw the greatest proportional growth since 2018, according to the report.
Compared to 2018, the number of transgender candidates decreased, but the number of candidates identifying as genderqueer, nonbinary or gender-nonconforming jumped considerably, from 6 to 25, marking a 325 percent increase from 2018.
For example, Louise Snodgrass is hoping to become the first genderqueer state legislator in South Dakota.
While the overall number of transgender individuals running for office this cycle went down, those who are running are serious contenders and could have an important impact at the state level. For example, Sarah McBride is on track to become the first openly transgender person elected to Delaware’s General Assembly and the first transgender state senator anywhere in the U.S.
After winning the Democratic primary in August, Taylor Small is a shoo-in to become the first openly transgender state legislator in Vermont. And in Kansas, Stephanie Byers is also favored to win her race against Republican Cyndi Howerton to fill the open seat in the state legislature. If elected, Byers would become the first openly transgender legislator in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Jessica Katzenmeyer is running for Wisconsin State Assembly, and Madeline Eden is running for the Texas House of Representatives. If elected, both women would be the first openly transgender lawmakers in their states’ legislatures.
Shifting geography of LGBTQ candidates
California, Texas and Florida boast the highest number of LGBTQ candidates running in 2020, according to the Victory Fund. These candidates could make an especially big impact on the Texas House of Representatives, where Democrats need to pick up nine seats to flip that chamber. Several LGBTQ candidates are in key races, especially out lesbians Ann Johnson and Eliz Markowitz.
Alabama is the only state this cycle that has no openly LGBTQ person running for office at any level, according to the report. At present, State Rep. Neil Rafferty is the only openly LGBTQ person in office in Alabama.
Five states — Alaska, Tennessee, Louisiana, Delaware and Mississippi — have never elected an openly LGBTQ state legislator, though that could soon change for three of them. In addition to McBride in Delaware, lesbian Lyn Franks is running for the state Legislature in Alaska, and Torrey Harris, a bisexual man, and Brandon Thomas, a gay man, are running in Tennessee.
While the number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer elected officials across the U.S. has been steadily increasing, just 0.17 percent of the country’s roughly half million elected officials are LGBTQ, according to the Victory Institute. In order for LGBTQ people — who make up an estimated 5 percent of the U.S. population — to achieve “equitable representation,” there would need to be 22,544 more of them in elected office, according to the organization.
