On Election Day, California voters approved or denied 11 different propositions, which included regulations on dialysis centers, repealing the 2017 gas tax and wider local authority on rent control.
Authorizes bonds to fund specified housing assistance programs. Get full details on this proposition here.
PROP 2: YES
Authorizes bonds to fund existing housing program for individuals with mental illness. Get full details on this proposition here.
PROP 3: PENDING
Authorizes bonds to fund projects for water supply and quality, watershed, fish, wildlife, water conveyance, and groundwater sustainability and storage. Get full details on this proposition here.
PROP 4: YES
Authorizes bonds funding construction at hospitals providing children’s health care. Get full details on this proposition here.
PROP 5: NO
Changes requirements for certain property owners to transfer their property tax base to replacement property. Get full details on this proposition here.
PROP 6: NO
Eliminates certain road repair and transportation funding. Requires certain fuel taxes and vehicle fees be approved by the electorate. Get full details on this proposition here.
Conforms California daylight saving time to federal law. Allows legislature to change daylight saving time period. Get full details on this proposition here.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled the Equality Act will be a “top priority” with Democrats winning the House. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
After a disappointing election night in 2016 and two years of President Trump in the White House, Democrats came back with an important win Tuesday night and were projected to win control of the U.S. House — a victory celebrated by LGBT rights supporters eager to thwart the administration and advance equality measures.
NBC News and Fox News declared at late Tuesday night Democrats would win enough seats on Election Day to take control of the House, marking the first time since 2008 Democrats won a majority of seats in the chamber. Democrats needed a net gain of 23 seats to win control of the House, but the early call means they could win significantly more as the night progresses.
Meanwhile, CNN declared the Senate would remain in Republicans hands after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) declared the winner against a Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Despite an expected “blue” wave, political observers expected Republicans to retain control of the Senate.
Topping the list for what LGBT rights supporters were expecting from the House with Democrats in control was oversight of the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT policies and advancement of the Equality Act.
Sarah McBride, a transgender advocate and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, identified the Equality Act as a top priority with Democrats finally in control of the House.
“Voters across the country have helped to pull the emergency brake on the hateful agenda of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, and with a pro-equality majority in the U.S. House and pro-equality leadership in the U.S. House, we’re hopeful that we can see the Equality Act pass through the chamber this Congress,” McBride said. “That would send an important message that the U.S. House of Representatives believes that LGBTQ people should be protected from discrimination throughout daily life.”
Although the Equality Act, which would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bar anti-LGBT discrimination, is unlikely to become law if Democrats control only one chamber of Congress and President Trump is in the White House, McBride said movement in one chamber would be beneficial.
“It would help build momentum for us to pass the Equality Act and have it signed into law by a pro-equality president when a pro-equality president is elected into office in 2020,” McBride said. “It would help to build momentum for state legislatures and more city councils to pass inclusive non-discrimination protections.”
Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, said legislation to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in Congress has languished for decades and the time has come for action.
“Given that so many LGBTQ people and their families face discrimination in multiple areas of their lives, it is well past time for a federal bill to provide protections, so we will certainly continue working with members of the House to pass federal legislation, to push for passage of the Equality Act and ensure that our community members are finally protected,” Carey said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled the Equality Act would be a personal priority and she’d assign the legislation a low bill number between 1 and 10 designating the legislation a top priority with Democrats in control of the House.
In terms of the expected timing from LGBT advocates for movement on the Equality Act, the general consensus was as soon as possible, although no specific timeframe was offered.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, called the Equality Act the “centerpiece bill” for the LGBT community and said timing for movement should be “sooner rather than later,” but didn’t offer a specific deadline.
Asked when she expects to see movement from the House on the Equality Act, Carey replied, “Yesterday.”
“We will continue to push for the Equality Act very early on in this next session,” Carey said. “It is past time. We’ve been having this conversation for decades starting really in the 1970s when the first piece of legislation was introduced, but certainly into ENDA, and now the full Equality Act. But it is just well past time for our community to have protections.”
But oversight of the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT policies — such as the transgender military ban, efforts to define laws against sex discrimination to exclude LGBT people and “religious freedom” laws that would enable anti-LGBT discrimination — was also high on the list of priorities for LGBT rights supporters.
Keisling said oversight and accountability of the Trump administration are “by far the most important things” in the next Congress.
“Finally, somebody will be holding President Trump accountable for all his lawless actions,” Keisling said. “So when the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education says it will no longer enforce federal civil rights laws, somebody can hold them accountable. Somebody can hold hearings, somebody can subpoena their records to find out why they’re doing.”
Carey expressed a similar sentiment about the importance of congressional oversight under the Trump administration.
“We’re expecting them to step up,” Carey said. “They should be using their authority to conduct hearings and investigations to stand up for the American people to ensure that this administration is held accountable. We have an unprecedented lack of transparency, corruption and self-serving actions from this administration, so we expect the House to step up and stand by the American people.”
Carey also said her organization will stand with the House in efforts to preserve the Affordable Care Act, including protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, and efforts to use religious freedom “to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others.”
The Equality Act wasn’t the only piece of legislation important to LGBT rights supporters. Other bills not as high profile but still important to LGBT people were also mentioned.
For the transgender community, Keisling identified the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would ban anti-LGBT discrimination in adoption, and the Screening with Dignity Act, which would enhance policies at the Transportation Security Administration for transgender passengers.
Carey said she wants to see companion legislation in the House for the Census Equality Act, which would add questions to the U.S. Census allowing respondents to identify their sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, a version of the legislation introduced by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) remains pending in the Senate.
“We know that when our community isn’t counted through the U.S. Census and other federal surveys that it means that valuable and much-needed programming in federal funding is not directed to the needs of our community,” Carey said.
From left, Sharice Davids, Angie Craig, Katie Hill and Chris Pappas. (Photos courtesy of respective campaigns)
The LGBT caucus in the upcoming Congress will get a sizable boost in the aftermath of victories of gay congressional candidates on Election Day.Three gay and lesbian non-incumbent candidates — Angie Craig in Minnesota, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and Sharice Davids in Kansas — were confirmed the winners Tuesday night in the bid for seats in the U.S. House amid “blue” victories that propelled Democrats to take control of the chamber.
Another candidate who’s bisexual, Katie Hill in California, appeared to have beaten incumbent Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) in her bid to represent her state’s 25th congressional district in the House, but those results were close and weren’t declared as of Wednesday morning.
These four additions will join incumbent gay Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who all won re-election last night.
Two other LGB incumbents — Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) — will be leaving the House for higher ambitions. Polis was elected governor of Colorado and Sinema was in a yet-to-be called race to represent Arizona in the U.S. House.
All in all, with at least three freshman LGB representatives coming into the House and two leaving, the LGB representation of the House will have a net gain of at least 1 in the 116th Congress, or 2 if Hill is successful in her bid.
That will make about 1.6 percent of Congress to be openly LGB, which is short of the 3.5 percent of the U.S. population that identifies such, but still closer to the country’s demographics.
Cicilline, who’s co-chair of the Equality PAC, said in a statement the victories of the gay congressional candidates represent “a historic night in the fight for equality.”
“We will enter the 116th Congress with an unprecedented number of LGBTQ members,” We congratulate Chris Pappas, Sharice Davids, and Angie Craig on their victories last night. Their presence in the House will ensure the LGBTQ community is well represented in Congress.”
Meanwhile, in U.S. Senate races, Sinema was behind in her race in Arizona against Republican candidate Martha McSally as of Wednesday, although about 1 million early ballots weren’t yet counted. If Sinema is ultimately elected and joins lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), it would double LGB representation in the chamber.
Commissioners in Orange County, Florida, have approved $10million (€8.8million) in funding towards a Pulse Museum and memorial. The project will commemorate the lives lost at LGBTI nightclub, Pulse, in June 2016.
The approved funding will come through hotel tax revenue. Orange County commissioners unanimously agreed the payments Tuesday. They will be spread over three years.
Barbara Poma, the owner of the Pulse nightclub and founder of onePULSE Foundation, welcomed the news.
She said afterwards the museum and memorial will be historic landmarks, and hence deserving of funding from the tourism tax.
‘We are not the first tragedy in our country. You don’t go to 9/11 to think it’s a tourist attraction. You go there to make pilgrimage and pay our respect and to bear witness, and that’s exactly what the Pulse sites will be.’
Pulse tragedy
Gunman Omar Mateen attacked Pulse nightclub on 12 June 2016. The LGBTI club in Orlando was hosting one of its regular Latin nights. In total, 49 people were killed and 53 people were injured – predominantly LGBTI. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting by a sole gunman in US history.
Mateen was shot and killed in a stand-off with police.
The OnePULSE Foundation tweeted about news of the funding.
‘We are grateful to have been awarded Tourism Development Tax funding by @OrangeCoFL Board of County Commissioners for land acquisition & design for the #Pulse Museum. Thank you to our community for making this possible.’
The funding will go towards the acquisition of land and the designing of the museum and memorial. Further funding will be needed to see the projects through to completion.
Nine potential sites have been earmarked as locations for the museum and memorial.
The proposed sites for the future, permanent Pulse memorial and museum (Image: onePULSE Foundation)
An interim memorial opened in May. It has been visited by over 41,000 people since that time, according the One Pulse Foundation.
Election day is approaching and while it is easy to get distracted by who and what will be on the ballot at the federal level, not to be overlooked are the state and local ballot initiatives.
In California, voters will get to weigh in on 11 propositions, many of which stand to impact voters in West Los Angeles. From Prop. 10, which would allow Los Angeles lawmakers to enact stricter rent control laws to Prop. 6, which could lead to lower gas prices in the state, understanding the impact each of the propositions could have is important before heading into the ballot box.
In order to help sort through these 11 propositions, hear what both sides have to say on all the ballot initiatives California voters will decide come November, 6.
• Proposition 1
Prop. 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act, is a $4 billion bond measure that would fund eight different programs to help low-income Californians and veterans get low-cost housing and access to home loans.
What supporters say: the shortage of affordable housing in the state hinders long-term economic growth and reducing that shortage with Prop. 1 is necessary.
What opponents say: California is heading towards long-term debt, and Prop. 1 would add to this, putting taxpayers on the hook for $170 million a year if the initiative passes.
• Proposition 2
Proposition 2 would take $2 billion in state funds, derived fromCalifornia’s “millionaire tax,” to construct 20,000 permanent homes to help prevent homelessness among individuals with mental health issues.
What supporters say: Proposition 2 may not house everybody who is homeless and mentally ill, but by reducing the number of these individuals on the street, taxpayers will save money on things like police work to ambulance services.
What opponents say: opponents worry that developers will benefit more from this bill than mentally ill homeless individuals and that the money would be better spent direcrtly on mental health treatment.
• Proposition 3
Proposition 3 would authorize $8.877 billion in state general bonds for various infrastructure projects in the hopes of saving local governments money for water-related projects.
What supporters say: Prop. 3 would provide safe drinking water, drought protection while improving water quality in the ocean, bays and rivers.
What opponents say: the prop will not produce any new, usable water and that that interest payments on the bonds will double the amount that has to be repaid to the bondholder.
• Proposition 4
Prop. 4 would authorize $1.5 billion in bonds to fund grants for the construction, expansion, renovation and equipping of certain children’s hospitals.
What supporters say: there are a handful of hospitals in the state that handle the bulk of pediatric care and need more funding to invest in improvements to advance pediatric research to cure more children.
What opponents say: if passed, Prop. 4 would add to the state’s bond debt that would need to be paid with interest. Instead the state needs to look at the bigger picture when it comes to improving healthcare.
• Proposition 5
Proposition 5 would remove some transfer requirements for homeowners who are over 55 or severely disabled.
What supporters say: Prop. 5 would eliminate the “moving penalty” that hurts many seniors and severely disabled Californias.
What opponents say: Prop. 5 does not build any new housing or help first-time homebuyers while cutting up to $1 billion in local revenue for schools, police department, health care and other services.
• Proposition 6
Prop 6. would repeal the taxes and fees designated for road repairs and public transportation that are part of a 2017 transportation law.
What supporters say: if Prop. 6 passes, gas prices in California will lower, helping residents whostruggle with the high cost of living in the state.
What opponents say: Prop. 6 jeopardizes the safety of bridges and roads in the state while eliminating$5 billion annually in local transportation funding.
• Proposition 7
Prop. 7 would give the California Legislature the ability to change daylight saving time with a two-thirds vote.
What supporters say:according to many medical researchers, biannual time changes are hazardous to the health and productivity of schoolchildren, the workforce and seniors.
What opponents say: winter mornings would be dark for an extra hour so children would be going to school in the dark.
• Proposition 8
Prop. 8 would prohibit kidney dialysis clinics from refusing to treat patients based on payment source.
What supporters say: dialysis is a life-saving treatment and Prop. 8 will make sure large corporations do not overcharge patients, driving up costs for Californians.
What opponents say: many in the medial industry argue that Prop. 8 would result in the closure of many dialysis clinics in California, reducing access to care, putting the lives of vulnerable dialysis patients at risk and increasing costs for California taxpayers.
• Proposition 10
Prop. 10 would repeal a state law that regulates cities’ ability to enforce rent control. If passed, cities like Los Angeles would not have to follow state rules when putting annual limits on the amount landlords can raise rents.
What supporters say: by limiting the amount landlords can raise rents, Prop. 10 would keep tenants in their homes rather than being pushed out, potentially becoming homeless.
What opponents say: a passage of Prop. 10 would make the housing crisis in California worse because many landlords will simply get out of the rental market rather than conform to local rent control laws.
• Proposition 11
Prop. 11 would require private-sector emergency ambulance employees to remain on call during work breaks.
What supporters say: in an emergency, seconds are often the difference between life and death and California faces disasters too often. Prop. 11 would ensure EMTs and paramedics are paid to be reachable during breaks to save lives.
What opponents say: opponents suggest the proposition is intended to help the American Medical Response dodge labor lawsuits in California.
• Proposition 12
Prop. 12 would set minimum standards for confining certain farm animals. while prohibiting sales of meat and egg products from animals confined in a noncomplying manner.
What supporters say: current cage standards are inhumane and Prop. 12 would prevent farms from profiting off this cruelty.
What opponents say: the opposition for Prop. 12 is two-sided. Egg and pork farmers say that the regulations will raise prices and ultimately hurt consumers while animal groups, including PETA, say that the measure would perpetuate the inhumane practice of factory farms.
Midterm elections are taking place today (6 November) in the US and many are thrilled with the several LGBTI candidates running for office.
However, not everyone is happy with this ‘rainbow wave’ that could change the political scenario.
Some of these crucial candidates’ opponents and their supporters have whipped up prejudice against them with anti-LGBTI flyers.
A Republican on his gay opponent ‘and the man he calls his “husband”‘
The mailer targeting Smith Jr. (right) and his husband (center).
As the Pittsburgh Current reported in early November, Republican Daryl Metcalfe currently serving Butler County, Pennsylvania, highlighted in a series of flyers that his Democratic opponent, Daniel Smith Jr. is gay.
Smith Jr. is indeed an out gay man. Looking at the mailers sent to voters seems that Smith Jr.’s sexual orientation is the only argument Metcalfe’s supporters have.
‘Smith Jr. endorsed by liberal gay activist groups and unions,’ the flyer reads in bold.
Moreover, Metcalfe belittled Smith Jr.’s marriage.
A picture of Smith Jr. with his husband and Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf at Pittsburgh PrideFest is on another mailer, as reported by The Daily Beast.
The caption reads: ‘Smith Jr. and the man he calls his “husband.”‘
Metcalfe, endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), has a track record of opposing LGBTI equality.
He was against Philadelphia’s program to market the city to LGBTI tourists.
Furthermore, after the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, openly gay state representative Brian Sims tried to make a speech in the Pennsylvania House supporting the decision. Metcalfe was one of several representatives who blocked Sims from speaking. He labeled Sims’s speech as ‘open rebellion against what the word of God has said’.
Several other episodes of LGBTI discrimination
This is only the latest incident targeting an LGBTI candidate.
The Conservative Republicans of Harris County sent out some mailers in Houston. They asked voters to ‘remember when the Democrats wanted to allow men to enter into women’s public bathrooms’.
The line is a reference to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), an LGBTI nondiscrimination measure that has been repealed.
The mailer also features a picture of a drag queen next to a crying baby captioned ‘Help me!’ It warned that ‘Democrats Support A Drag Queen Story Hour (For Kids)’.
Houston Public Library hosts a monthly Drag Queen Storytime event. According to the organizers, ‘these vibrant Queens will help to instill a sense of love and acceptance in our children while encouraging them to be true to themselves’.
Trans candidates are constantly misgendered
Rodney Garcia’s mailer targeting his trans opponent Amelia Marquez.
Trans candidates have to deal with the frustration of being misgendered by their opponents.
Amelia Marquez might become the first transgender person elected into Montana’s House of Representatives.
In an interview with the Missoulian Independent, her opponent Rodney Garcia repeatedly referred to Marquez by her birth name.
When the reporters reminded him of her legal name, he said he deadnamed her out of ‘respect and courtesy’.
He then added: ‘I just got a door hanger on my door and it says [Amelia] too, but I go by her given name.’
A pro-Garcia mailer also accused Marquez of supporting the statement ‘Men should be allowed to use the women’s restrooms.’
‘Get ready to win’
Trans Democratic representative for Virginia Danica Roem reminded trans candidates in the midterm elections of her journey.
‘2017: The Republican Party of Virginia paid for two transphobic mailers against me. I then won by 8%,’ she wrote.
‘2018: RPV launched another transphobic web attack against me. And then we expanded Medicaid,’ she continued.
She then said: ‘To candidate putting up with this garbage: get ready to win.’
Jared Polis, Kyrsten Sinema, Nelson Araujo and Tammy Baldwin are LGBT candidates on Election Day 2018. (Blade photos by Michael Key)
As voters head to the polls on Nov. 6 for the 2018 mid-term elections, they will decide a number of races (and one ballot question) that will directly impact the LGBT community.
Here is the Blade’s rundown of races to watch and the possible outcomes:
Transgender advocates at a White House protest in October. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Massachusetts new battleground for transgender rights
The only LGBT-related ballot question in 2018 is Question 3 in Massachusetts, where voters will decide whether to uphold a law barring anti-transgender discrimination in public accommodations.
Signed into law by Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in 2016, the Massachusetts law has been targeted by anti-trans groups, who put the measure up for referendum. Anti-trans groups stoked fears the law will enable sexual assault by allowing men to enter women’s restrooms. (That is false. In fact, a study from the Williams Institute, at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found non-discrimination protections have increased safety in public restrooms.)
Signs are good Massachusetts voters will uphold the law. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll published on Monday found 68 percent of voters favor keeping the law in place compared to the 28 who want it repealed.
The outcome of the vote either way would have a significant impact on transgender rights. If voters affirm the non-discrimination law, it would signal growing support for transgender rights and discourage anti-trans political attacks elsewhere. But if voters reject the transgender protections, it could set a precedent for anti-trans attacks to come.
From left, Sharice Davids, Angie Craig, Gina Ortiz Jones and Chris Pappas (Photos courtesy of the campaigns)
Candidates could boost LGBT representation in U.S. House
A bevy of lesbian, gay and bisexual candidates are seeking election to the U.S. House and could significantly shake up LGBT representation in Congress if they’re victorious.
The LGBTQ Victory Fund has endorsed 12 congressional candidates who will be on the ballot next week. Four of them are openly gay incumbents: Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I..), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.). (With Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) departing Congress to run for governor, Cicilline will become the most senior openly gay member of the House next year.)
Each of these congressional candidates could achieve milestones in their own right. In Kansas, attorney and former mixed martial arts fighter Sharice Davids is challenging Rep. Kevin Yoder (R). If elected, Davids would be first female Native American in Congress and first out lesbian to represent Kansas. Polls have consistently given Davids a lead in the race by single digits.
Other candidates would be the first openly gay people to represent their states in Congress: Lauren Baer in Florida, Angie Craig in Minnesota, Rick Neal in Ohio, Gina Ortiz Jones in Texas and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Katie Hill in California and Tracy Mitrano in New York could be the only out bisexuals in the House.
The election of each of these candidates would double the size of the LGBT Equality Caucus in the House, making it comparable to the size of other minority caucuses.
From left, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Christine Hallquist, Lupe Valdez and Gov. Kate Brown (D-Ore.) (Blade photos of Polis and Brown by Michael Key; photos of Hallquist and Valdez courtesy of campaigns)
Gubernatorial candidates could make history
Other LGBT candidates could make history by being the first openly gay and transgender persons elected as governor.
Democrats have nominated to run for governor in 2018 one candidate each of every segment of the LGBT community: Lupe Valdez, a lesbian, in Texas; Jared Polis, a gay man, in Colorado; Kate Brown, the incumbent bisexual governor in Oregon; and Christine Hallquist, a transgender woman, in Vermont.
Polis, a five-term member of Congress, seems most poised to achieve a milestone. Polls in recent weeks have Polis between seven and 12 points ahead of his Republican opponent, Colorado State TreasurerWalker Stapleton. If Polis wins, he’d be the first openly gay person elected governor in the United States.
As the incumbent governor in Oregon, Brown also is favored to win election. However, the race is actually tighter than Polis’ in Colorado. In several polls over the past few weeks, Brown has polled between one and five points ahead of her Republican challenger, State Rep. Knute Buehler. Real Clear Politics designates the race as a “toss up.”
Unlikely to win are the other two candidates. Valdez has consistently lagged behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in polls by double digits, in some cases by more than 20 points. Despite the historic nature of Hallquist’s candidacy as a transgender nominee for governor, Hallquist is also behind incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled the Equality Act will be a “top priority” if she becomes speaker. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Democrats poised to take control of U.S. House
The election outcome that will have the biggest impact on the nation as a whole, not just LGBT people, is the possibility of Democrats taking control of the U.S. House, ending the monopoly of Republican control in both Congress and the White House.
Observers say the Democratic takeover of the House is a likely outcome. Politics guru Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eights pegs the chances of that happening at 86.4 percent. (The prospects of Democratic takeover of the Senate, however, are basically inverted at 17.6 percent).
With Nancy Pelosi running the show as House speaker (again), political observers expect strict oversight of the Trump administration and committee chairs to issue subpoenas requiring federal officials to testify. That oversight could include scrutiny of anti-LGBT policy from the Trump administration.
But Pelosi has identified also as a personal priority the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit.
Democratic control of one chamber of Congress is likely not enough for the Equality Act to become law, but movement in the House could set the bill up for passage in subsequent years with a more favorable Senate and White House.
From left, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) (Photos by Gage Skidmore via Flickr)
Kyrsten Sinema in tight race for U.S. Senate in Arizona
Kyrsten Sinema achieved a historic first this year when she became the first open bisexual to win a major party nomination to run for U.S. Senate, but despite expected Democratic gains, a win for her on election night in Arizona is in question.
Amid political attacks for her past anti-war protests and public comments disparaging Arizona as “crazy,” Sinema’s former lead in the race against Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), the first female commander in the U.S. Air Force, has dissipated. McSally has taken the lead in several polls by a slim margin.
But the race is still tight and could go either way. McSally has admitted she’s getting her “ass kicked” over her vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, according to USA Today. In Arizona, 1 in 2 people are insured thanks to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.
Another U.S. Senate race with an LGBT candidate once thought to be competitive was Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) bid for re-election. But polls show Baldwin, the only out lesbian in Congress, well ahead of her Republican challenger, State Rep. Leah Vukmir, by as much as double digits.
From left, California state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Long Beach) and Nevada Assembly member Nelson Araujo (D-Las Vegas). (Photo of Lara public domain; Blade photo of Araujo by Michael Key)
LGBT candidates of color seek statewide office
Other LGBT candidates are poised to make history because their wins would make them the first openly gay people of color to win statewide office in the United States.
Those candidates are California State Sen. Ricardo Lara, who’s running to become California Insurance Commissioner, and Nevada State Assembly member Nelson Araujo, who’s running to become Nevada secretary of state. (Also among them is Texas gubernatorial candidate Valdez, although her victory seems unlikely.)
Both candidates are first-generation Americans. Lara was born of parents who entered the United States illegally from Mexico and Araujo’s parents were refugees of the Salvadoran Civil War. A win for either candidate would be a first not only for the LGBT community, but also the immigrant community in the United States.
Polling is scant in these less than high-profile races. Araujo is facing the daunting prospects of challenging an incumbent, Republican Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, but may do well if bolstered by a “blue” wave on Election Day. Lara is running for an open seat against Steve Poizner, an independent candidate who previously served as insurance commissioner.
The House and Senate are red. The Trump Administration is directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community on a weekly basis. Your. Vote. Matters.
With midterms just around the corner, it is not only important to vote, but be an informed voter as well. Democrats across the nation have seen a swell of LGBTQ+ candidates running for various positions.
“I think candidates are running because they see it’s possible,” Victory Fund President Annise Parker said. “They see the need for more LGBTQ candidates to get involved in the process. But they now see clear evidence that we can win at the very highest levels of government.” Victory Fund is agroup endorses viable LGBTQ candidates.
Currently, there are only six out LGBTQ House members and one lesbian senator. There will be at least 22 LGBTQ+ candidates on the ballot for House seats, several in highly competitive districts that will determine control of the House. Among the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red To Blue” candidates – those with a good chance at flipping a GOP-controlled House seat, as reported by NPR – is Katie Hill (D), running for the U.S. House of Representatives, CA-25.
In October, President Barack Obama endorsed Hill, who is bisexual, and 21 other openly LGBTQ-identifying candidates.
“President Obama is endorsing candidates who are passionate about public service and committed to making a positive difference in people’s lives, so it is unsurprising so many of our LGBTQ candidates are on the list,” Parker said. “The experiences and struggles of LGBTQ leaders make them authentic, values-driven candidates who understand the pain and difficulties so many are facing right now. We are part of every community and every constituency – women, people of color, immigrants and religious minorities – and that diversity strengthens and refines our perspectives. LGBTQ people are running for office in historic numbers not just because our community needs us, but because America needs us.”
According to Victory Fund data, a total of 430 openly LGBTQ+ candidates have run for office at every level of government this year. The Midterm Elections are on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
The Spahr Center is moving to 150 Nellen Avenue in Corte Madera.
We’ll still be in our current office until the end of November. But we’re moving to our new home on November 30th.
We’ll be open for business at noon on December 3rd in Corte Madera at 150 Nellen Avenue.
Transportation information: First; we’re excited that there’s plenty of parking available! The best place to park is next to Big 5. And there are bus stops at the 101-S Lucky Drive exit and across the highway on 101-N next to the pedestrian bridge. Just walk across the across the bridge and jog to your left to get to us.
Our office will be closed for the move On Thursday November 29th and Friday November 30th. We will re-open at our new location, 150 Nellen Ave in Corte Madera at noon on Monday, December 3rd. We would like the transition to be as smooth as possible for everyone, so please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Gender Awareness and Education
In collaboration, The Marin County Office of Education, The Spahr Center and Domincan University invite you to two special events on November 14th.
Free Documentary Screening – Becoming More Visible
Are you Male or Female? For the four fearless young transgender adults featured in the film this is not a simple question.
These four defy societal norms to be their true selves and become more visible.
No transition is easy, but for some it is easier than for others.
Becoming More Visible shines a humanizing light on their different stories, both their struggles and their triumphs, and showcases the importance of having a steady support system.
The screening will be immediately followed by a panel of special guests, including one of the youth featured in the film, to answer audience questions and open a dialogue to help ignite the awareness and understanding needed to put an end to the discrimination of transgender young adults worldwide – to encourage society to see these young people for who they are today.
Horizons’ Q Series are free public events featuring leaders of the LGBTQ movement in dialogue about our movement, our culture, and what it means to be LGBTQ.
The Q Series offers excellent opportunities to learn about the work being done by Horizons’ grantee partners and to meet and connect with others.
These popular programs include high-level, strategic discussions about movement strategy, emerging issues affecting the LGBTQ community, how to give more effectively and strategically, and feature outstanding professionals and community leaders.
We wrap up the year with our comprehensive analysis of the state of the LGBTQ movement as seen by some of its most outstanding leaders. Join high profile national and international leaders as they highlight the advancements and challenges of 2018 and look ahead.
Not In Our Town – Novato
Presents a screening of the film Light in the Darkness
Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness tells the story of residents of a Long Island village taking action after a series of anti-immigrant attacks by local teenagers ended with the hate crime against a local immigrant Marcelo Lucero. While starkly revealing the trauma of hate, the film provides a blueprint for people who want to do something before intolerance turns to violence.
This event is free and open to the public
Date: November 8, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Unity in Marin 600 Palm Drive, Novato, CA 94949
Hosted by: NIOT Novato, Novato Charter School Many Hearts Committee
In cooperation with: The Novato Unified School District, Novato Police Department, City of Novato and Unity in Marin.
HIV Client Advisory Committee Email Update
All clients, please note: if you want to communicate with the committee, please use the following email address. It is managed exclusively by a committee member.[email protected]
Resources for Family Caregivers
Are you caring for a loved one? You give lots of support, but you deserve support too. Click here to find a variety of helpful information, in-person and online groups for people providing caregiving to a family member. Family Caregiver Alliance has partnered with Smart Patients to create a new Caregivers Community. You can join for free to learn, share and interact with other caregivers in a safe, supportive environment. Be well!
World AIDS Day
We invite everyone to join us on Thursday, November 29th in recognition of World AIDS Day. The Spahr Center and the Marin HIV Care Council are jointly hosting a gathering from 7:00 – 8:00 pm at The Falkirk Cultural Center, 140 Mission Ave, San Rafael. There will be a client open forum preceding the World AIDS Day gathering from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. All clients are invited to attend and share their views. The forum is hosted by the Care Council.
TRANS-Action Marin
On October 26th, an intergenerational group of forty LGBTQ, gender expansive and transgender youth, adults, seniors and allies gathered at The Spahr Center to defend and declare their basic rights. They were responding to the Trump administration’s announcement that they will roll back the definition of gender to just ‘male’ or ‘female’. At the gathering we announced the launch of our new advocacy initiative, TRANS-Action Marin. Please join us to help plan our action next steps; we want to speak up and speak out. TRANS-Action Marin will gain momentum by partnering with supporters and organizations across the county. Click the link below to visit our new Trans-Action Marin website and sign up to get involved!
Trans advocates are outraged prominent trans health professionals have suggested creating an international global registry of trans children.
A recently published article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine called for the registry to ‘further study of this basic demographic and its associated factors’.
One of the authors is Dr Polly Carmichael, the director of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). The GIDS is currently undergoing a self-imposed review after a senior staff member accused it of ‘fast-tracking’ children to gender transition.
Called ‘Evidence for a Change in the Sex Ratio of Children Referred for Gender Dysphoria: Data From the Gender Identity Development Service in London (2000–2017)’, it researched the difference in the number of trans boys and girls and at what age they were most likely to start accessing treatment for gender dysphoria.
As far as the research goes, trans advocates don’t consider it a ‘priority’. But one sentence in the article’s conclusion has them worried.
‘It’s not really interesting in terms of priorities, it’s not an area of research that should be a priority for children referred to the gender identity service,’ Twitter user @Dad-Trans told Gay Star News.
Dad-Trans has a trans child and is a vocal advocate for trans children. He remains anonymous to protect his child’s and family’s identities.
‘On the scale of things this paper is really something that is very minor in interest as parent of a trans child,’ he said.
‘They’re (researchers) are seeing a difference in numbers and they think it’s interesting. I’m not so concerned about the numbers.
‘It seems less interesting than thinking why these children need help and what we can do to help them.’
Dad-Trans describes the call for a trans registry as ‘chilling’.
‘We’re living in a time when Donald Trump recently released a memo where he’s basically talking about legislating about assigned sex and then basing laws upon that, so it’s concerning,’ he said.
‘Once your name is on that registry it can be used for any number of reasons.
‘I don’t trust these people with my child’s data, with my data and i’m really concerned about how it might be misused politically and as we’re seeing now, the intention is there and we’re already seeing policy and legislative decisions by people in power who wish ill of trans children.’
The trans advocate expressed concern about private data being shared across international borders and with private medical practitioners.
One of the practitioners he was most concerned about was Canadian doctor, Kenneth Zucker. The Canadian doctor also contributed to the controversial article.
Zucker is a controversial figure in trans children’s health globally.
Until 2015, he headed Child And Adolescent Gender Identity Clinic at Toronto’s Centre For Addiction And Mental Health (CAHM). The centre stood him down from the role after Canada banned reparative therapy for gender identity or sexual orientation.
Zucker’s methods came under review because he argued that gender dysphoria is not fully formed in very young children. He also encourages parents to stop their children engaging any ‘cross-gendered behavior’.
‘Allowing a little boy to cross-dress just perpetuates [his] confusion,’ Zucker told Daily Xtra.
Even though Zucker successfully sued CAHM he is still widely criticized among LGBTI advocates.
Dad-Trans said it was very worrying that Zucker called for an registry of trans children.
‘It’s deeply worrying, an international database of gender dysphoric kids is just rife for abuse and every time we see something like this, [it reminds me] every time fascists begin and that’s with creating a list of people,’ he said.
‘They’re not seeing these children as humans, they’re seeing them as numbers.
‘I don’t feel that they’re putting the health of and the well being of those young people front and centre which is what they should be doing.’
Zucker told Gay Star News that criticism of the proposed registry is ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’.
‘If one did establish some kind of registry or a cross-clinic database you would go through institutional review board procedures [to approve it],’ he said.
‘You would have the permission of parents, of minors to use information anonymously. So, individuals would be de-identified.’
Zucker said while the details haven’t been ironed out, the database would include anonymous data such as: the age of the child’s referral to the gender center, ‘sex assignment at birth’, did they meet the full criteria for gender dysphoria or were they sub-threshold for it’.
The doctor admitted there wasn’t a strong need for the register but cross-referencing the data would be ‘interesting’.
‘The suggestion isn’t to identify individuals,’ he said.
‘It’s to understand a phenomenon, so, even if you do research in a single centre, and you have your institutional review board, databases are always anonymous with regards to individuals. I could send you a raw data file of, let’s say, 500 participants in a research you would have no idea who they are. It’s an absurd criticism.’
But Zucker’s arguments have not eased Dad-Trans’ concerns.
‘If they’re using data up to 2017, even if that’s been anonymised, at a minimum they’ve got the gender, the sex assigned at birth, their age and the time they went to the service,’ he said.
‘So when your dealing with a very small number of children at the age of 12, you can create a jigsaw of data that’s very simple to find out the identity of those children.
‘I think it’s utterly disgraceful that they’re involved in sending data across international borders.’
Carmichael and Zucker
Along with concerns about the international registry, trans advocates have questioned the appropriateness of Carmichael teaming up with Zucker to publish a medical journal article.
‘I am concerned that by publishing with Zucker the Head of GIDS, is effectively endorsing his (Zucker’s) widely discredited approach, and that this signals a broadening division between GIDS and the rest of the world including Canada, America, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, who, unlike Polly, and the England service, follow both the latest World Professional Association of Transgender Health approach to affirmative care, and the clinical guidance from the Endocrine society,’ Dad-Trans said.
‘I am also very concerned about the data protection considerations of sharing referral data of NHS patients, including my daughter, with a dismissed psychologist in private practice across international boundaries.
‘I call on NHS England, the Health Ombudsman, the Care Quality Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate as a matter of urgency.’
Gay Star News sent Carmichael and the GIDS multiple requests for comment but did not receive a reply.