In a landmark development for electoral accessibility, Los Angeles County has opened the doors to the nation’s first general election Vote Center located within a transgender establishment. The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center officially launched its voting facilities today, inviting the local trans community and all registered voters in Los Angeles County to participate in the democratic process.

The Vote Center at CONOTEC will operate for early voting from Nov. 2 – Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters in Los Angeles County can cast their ballot at CONOTEC, regardless of their residential address. This initiative not only creates a safe and affirming space for marginalized voters but also aims to foster broader community engagement.

During the grand opening, Los Angles County Registrar Dean Logan and West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson, celebrated this significant moment. 

Logan said, “The county and everyone in my office know that we need to make voting as accessible and welcoming as possible in every corner of the county. The CONOTEC leadership has done a great job preparing this Vote Center, and we thank them for opening their space to their community and all of the LA County residents who chose to vote here.”

Queen Victoria Ortega (at podium), president of FLUX International, addressed the need for more action.

“We are tired of everyone discussing our safety while doing nothing about it. Now, we are taking matters into our own hands,” Ortega said. “We, the trans community, have created a safe space for the most marginalized to vote, and when you do that, you create a safe place for all. We are honored and duty-bound to be the first presidential election Vote Center in America at a transgender establishment.”

Queen Chela Demuir, executive director of the Unique Women’s Coalition, emphasized the historical legacy of trans rights activists.

“In the spirit of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, we honor our transcestors and carry their legacy forward,” she said. “This voting center stands as a safe and welcoming space for our trans siblings, while also embracing all allies and residents of Los Angeles County. It’s a space where everyone’s voice matters, uplifting and empowering our community.”

Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition. (Photo by Troy Masters)

Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, expressed her support for the initiative, stating, “My sisters at CONOTEC have done a great service to our community by securing this Vote Center. We all look forward to casting our vote in our community and appreciate the support as we work towards equality for all.”

Michael Weinstein, president and CEO of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest and most influential AIDS Service organization, pointed out that around the world voting is a perilous adventure for LGB and particularly trans people. “AIDS Healthcare Foundation is in 47 countries around the world and in so many of those countries, the right to vote does not exist,” he said. “It turns my stomach to see on TV political ads targeting the trans community.” hightlighting the need for safe voting spaces like the CONOTEC.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised CONOTEC’s efforts to empower LGBTQ+ voters. “With our vote, each of us has the chance to write the next chapter of this nation’s story. And the nation’s story is incomplete without each one of us. When we show up, equality wins,” Robinson remarked, emphasizing the importance of collective civic participation.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) became the first openly LGBTQ+ senator with her election in 2012, having previously served as U.S. representative from Wisconsin’s 2^nd Congressional District as the first non-incumbent LGBTQ+ member elected to the chamber. She is running against Republican mega-millionaire Eric Hovde, whose campaign has targeted her sexual orientation with negative advertising, in a race that Cook Political Report considers a toss-up.

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) became the first openly trans state senator and the highest-ranking trans official in U.S. history with her election in 2020, having previously worked in LGBTQ+ advocacy and authored a memoir. She is running for Delaware’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she would be the first transgender Member of Congress. She is favored to win her race.

Mondaire Jones served as U.S. representative for New York’s 17^th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, during which time he was often described as a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, serving on the Progressive, Black, and Equality Caucuses. Jones was one of the first two openly gay Black members of Congress. He is running to reclaim his seat representing NY-17.

Gay Democratic U.S. attorney Will Rollins is gunning for U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-Calif.) seat after narrowly losing to the GOP incumbent in 2022. His victory is key for Democrats to retake control of the House, with Cook Political Report characterizing their race as a toss-up and POLITICO writing it will be one of the most “closely watched and expensive battleground slugfests in the country.”

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D) is the first LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Minnesota and the first lesbian mother to serve in either chamber. In the House, Craig has opposed Republican-led efforts to implement anti-LGBTQ+ policies, especially in schools. She is facing off against Republican Joe Teirab in a race that, according to Cook Political Report, is shaping up in her favor/lean Democratic.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D) is a former meteorologist and the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois. While he is the first Democrat to represent portions of the state’s 17^th Congressional District in decades, particularly the towns of Rockford and Peoria, Sorensen’s race is “likely” Democratic, per Cook Political Report. He is running against Republican Joe McGraw, a judge and former prosecutor.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids is a former mixed martial artist and attorney serving as the first Democrat to represent a Kansas congressional district in Congress in more than a decade. She is also the first LGBTQ+ Native American and one of the first two Native American women (along with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland) elected to the chamber. Her race is “likely” Democratic according to Cook Political Report.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D) is the first openly gay man from New Hampshire to serve in Congress following his election in 2018 and reelection in 2020 and 2022. He is running against Republican Russell Prescott in a race that Cook Political Report expects will be “likely” Democratic. New Hampshire Public Radio called Pappas the 1^st Congressional District’s most successful Democrat in more than four decades.

There are four other openly LGBTQ+ members of Congress, all serving as co-chairs of the Equality Caucus under chair Mark Pocan, Democratic U.S. representative from Wisconsin: U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Mark Takano, Democrats from California, Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Becca Balint (D-Vt.). They are all expected to win their bids for reelection.

Gay Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) is running for auditor general of the Keystone State, squaring off next week against incumbent Republican Tim DeFoor and three third-party candidates. Appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans, Kenyatta is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.

Tampa native and mother of two teen boys, Ashley Brundage has built programs to help educate people and facilitate economic empowerment for entrepreneurs, earning a “Spirit of the Community Award” for her work from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And if she wins her race next week to serve in the Florida House of Representatives, Brundage would be the state’s first out transgender elected official.  

Aime Wichtendahl is the first transgender official elected in the state of Iowa, serving on the city council of Hiawatha, a suburb northwest of Cedar Rapids, since 2015. Her work has focused on expanding infrastructure, reducing property taxes, and helping small businesses. If elected to the Iowa House of Representatives next week, Wichtendahl would be Iowa’s first openly trans state legislator.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing message on Tuesday night, contrasting her campaign’s message of hope, as well as her policy plans on behalf of the people, with her opponent’s focus on grievance, division, and the needs of wealthy donors and moneyed special interests.

Speaking from the Ellipse, south of the White House — the site where former President Donald Trump fomented a violent insurrection into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Harris addressed an audience that is reported to exceed 75,000, shattering records.

The vice president repeated a pledge she has made often on the campaign trail, that she will be president for all Americans regardless of whom they voted for or what they believe. Trump wants to put those who disagree with him in jail, she said. “I’ll give them a seat at the table.”

Harris made a direct reference to the LGBTQ+ community by invoking the Stonewall rebellion, birthplace of the modern struggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights.

Earlier, she said, “For as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it.”

Harris continued, “It’s what my mother instilled in me — a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people, the drive to protect hard working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard and deserve a voice. And I will tell you that is the kind of president I will be.”

The Democratic National Committee launched a six-figure ad campaign Wednesday that will run on Grindr, the location-based social networking and online dating app for gay and bisexual men and transgender users.

The campaign will highlight how former President Donald Trump, his vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), and their Republican allies would strip away rights and freedoms from LGBTQ Americans through their Project 2025 governing blueprint.

“LGBTQ+ Americans have fought tirelessly for equality — but Donald Trump’s MAGA GOP wants to drag us backwards and roll back our hard-earned freedoms,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a press release that was previewed by the Washington Blade.

“We cannot afford MAGA Republicans’ extreme, anti-equality Project 2025 agenda that will put our rights at risk and our lives on the line,” Floyd said. “Our votes are powerful, and it’s crucial that LGBTQ+ voters make their voices heard at the ballot box in this election to stop the Trump-Vance ticket’s dangerous Project 2025 blueprint.

He added, “This November, the American people — including LGBTQ+ voters — will choose Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz’s vision of equality for all over the ultra-MAGA GOP’s campaign of extremism and hate.”

Tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado is known as the progressive, grassroots candidate in
the race for the hot seat that her opponent Kevin De León currently holds in Council District 14, even after years of recalls following a racism and homophobia scandal.

Jurado says it’s time for something different and she is it.

“I’m an API woman, I’m educated, I’m a citizen and English is my first language–
among others,” said Jurado in an interview with Los Angeles Blade. “And I’m also proud that on this team, we are largely led by LGBTQ+ folks, women of color, and people of color.”
As an out candidate, Jurado says she is intentional about the people she hires as part of
her campaign team. She is inclusive of nonbinary people and anyone who identifies as part of the QTBIPOC and LGBTQ+ acronyms, because she doesn’t just want to talk about them, she also wants to incorporate their lived experiences in her campaign mission. She says this in part
because of her own identity, but also because of the scandal that rocked De León’s political career.

The scandal follows various City Council members of CD-14 ranting about other BIPOC
members of Council and their LGBTQ+ families. The leaked audio recording included her
opponent De León — who at the time had his eyes set on running for mayor of Los Angeles.

“A lot of the groups talked about in these tapes are the people that we’ve recruited and
who we are making sure to build a coalition with,” said Jurado.

Going into this campaign race, she asked herself: ‘How do I go into this institution and
not become the worst parts of it?’

“If I ever become that, I want you to put my feet to the fire and shift me out of there,
because at that point I have betrayed myself,” responding to the question she had asked herself.

Jurado is currently facing backlash from many community members who support the
police force in Los Angeles, after she was elicited to respond to a question regarding her stance
on police funding. Some of those community members are now actively pushing for her to drop out of the race for Council District 14.

According to NBC4, family members of fallen Los Angeles Police Department officers
have spoken out to say they worry the remarks she made in regards to her stance on police
funding would hurt the LAPD’s ability to recruit new officers.

“In a meeting with students at Cal State LA, I quoted a lyric from a song that’s been part
of a larger conversation on systemic injustice and police accountability for decades…,” said
Jurado to NBC4.

Later, other news outlets reported that the person who elicited the ‘f-ck the police,’
response from Jurado, was a staffer working for De León.

“When you look at what I say and when you look at what I’m doing, I walk the walk and
I’m not going to take any bullshit sitting down, even though [De León] tries,” said Jurado in an
interview.

Jurado has been campaigning for this position since last summer and has since made
dozens of headlines that suggest she is a political force to be reckoned with and has been
building gains in the mostly Latin American Council district. She also brings up the long and problematic history of candidates and elected officials who have resigned, been indicted for corruption, or who have been asked to ‘step down over shady backroom deals.’

“The focus isn’t about me and him and what petty back-and-forth things we say, it’s
about our communities and wanting to make sure we talk to voters and rising above. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the work,” said Jurado. “It’s not about the noise and trying to bring it back to who gets hurt by all these conversations, which are the constituents.”

Jurado is an out LGBTQ single mother and lifelong resident of Highland Park who has
tirelessly fought for tenant rights and protections during her time as a tenants’ rights attorney and housing justice advocate. She prides herself in being a self-made politician who started her journey at Pasadena City College, then earned her bachelor’s degree at University of California, Los Angeles and then went to law school.

Jurado then went on to fight gentrification-driven displacement and in her candidate
statement, she says she spends her days protecting neighborhoods from corrupt developers and politicians.

“This campaign is for ‘the other.’ Being a daughter of immigrants, or whatever your
identity is, you become fluent in two different modalities,” said Jurado. “You know what the
dominant culture is and what the non-dominant culture is and you learn how to navigate through it. I think that is a superpower our people have, people who have always been ‘othered.’

Jurado is currently canvassing in the community, leading up to the election with support from Hugo Soto-Martinez, LA City Council Member of CD-13 and Eunisses Hernandez, LA City Council Member CD-1.

Equality PAC has raised a record $20.7 million during the 2024 election cycle, channeling support to Democrats in competitive House races nationwide.

The political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus is backing 15 openly LGBTQ+ candidates for the House, including six newcomers and nine incumbents, with the aim of securing the largest-ever LGBTQ+ presence in Congress. 

Founded a decade ago with modest funds, the PAC has significantly expanded its influence. 

U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who co-chair the PAC, noted the caucus’s evolution into an “unmatched force in LGBTQ politics,” and a more diverse coalition.

“We have not only expanded our caucus, but we have drastically changed its composition from what used to be an all-white, almost all gay male delegation into a strong and diverse coalition that will soon have members from every region of our nation,” Takano and Torres said in a statement. 

A record of six openly LGBTQ+ women — U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, Washington state Sen. Emily Randall and Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson — are running for the House this election.

Takano and Torres highlighted potential historic firsts: If they win, Johnson would be the first openly LGBTQ+ representative from the South, Randall would be the first openly queer Latina in Congress, and McBride would become the first transgender person ever elected to federal office.

Although not backed by Equality PAC, Alison Esposito, a House candidate from New York, could make history as the first openly gay Republican woman elected to Congress.

Equality PAC is also supporting candidate Will Rollins (D-Calif.) and former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who were both narrowly defeated in 2022, and Evan Low, a California State Assemblymember who is running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). 

Other incumbents the PAC has endorsed include U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), as well as Takano and Torres. 

Equality PAC has also sent more than $763,000 to pro-equality ally candidates across the nation, with the aim of securing a congressional majority that could advance legislation like the Equality Act, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enshrine protections for LGBTQ+ people.

On Wednesday, leaders from the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community gathered at West Hollywood Park in support of Measure G, a ballot initiative that would hold county officials and all departments accountable for corruption, fraud and closed-door deals. 

“As Mayor of West Hollywood, I’m proud to support Measure G because it’s a vital step toward making LA County’s government more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of all its residents,” said West Hollywood mayor John Erickson. “This reform is crucial for strengthening the voice of West Hollywood and every part of LA County. I urge everyone to vote yes on Measure G and help build a county government that truly works for all of our people.”

Community leaders say this ballot initiative is crucial reform on the November ballot. This initiative aims to increase representation and accountability in the LA County government. 

Other than adding more seats to the Board of Supervisors, Measure G would also create an independent ethics commission, create an elected County Executive brand and open the County budget hearings to the public for more financial transparency. 

This measure is not only supported by local LGBTQ+ leaders, but also from leaders across many other communities and industries like nurses and small businesses. 

The ethics commission would work to prevent former politicians from lobbying within their first two years after leaving office, authorize the suspension of County politicians who are criminally charged with a felony. 

The measure would create an elected County Executive position, where they would be directly responsible for the accountability of the public by putting an end to the current system where an elected bureaucrat controls LA County’s full $45 billion dollar budget. 

Among other things, the measure would also require County departments to hold public budget hearings and require a minimum of five days’ notice to the public of County’s new legislation. This would prevent politicians from making secret closed-door deals.

The press conference was led by Drag Laureate, Pickle the Drag Queen and included other prominent LGBTQ+  voices like Trans Latin@ Coalition President and CEO Bamby Salcedo, Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang and Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Commission Vice-Chair Sydney Rogers. 

“For too long, our community has struggled to access essential services like housing, healthcare, and support programs due to inequities in the allocation of county resources. Measure G ensures that public funds are distributed fairly and that the needs of marginalized communities, including trans and gender nonconforming people, are prioritized, said Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of the Trans Latin@ Coalition.

Key congressional races and the contest for the White House have become even tighter according to polling data released this week, as Republican campaigns, including former President Donald Trump’s team, targeted their opponents with $65 million in anti-LGBTQ and especially anti-trans attack ads.

With just 20 days until Nov. 5, Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, spoke with the Washington Blade about how the GOP’s “despicable” paid media strategy is impacting races up and down the ballot.

“This is gonna be the most anti-LGBTQ [election] year probably since 2004, when it comes to presidential rhetoric,” Meloy said.

Many of the LGBTQ candidates supported by his organization are now contending with attacks against their very identities. Among them is incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of the key swing state of Wisconsin, an out lesbian who made history with her elections to the House and then to the Senate — but is now, Meloy said, in the “fight of her life.”

Her reelection is critical for Democrats to retain their narrow majority in the Senate so Vice President Kamala Harris can effectuate her agenda if she wins the White House.

For most of the campaign, Baldwin has maintained a narrow lead over Republican challenger Eric Hovde, but the real estate and banking tycoon polled ahead of her for the first time in an internal survey whose findings were released over the weekend by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cook Political Report considers their race a toss-up.

“Tammy has done an amazing job fighting for all people in Wisconsin, whether it’s farmers, whether it’s laborers, and, of course, LGBTQ constituents, too,” Meloy said. “I don’t know how you get a better senator than Tammy Baldwin, and I’m not just saying that because she’s probably going to be — knock on wood — our only [out] LGBTQ voice in the U.S. Senate.”

Baldwin is not shaken by anti-LGBTQ attacks

The senator has “been the target of hundreds of millions of dollars in attacks, including these anti-LGBT, these anti-trans attacks,” but also of ads “talking about, you know, where she sleeps and who she sleeps with,” Meloy said — messages suffused with the kind of overt homophobia that for decades was considered out-of-bounds in electoral politics.

“The race has absolutely tightened,” Meloy said, and in response Hovde’s campaign is “deploying everything and the kitchen sink, including these anti-trans ads, including the attacks against [Baldwin] and her girlfriend.”

“Even though she was being attacked about her identity, she’s not running from who she is,” he said, pointing to the “wonderful story” she shared on X to honor National Coming Out Day on Friday.

Can I tell you my coming out story? 🏳️‍🌈

I first came out in college. Back then, I knew I was interested in public service, but I feared that I would face a serious choice between pursuing the field of my dreams or living my authentic life openly.

Watching others in the LGBTQ+… pic.twitter.com/6L4nmkdOde

— Tammy Baldwin (@tammybaldwin) October 11, 2024

“I think that that is exactly what people want in their congresspeople, what they want in their senators, what they want in their government,” Meloy said. “They want their government to look like the people they represent and people who aren’t going to put their finger in the wind just because tens of millions of dollars in ads are attacking them about who they are.”

Baldwin has “done the work, she’s proven herself, she’s built those relationships and helped make sure our community was represented in an amazing fashion, and that’s why so many folks are excited to support her.”

The next 20 days will prove critical, Meloy said, as the “Victory Fund is working with her campaign to make sure that she gets the resources that she needs in order to combat” the lies and bad-faith attacks from Hovde. He noted a recent rapid response call was organized to help Baldwin through the “anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ ads.”

Victory has “already raised over $300,000,” Meloy said, adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised if [Baldwin is] the candidate that we’ve raised the most for this year,” nor if the fundraising total for her 2024 campaign “is a record number, because she absolutely is in the fight of her life.”

Straight allies in close Senate races respond to anti-LGBTQ attacks

Other Democrats in close Senate races, like U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, who is running to unseat anti-LGBTQ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, have been targeted with anti-LGBTQ advertising, too.

The ads, riddled with falsehoods, focus primarily on the lawmakers’ support for allowing trans women and girls to compete on sports teams aligning with their gender identity.

In response, Allred cut a commercial in which he says, “I’m a dad. I’m also a Christian. My faith has taught me that all kids are god’s kids. So let me be clear. I don’t want boys playing girls sports, or any of this ridiculous stuff that Ted Cruz is saying.”

Brown’s team also responded to the attack with an ad in which the senator calls out misinformation and clarifies his stance — that the participation of trans athletes in competitive sports should be decided not by the government but by the individual leagues.

Meloy noted that Victory does not work with non-LGBTQ candidates, so he has limited insight into their campaign operations, but he stressed that while Allred and Brown were criticized by some LGBTQ advocates for appearing to signal a willingness to walk back their support for trans athletes, both have strong records of fighting to advance rights and protections for the community.

“I think that we know where their hearts are when it comes to believing in not discriminating,” Meloy said, and running against candidates like Cruz means having to dispel “a lot of misinformation, a lot of lies.”

In such circumstances, “sometimes, nuance is not going to be your friend,” he said, adding that the Republican “bigots” who are “using this rhetoric” to weaponize LGBTQ lives and identities in hopes of winning in November must be defeated.

“And then, we as a community need to make sure we hold their feet to the fire” to ensure the lawmakers reciprocate the support they received from their LGBTQ constituents — specifically, by passing the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination rules across the board, and by codifying into law protections for reproductive rights.

Anti-trans strategy will fail, but the most effective messages concern sports

“I think in the end, it’s going to prove not to work,” Meloy added, referring to the GOP’s strategy of “demonizing our community for political points.”

Echoing remarks from other LGBTQ leaders like Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, Meloy said the Republicans who leveraged anti-LGBTQ/anti-trans attacks in elections last year and in 2022 were mostly unsuccessful.

The strategy has “not been effective in winning swing districts, in winning battleground states, or even in conservative states,” he said. And “if these messages largely don’t work with independent voters,” Meloy asked, “who are they aimed at?”

Trump and other Republican candidates “are starting to bleed some of their base voters, and they need to continue to churn them out,” he said. So, with their transphobic rhetoric, the campaigns hope to get their right-wing supporters “foaming at the mouth again” while also reaching and engaging with the kind of disaffected men who are less likely to vote and who may admire anti-trans self-styled contrarians like Elon Musk.

The GOP’s strategy of using “trans lives to win votes” while “lying, all along the way, about those lives to do so” reeks of desperation, he said, while also inhibiting outreach to conservative or independent LGBTQ voters, to the extent that Republican campaigns ever sought to win over these voters in the first place.

At the same time, the New York Times reported last week that “Republican strategists said the focus on transgender women and girls in sports had been particularly effective with a key group of voters the party has hemorrhaged support from in recent years: college-educated suburban women.”

The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board agreed, publishing an opinion piece on Sunday that was titled, “Transgender Sports Is a 2024 Sleeper Issue.”

“An ad in Wisconsin says Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin ‘voted to let biological men into women’s sports,'” the authors wrote, while “Hovde gets spontaneous applause when he raises the issue at campaign events.”

Meloy conceded Republicans will likely find more success with the sports issue relative to their other anti-trans messaging, but stressed that it remains “just the best of a bunch of bad narratives that don’t fully get the job done when it comes to moving folks in a purple district to 50+ one.”

He pointed to last year’s elections in the Virginia Legislature, which saw anti-LGBTQ messaging from Republicans, including attacks focused on the participation of trans athletes in competitive sports.

Nevertheless, Danica Roem won her bid for the state Senate, becoming the first openly trans official elected to serve in both chambers of a state legislature. Four of her Democratic colleagues who were targeted for their support of the trans community also won their races. And together, their victories helped to secure a Democratic pro-equality majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate.

Harris might discuss trans athletes issue with Joe Rogan

The vice president is reportedly considering a sit-down with Joe Rogan, whose podcast boasts 17.3 million subscribers and is especially popular among young men.

Rogan has repeatedly inveighed against trans athletes participating in competitive sports. “It’s f—ing up women’s sports in a huge way,” he said last summer. “If you care at all about biological women, you should be against that.”

“Kamala Harris has proven to be a very strong ally of LGBTQ people and trans people,” Meloy said, “and so I think that she’s not going to be afraid to tell the truth there” if she chooses to do the podcast.

The Democratic nominee would be “going on there to show people that she’s not all what the right wing is making her out to be” with their attacks on her record, background, and identity.

The Trump campaign and his Republican supporters are lying about Harris just as they’re lying about trans people, Meloy said. “Her showing up, her being visible and saying, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m actually wanting to do these things. Trans people are just trying to live their lives.’ I think that conversation will go really far in hopefully adjusting people’s mindsets from ‘oh, these these ads are saying one thing,’ when in reality they’re just not truthful.”

He added, “I’m very hopeful these tactics and Trumpism are repudiated so we can get back to a system, right? We can close that chapter. As Kamala Harris says, we can close this chapter in our history and get back to healthy and robust debate that is not based around who you are, but what ideas you have for the people. And I think the work is happening to help make sure that that kind of win happens.”

The campaign led by Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is emblematic of that positive, forward-looking message, Meloy said. “So many Americans across every single demographic” are resonating with their focus on “freedom and protecting democracy and turning the chapter on this very, very difficult past eight years.”

Los Angeles Council District 14 (CD-14) candidates Ysabel Jurado and Kevin de León sparred over their qualifications in what could have been their last in-person debate before the November election. 

Wednesday’s CD-14 debate, a district home to approximately 265,000 people, 70% of them Latin American, offered the public a chance to hear from both candidates and their stand on issues such as homelessness, public safety and affordable housing, among other things. 

CALÓ News was one of the media outlets that were present inside Dolores Mission Catholic Church in Boyle Heights, where the debate was held. Below are our reporter’s main takeaways.  

People showed up and showed out. More than 300 people attended the debate, which was organized by Boyle Heights Beat and Proyecto Pastoral. More than 260 people gathered inside the church and the rest watched via a livestream projected on the church’s patio. 

The debate was bilingual, with translation services available for all, honoring the many Spanish speakers that live in the district, as Brendan P. Busse, pastor of the church, said in the opening statement. 

As part of the event guidelines, Busse also shared that no applause or booing was to be permitted, a rule that was broken within the first ten minutes of the forum. “Where you are tonight is a sacred place. People who are in need of shelter sleep here and have for the last 40 years,” he said when referring to the church transforming into a homeless shelter at night for over 30 adults. “Power and peace can live in the same place.”

That was the most peaceful and serene moment throughout the two-hour forum. 

What followed was traded insults and competing visions from both candidates. 

One of the first stabs occurred when De León accused Jurado of wanting to “abolish the police” and when Jurado reminded the public of De Leon’s “racist rhetoric,” referring to the 2022 scandal over the secretly recorded conversation with Gil Cedillo and Nury Martínez where they talked about indigenous Mexicans, Oaxacans, the Black and LGBTQ+ communities and councilman Mike Bonin’s adopted son.

“I made a mistake, and I took responsibility. I have been apologizing for two years,” De León said. “Just as in the traditions of the Jesuits, love, reconciliation [and] peace, one must choose if we are going to be clinging to the past or move forward. I choose to move forward.” 

When Jurado was asked about her stance on police, she said she had never said she wanted to abolish the police. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” she told De León. “I have never said that,” she said. “We put so much money into public safety into the LAPD yet street business owners and residents in these communities do not feel safer. The safest cities invest in communities, in recreation and parks, in libraries [and] youth development.”  

De León and Jurado also discussed their plan to work with the homeless population, specifically during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 75,312 people were experiencing homelessness, as stated in the 2024 homeless count. For CD-14 the issue of homelessness takes a higher level as it is home to Skid Row, which has one of the largest homeless populations in the U.S. 

“We should continue to house our unhoused,” De León said. 

He followed this by saying that under his leadership, CD-14 has built the most interim housing than “in any other place in the entire city of L.A.” He made a reference to the Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village and 1904 Bailey, both housing projects in CD-14. 

“We need safety when the Olympics come,” he added. 

Jurado said De León’s leadership has fallen short in his years in office, specifically when it comes to the homeless population and said that housing like the tiny homes is not sufficient for people in the district to live comfortably.

“My opponent has governed this district, Skid Row, for over 20 years. Has homelessness in this district gotten better? We can all agree that it hasn’t,” she said. “County Supervisor Hilda Solís put up 200 units that are not just sheds; they have bathrooms, they have places and they have support services. Why hasn’t [CD-14] gotten something better than these tiny homes?”

One of De León’s repeating arguments in various of his answers was the fact that Jurado has never held public office before. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to public service, to the benefit of our people. My opponent, to this day, has not done one single thing,” De León said in the first few minutes of the debate. 

In one of the questions about low-income elders in the district, he listed some of his achievements when helping this population, including bringing free vaccines for pets of seniors of this district and food distributions, which, as De León noted, help people with basic food needs, including beans, rice and chicken. “The same chicken sold in Whole Foods,” he said.

Jurado defended herself against the reality of never holding public office and said her work as a housing rights attorney and affordable housing activist have given her the tools and experience to lead the district in a different direction than the incumbent, De León.  “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” Jurado said. ‘We need long-term solutions,” she said. 

Last month, The L.A. Times also reported on Jurado’s past political experience, including working on John Choi’s unsuccessful 2013 run for City Council, as well as her work as a scheduler in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office and how she was appointed by Garcetti to the Human Relations Commission in 2021.

She later added that she was proud to already have the support of some of the L.A. City Council members, such as Eunisses Hernández, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martínez, which De León later referred to as the “socialist council members.” 

After the debate, CALÓ News talked to both candidates and asked how they thought the debate went. 

“It was a spirited debate, no question about it,” De León said. “Sometimes elections can take a real ugly twist that is very similar to Trump-ian characteristics. Like Donald Trump just says whatever he wants to say, no matter how outlandish [or] inaccurate it is.”

When asked the same question, Jurado said, “ I think my opponent said a bunch of lies and said that he has plans for this district when he’s had four years to execute all of them. It’s really disappointing that only now he suddenly has all these ideas and plans for this district.”

Both candidates told CALÓ News they will continue working until election day and making sure CD-14 residents show up to vote. 

“But I think past the debate[s], it’s just [about] keeping your nose to [the] grindstone, working hard, and taking nothing for granted, knocking on those doors and talking directly to voters,” De León said. 

Jurado said she still has a couple other events that she and her team are hosting before election day. “I’m out here talking to voters. We want to make sure that people know who I am and that they have other options. People are disappointed. We’re going to keep folks engaged and make sure that [they] turn out to the polls,” she said.

Jorge Ramírez, 63, from Lincoln Heights, said he has been supporting De León since his time in the State Senate and said he will continue to vote for him because he doesn’t know much about his opponent. “He is the type of person we need. He’s done a lot for immigrants,” he said. “The other person, we don’t know much about her and she’s not very well known. She doesn’t have much experience in this field.”

Alejandra Sánchez, whose daughter goes to school in Boyle Heights and lives in El Sereno, said she believes CD-14 has been in desperate need of new leadership and worries that many people will vote for De Leon just because he is who they have known for so long. “It’s very powerful to see a woman leader step in… It’s been an incredible year to see a woman president elected in Mexico, a woman running for president in the U.S. and a woman also running for leadership here in our community,’ she said. “That’s part of the problem… we are afraid to think about something new, about the new leadership of someone doing things differently.”

General election day will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Early voting began on October 7. You can register to vote or check your registration status online on the California Online Voter Registration page.

During an interview on “The Howard Stern Show” Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris discussed her early support for same-sex marriage and warned of the threats to LGBTQ rights that are likely to come if she loses to Donald Trump in November.

Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was explicit, she said, in calling for the court to revisit precedent-setting decisions including those that established the nationwide constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

“I actually was proud to perform some of the first same-sex marriages as an elected official in 2004,” Harris said, a time when Americans opposed marriage equality by a margin of 60 to 31 percent, according to a Pew survey.

“A lot of people have evolved since then,” the vice president said, “but here’s how I think about it: We actually had laws that were treating people based on their sexual orientation differently.”

She continued, “So, if you’re a gay couple, you can’t get married. We were basically saying that you are a second-class citizen under the law, not entitled to the same rights as a [straight] couple.”

During his presidency, Trump appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who, in short order, voted to overturn the abortion protections that were in place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

“The court that Donald Trump created,” Harris said, is “now talking about what else could be at risk — and understand, if Donald Trump were to get another term, most of the legal scholars think that there’s going to be maybe even two more seats” that he could fill.

“That means, think about it, not for the next four years [but] for the next 40 years, for the next four generations of your family,” Americans would live under the rule of a conservative supermajority “that is about restricting your rights versus expanding your rights,” she said.