WASHINGTON – The United States Senate in a vote of 57 to 43 Saturday acquitted former President Donald Trump, who was charged in the one Article of Impeachment by the U. S. House for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The Constitution requires a two-thirds majority to convict or 67 votes.

The House Impeachment Managers spoke to reporters after the Senate vote to acquit the ex-president telling reporters, “We have shown Trump is a disgrace to our country.”

Trump issued a statement thanking his defense team and supporters that read in part;

“[…] My deepest thanks as well to all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country.

This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country. No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago.

Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together […]”

One Capitol Hill source reflecting on Trump’s statement told the Blade, “Not one word of remorse in that mess. [statement on the acquittal.] He doesn’t even acknowledge what a tragedy and travesty Jan. 6 was- he doesn’t care.”

A leading progressive coalition of more than 220 national organizations which promote and protect the civil rights of Americans, the Washington D.C. based ‘The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ issued a statement from its interim president and CEO Wade Henderson after the Senate acquitted Trump;

“Despite the unmistakably clear evidence, only a handful of Republican senators found the moral fortitude to put partisan politics aside and hold Donald Trump accountable for the deadly insurrection. There is no question to fair-minded Americans that Trump weaponized blatant lies and incited a white supremacist, anti-Semitic mob to try to stop the peaceful transition of power.

The white supremacy that undergirded Trump’s deadly rhetoric and fueled the insurrection is not new. The failure to convict Trump only highlights the actions we must take as a part of our country’s long overdue reckoning with white supremacy and white nationalism.”

One of the House Impeachment Managers, California Congressman Ted Lieu, (D-Santa Monica/Long Beach) tweeted after the vote;

“57 United States Senators concluded President Trump was guilty of inciting an insurrection. The highest bipartisan vote to convict in US history. That’s a damning vote.”

President Joe Biden, who is spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland, issued a statement late Saturday evening regarding the verdict;

“It was nearly two weeks ago that Jill and I paid our respects to Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who laid in honor in the Rotunda after losing his life protecting the Capitol from a riotous, violent mob on January 6, 2021.
 
Today, 57 Senators – including a record 7 Republicans – voted to find former President Trump guilty for inciting that deadly insurrection on our very democracy. The Senate vote followed the bipartisan vote to impeach him by the House of Representatives. While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute. Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the violence unleashed on the Capitol.
 
Tonight, I am thinking about those who bravely stood guard that January day. I’m thinking about all those who lost their lives, all those whose lives were threatened, and all those who are still today living with terror they lived through that day. And I’m thinking of those who demonstrated the courage to protect the integrity of our democracy – Democrats and Republicans, election officials and judges, elected representatives and poll workers – before and after the election. 
 
This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.
 
That is how we end this uncivil war and heal the very soul of our nation. That is the task ahead. And it’s a task we must undertake together. As the United States of America.”

LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, in a media statement wrote; “the Trump administration will forever be defined by misinformation and violence, tactics the former president weaponized against LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities before turning them loose on our government on January 6th.”

Ellis continued noting;

“The verdict does not reflect the truth understood by a majority of Americans, that Donald Trump recklessly and maliciously directed his supporters to attack the Capitol and our democracy. The Trump administration will forever be defined by misinformation and violence, tactics the former president weaponized against LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities before turning them loose on our government on January 6th.

Senators voting to acquit are now and for all of history recorded for their cowardice in failing to hold the former president accountable for his lawless, destructive behavior. Let this be a turning point for our country, where we demand a return to shared core values of truth, safety and integrity to protect the least among us, especially from those chosen to lead us.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), offered up a withering criticism of Trump’s behavior. McConnell said Trump was “practically and morally” responsible for the Jan. 6 attack and suggested that he could face criminal charges. McConnell had been one of the 43 GOP Senators who voted to acquit.

McConnell said he would have “carefully considered” convicting Trump if he still held office, but ultimately determined that he, as a former president, was not “constitutionally eligible” for a conviction.

One of the ex-president’s supporters blamed the Democrats; “This impeachment trial did nothing to bring the domestic terrorists who committed this heinous attack to justice,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “It merely satisfied Democrats’ desire to once again vent their hatred of Donald Trump and their contempt for the tens of millions of Americans who voted for him.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) angrily chastised the 43 Republican Senators over their votes in the acquittal saying in a statement:

“Senate Republicans who voted not to convict chose to abandon the Constitution, the Country and the American people with this vote.”

The Speaker also noted that “the Congress and Country can take great pride in the House Impeachment Managers, who defended our Constitution & Democracy with a moving presentation demonstrating love of country and loyalty to our oath and the facts.”

In a letter to his supporters, House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-Burbank) remarked;

“[…] When I served as lead manager of the first impeachment, we warned the Senators that if they failed to convict Donald Trump after he betrayed our national security, he would do so again, that he had compromised our elections and he would do so again. We warned that they would not change or constrain him. That truth mattered little to him, what’s right mattered even less, and decency not at all. 

[…] As long as I live, I will never understand how the Republican Senators who voted to acquit can reconcile themselves with the consequences of that vote, or where this will place them in history. Why run for the Senate at all, if you will be missing in action when the country really needs you? Is the job that important to leave your country defenseless to a demagogue who brought violence down on our heads? How can they fail to see that by doing so, they have enabled him to bring this same hell upon us again, and that next time it could be even worse?

Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-Md.), the lead House Impeachment Manager, warned senators that their conviction vote would define their legacies.

“This is almost certainly how you will be remembered by history,” he said. “It really might not be fair, but none of us can escape the demands of history and destiny right now.”

WASHINGTON – LGBTQ rights groups on Wednesday and Thursday were quick to condemn the siege of the U.S. Capitol.

“Today’s violence is revolting and nothing short of insurrection, a coup instigated by Donald Trump and abetted by cowardly Republicans who have put party over conscience,” tweeted Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David. “We must honor the rule of law. It is what has made our democracy a model and one that is worth upholding.”

Today’s violence is revolting and nothing short of insurrection, a coup instigated by Donald Trump and abetted by cowardly Republicans who have put party over conscience. We must honor the rule of law. It is what has made our democracy a model and one that is worth upholding.

— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) January 6, 2021

PFLAG Executive Director Brian K. Bond in an email to his organization’s supporters wrote “today’s violence” was “undertaken not to build up, but to tear down. And we cannot ignore glaring differences between the treatment of Black Lives Matter protestors seeking justice and the treatment of the violent insurrectionists who today stormed the U.S. Capitol to undermine our democracy.”

“The people attacking the Capitol building are not protestors, and the disparities in how they were received are glaringly clear,” added Bond.

Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez echoed Bond.

“The peaceful transition of power is the hallmark of our American democracy that both Republican and Democratic presidents have honored throughout history,” said Martinez in an email to Equality Texas supporters. “The subversive nature of today’s insurrection, which led to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, is not only un-American; it is domestic terrorism. Moreover, the lack of preparedness to ensure public safety was negligent — especially compared to the extraordinary measures taken during the peaceful Black Lives Matter protests in the summer.”

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, in a statement to the Washington Blade said President Trump “has attacked marginalized people, including transgender Americans” since he began his campaign.

“Yesterday’s angry mob of armed white militants attacked the people of this country and the foundations of our democracy,” added Heng-Lehtinen. “Trump and those who aid and abet him have a clear pattern of inciting violence, of targeting political opponents, of attacking people of color — all while excusing the violent actions of their supporters.”

The siege began as members of Congress were certifying the Electoral College results that confirmed the election of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris. Trump supporters marched to the Capitol after the outgoing president spoke at the “Save America Rally” on the Ellipse.

Democrats on Tuesday regained control of the U.S. Senate after Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) respectively in Georgia.

Equality Florida on Wednesday acknowledged the Georgia election results before condemning the Capitol siege.

“Congratulations to Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock and Senator-elect Jon Ossoff on their historic elections to the United States Senate,” said Equality Florida in a tweet. “We are thankful for our volunteers, members, staff and board for being a part of the coalition that supported Georgia Equality (an LGBTQ rights group in Georgia) in their efforts to elect pro-equality senators.”

“This historic mobilization of voters is a testament to our incredible democratic process, and contrasts the treasonous actions taken by supporters of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol today,” added Equality Florida.

Congratulations to Senator-elect @ReverendWarnock and Senator-elect Jon @Ossoff on their historic elections to the United States Senate! https://t.co/jdX1OBCyfv

— Equality Florida (@equalityfl) January 6, 2021

This historic mobilization of voters is a testament to our incredible democratic process, and contrasts the treasonous actions taken by supporters of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol today.

— Equality Florida (@equalityfl) January 6, 2021

Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith and National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey are among those who have called for Trump’s removal from office. Smith has also called for an investigation into the U.S. Capitol Police’s response to the siege.  

“We condemn the violence in Washington, D.C., and in communities across the country that has been incited by today’s attack on the Capitol building,” said Carey in a statement. “We are better than this. To move forward we must begin by making the strongest statement possible and remove Trump from office using the power of the 25th Amendment.”

Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings in his statement also cited the 25th Amendment.

“Today’s unprecedented events are a betrayal of that fundamental American commitment, and any pretense to ‘patriotism’ on the part of those who committed today’s acts of desecration of the temple of democracy that is our Capitol building are blasphemous,” he said. “Our democratic processes must be defended, and we call upon our leaders to utilize any and all processes available to them, including the 25th Amendment, to ensure an orderly transition of power in accordance with the will of the American people as expressed freely at the ballot box in November.”

“The president, but also the those who have remained silent in the face of his lies, are responsible for this attack on our democracy, and they should be held accountable for their actions,” added Heng-Lehtinen. “Their desperate attempt to hold onto power at any cost will cement their legacy of failure.”

GLAAD, 18 LGBTQ rights groups demand Trump’s removal

GLAAD late on Thursday released a statement signed by 18 LGBTQ rights organizations that calls for Trump’s removal from office.

“As LGBTQ organizations and movement leaders, we call for the immediate and unequivocal removal of Donald Trump as president of the United States via the invoking of the 25th Amendment or by impeachment if necessary,” reads the statement. “Our nation’s security and the personal security of every American is in grave danger, and we cannot afford to sustain even another day with this destructive and seditious man in the White House.”

Athlete Ally, the Equality Federation, Family Equality, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, GLSEN, Lambda Legal, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, NMAC, PFLAG, Pride in Running, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, SAGE, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Transgender Law Center and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund signed GLAAD’s letter.

HRC has also called for Trump’s removal from office.

“The Human Rights Campaign urgently calls for the immediate removal of President Donald Trump from office,” said David in a press release his organization released on Thursday. “President Trump bears responsibility for Wednesday’s insurrection at the United States Capitol and the attempted coup of our government in which four people died.”

WASHINGTON – Congress certified the Electoral College Vote at 3:41 AM Eastern Time, January 7, 2021. Joe Biden was officially named as the 46th duly-elected President of the United States and Kamala D. Harris has been named as the 49th Vice-President of the United States.

It was a day of extreme drama that resulted in rioters temporarily taking over the United States Capitol building after being incited by a speech given by President Donald Trump earlier on Wednesday in which he falsely claimed that there was massive election fraud.

During the Capitol siege four civilians died including a 35 year-old female military veteran, Ashli Babbitt. She had served 14 years in the Air Force, her husband told KUSI-TV in San Diego. The couple had resided in Ocean Beach, California.

Babbitt was shot by Capitol Police officers in a hallway just off the House Chambers at the entrance to the Speaker’s Lobby and died after being transported to a Washington hospital.

According to Stars & Stripes Babbitt was apparently a staunch Trump supporter, and her social media accounts were filled with posts supporting the president. She tweeted on Tuesday, “Nothing will stop us…. they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light.”

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee had told reporters in a press briefing Wednesday evening that three other persons had died during the rioting in the Capitol building but offered no further details citing ongoing investigations.

Objections by Republicans to accepting the results from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia were defeated after debate at times that was contentious and in the case of the House debate over the objection to accepting the Pennsylvania results resulted in a fist fight between a couple of House members which was rapidly broken up by other representatives.

At the end of the process, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence announced that Joe Biden defeated President Trump, officially ending the 2020 presidential race that Trump has refused to concede and after the violent day at the Capitol.

SAN DIEGO – In a pandemic zoom-style virtual inauguration ceremony presided over by the President pro Tempore of the California State Senate, Toni Gayle Atkins, former Democratic State Assemblyman Todd Gloria was sworn in as the 37th mayor of the City of San Diego on Thursday, December 10 before the San Diego City Council.

San Diego’s new mayor made history across a spectrum of significant firsts as in addition to being the first openly gay person to lead the city, Gloria, “the son of a hotel maid and a gardener” is also the first person of color in the Mayor’s chair. Gloria is a third-generation San Diegan of Filipino, Native American, Puerto Rican, and Dutch descent.

In a March 2019 interview with journalist Karen Ocamb, Gloria told the Blade that he officially came out to his parents at 18, though he jokingly says he was never “in” the closet since he and apparently everyone at school knew he was gay. But he survived those difficult times to go on and graduate summa cum laude from the University of San Diego, having majored in history and political science.

In his inauguration address after he took the oath of office, Gloria thanked his parents, Linda and Phil, and his brother and his family. Gloria also thanked his partner, Adam. He paid tribute to his political mentors and then the people who helped get him elected. He then addressed his city as the duly-elected Mayor for the first time;

“My fellow San Diegans, it is with pride that I stand before you today as the 37^th mayor of our city. I’m humbled by your support; I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve; I’m hopeful about the future of our city,” Gloria said. “Today is the day that we start building a San Diego that is truly for all of us.”

“As a kid who grew up in Clairemont, I didn’t see people who looked like me leading practically anything — let alone the 8^th largest city in the United States,” Gloria said at his inauguration Thursday. “But today, I stand before you as the first person of color and LGBTQ person to ascend to our city’s highest office.”

“This is a testament to what we all know: San Diego is a unique place, with incredible people, where anything is possible,” he continued. “It is the birthplace of California and a bridge between two nations. It’s the home of artistic creativity, groundbreaking innovation and research that changes the world. It is the place where the son of a hotel maid and a gardener, a Native American, Puerto Rican, Dutch gay guy has just become your mayor.”

As Gloria outlined his plans for his first 100 days in office, he stressed that his greatest priority is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We will be rolling out an aggressive strategy to address the worsening public health crisis in COVID-19,” he said. “The economic crisis that is impacting San Diego’s families, small businesses, and our city budget. The housing and homelessness crisis that has become even more dire.”

“My team and I are moving swiftly and decisively to protect our most vulnerable. And we’ll do it with a long-term goal of building a more resilient city in the process,” Gloria added. “It’s not enough to get things back to normal. Normal wasn’t and won’t be good enough.”

The Mayor then promised San Diegans that he and his team would build a coalition effort to work across all sectors of the city to accomplish the goals he was outlining.

“If we dream big, work together and believe in San Diego, we can accomplish anything. We will change the narrative — not just for the privileged few, but for everyone — especially those who have traditionally felt unheard,” he said.

“It’s the dawn of a new era. We will recover and build back better and stronger from COVID-19,” the mayor continued. “We will stand up for workers and create good-paying, local jobs that bring neighborhood improvement to all corners of our city.”

Gloria addressed the issues of racial equality and the Black Lives Matters movement.

“We will center racial justice and equity not just in public safety but in everything we do recognizing that Black Lives Matter,” he said.

He then vowed to “fully and faithfully” implement San Diego’s climate action plan “to ensure that the city that we love is here for generations to come.”

“I believe in us, San Diego,” the mayor said. “I know who we are and who we can be. I am so proud to be the mayor of this great city but I’m even more excited about what we can accomplish together. Because together, I know we will build a San Diego for all of us.”

“If we dream big, work together and believe in San Diego, we can accomplish anything.”

In the March 2019 interview, addressing the LGBTQ community in his city, Gloria told the Blade, “We had a recent report where there’s 40,000 San Diego young people in their late teens and early 20s who are completely disconnected from the worlds of education and the world of work. Those are young people who are going un-utilized in our economy and that’s a missed potential towards the vision I have of a great city.”

Gloria says he wants to “keep that ladder of opportunity in place. I want to rebuild it where it may have been broken. I believe it because I’ve experienced it and I want others to have that same experience. And right now I think there’s good reason to doubt that that ladder exists. But my goal, my ambition, my vision is to rebuild it – not just for queer kids of color like me but really for every person who is going to work hard in San Diego.”

It’s a power of compassion, strength and responsibility that Gloria told the Blade that he hopes to bring home to San Diego. “I often talk on the campaign trail about this being a mayoral campaign and a hopeful administration that is focused on real people and on real problems,” Gloria says, adding that he carries the voices of LGBT history with him. “Hopefully, I can make our community proud.”

As one commentator reflected, now that he’s mayor, he has that chance.

Additional reporting by Karen Ocamb

WILMINGTON, Delaware – President-elect Joe Biden has named seven women to his incoming White House Communications Team Sunday, including Karine Jean-Pierre, a partnered Black lesbian. Jean-Pierre will serve as Deputy White House press secretary under newly named White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Both women are Washington veterans having served during the administration of President Barack Obama. During the first Obama term, Jean-Pierre, 43, served as the regional political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs, while Psaki, 41, served as Obama’s White House Communications Director having served a stint previously as a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.

Speaking with the Advocate magazine in June of 2011 Jean-Pierre reflected on her tenure working for the Obama Administration as an openly LGBT staffer.

“What’s been wonderful is that I was not the only; I was one of many. President Obama didn’t hire LGBT staffers, he hired experienced individuals who happen to be LGBT,” she says. “Serving and working for President Obama where you can be openly gay has been an amazing honor. It felt incredible to be a part of an administration that prioritizes LGBT issues.”

Jean-Pierre and Psaki will work under Kate Bedingfield, the president-elect’s choice for the post of White House Communications Director.

Kate Bedingfield served as Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director for the Biden-Harris Campaign. She served as Communications Director for then Vice President Biden and as Associate Communications Director, Deputy Director of Media Affairs, and the Director of Response in the Obama-Biden White House.

“Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President, and this team will be entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of connecting the American people to the White House. I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better,” President-elect Biden said in the Transition Team’s statement.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, in an emailed media statement to the Blade, reflected on Biden’s choices for the new communication team;

“Today’s appointees are respected communicators with a breadth of experience and a strong commitment to serving the American people. President-elect Biden has a history of advocating on behalf of women in the U.S and around the world and today’s announcement is a continuation of that work, elevating this dynamic team of leaders to senior White House positions.”

“They embody Joe Biden’s commitment to a diverse administration where the voices of all Americans are represented. Today’s appointees are respected communicators with a breadth of experience and a strong commitment to serving the American people,” Klain said adding;

“President-elect Biden has a history of advocating on behalf of women in the U.S and around the world and today’s announcement is a continuation of that work, elevating this dynamic team of leaders to senior White House positions. They embody Joe Biden’s commitment to a diverse administration where the voices of all Americans are represented,”

The daughter of immigrant parents from Haiti, Jean-Pierre was born in Martinique and later raised in Queens, a borough of New York City. A longtime activist and communications specialist, she has a Master’s in Public Affairs conferred on her by New York’s Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, where she has taught as an adjunct professor and lecturer in international and public affairs since 2014.

In 2016 after her White House stint, Jean-Pierre served as a Senior Advisor and National Spokesperson for Washington D.C. based MoveOn, a progressive non-profit public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Her primary portfolio at the non-profit was addressing President Trump’s rhetoric and platform of hate, violence, racism, immigrant-bashing, and women-bashing.

She also served as the deputy campaign manager for former Democratic Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s 2016 campaign run for the Oval Office.

Jean-Pierre received national recognition after a June 1, 2019 incident during the MoveOn Big Ideas Forum she was moderating in San Francisco, when 24 year-old Aidan Cook, a member of the animal right activist organization Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), rushed the stage grabbing the microphone out of then California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’s hand. The Senator was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination at the time of the incident.

Jean-Pierre, who had jumped in between Cook and the Senator after he took the microphone kept the activist away from Harris until security arrived and removed him. At the time of the incident, Harris, like most other candidates in early stages of the primary process, didn’t have a U.S. Secret Service detail for protection.

Jean-Pierre joined the Biden-Harris campaign in May of 2020 and then accepted the position of Chief of Staff to Senator Harris in August. Speaking with NBC News journalist Tim Fitzsimons; “The sun was setting and the lights got much more prominent,” she said, referring to late June 2015, when she watched the White House lit in rainbow colors to mark the historic Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. “People had signs and people were crying, and there was just so much joy.”

“I remember thinking how proud I was of this administration, that I had worked for that,” Jean-Pierre, said. “It really brought together, in that one moment, how important LGBTQ rights were and how much that administration fought for our rights.”

She told NBC News, if elected, Biden and Harris would “continue the work that Joe Biden and Obama did” by supporting LGBTQ rights and “continuing to put forth policy that protects the community.”

Now she is in a crucial role for the incoming Biden administration to see those hopes realized. On twitter Sunday after the announcement of her being chosen she said;

“I am profoundly honored to be the Principal Deputy Press Secretary for @JoeBiden. I am especially thrilled to work alongside @jrpsaki whose leadership and stellar instincts will ensure we are positioned to effectively communicate the Biden-Harris agenda to all Americans.”

Jean-Pierre, her partner, CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, and their daughter will reside in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON – Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone said she never thought she would be able to mount a successful candidacy for public office. As a transgender woman, she assumed that would immediately disqualify her. 

Then, in 2017, Titone watched Danica Roem run for and win a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“Watching [Roem’s campaign] really showed me what was possible and that gave me the nudge,” Titone told the Blade. “I only needed to win by one vote.”

In 2018, she won by 439 votes in her race to represent Colorado’s 27th House District, a traditionally conservative area that includes the Denver suburb of Arvada, in the state’s House of Representatives. With her victory she became the first trans person elected to Colorado’s General Assembly and was reelected on Nov. 3, this time by an 1,800-vote margin. 

Titone is part of a group of eight openly trans or gender non-conforming state legislators. Among this historic group of lawmakers is Delaware state Sen.-elect Sarah McBride—the first openly trans person to be elected to a state senate. And come January she will the highest-ranking out trans state legislator in the U.S. 

“I think the results of my race and so many others across the country are so powerful because it shows the fair mindedness of voters,” McBride told the Blade. “Yes, voters are excited about creating a diverse government but they’re also ultimately looking at candidates based on their ideas and their experiences. Whatever message was sent by my campaign was not sent by me but was sent instead by the voters in my district.”

Other history-makers for this election are Mauree Turner from Oklahoma’s 88th House District, who is the first openly non-binary person elected to a state legislature, and Stephanie Byers from Kansas’ 86th House District, who is the first trans woman of color elected to any state legislature.

Since winning her seat in 2018, Titone said she has worked to ensure that people view her as a good representative for her district and not just a representative for the LGBTQ community. 

“I have work to do for the people in my district,” she said. “And when you win by a small margin, like I did and you’re under that microscope, you have to do the work for the people.”

She said she’s focused on issues like health care access, water conservation and affordable housing.  

Roem was not just an inspiration to Titone but to many of the other trans candidates who now find themselves working in their state legislatures. 

Taylor Small, a 26-year-old LGBTQ activist, said it was Roem and Vermont state Rep. Diana Gonzalez who inspired her to run.

Small this year became the first openly trans person elected to Vermont’s House of Representatives after Gonzalez, the incumbent, decided to retire and asked her to run. Gonzalez was the state’s first openly queer person of color to serve in the Vermont House. 

“There was so much history being made in such a short period of time through Rep. Gonzalez,” she said. “To see the progressive work she has been able to accomplish over the past six years and then to know that she sees the same potential in me was just the push I needed to step into that role.”

Small said she never imagined being able to work in state politics at such a young age as a trans woman. When Gonzalez approached her about running, she only had days to get her campaign together and file her paperwork to get on the ballot. This, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, led to an unconventional campaign, she said. 

“It felt like we were building the plane while we were flying it,” Small said. “So what that meant is that it was a relatively equal playing field for both incumbents and challengers coming into this race, because nobody has campaigned during a pandemic and nobody knows what will work.”

The policy she is most looking forward to reforming, she said, is healthcare. Small said she will push the state to move towards a Medicare For All system.

“We have health insurance connected to employment, which should not be the case,” she said. “Healthcare is a human right, it is not a privilege, though, in its current setup in the United States, it is a privilege for folks who are able to afford it.”

Small also performs as a drag queen in her spare time as Nikki Champagne. She and Emoji Nightmare, her “partner in all things drag,” travel to libraries around the state and hold story hours where they read books and do crafts with children. Small said doing drag allowed her to get in touch with her femininity and embrace her authentic identity as a trans woman. 

“Now knowing that this is a space where [LGBTQ kids and families] can come and read and get books and find community and also knowing that we were able to promote inclusivity and diversity through these story hours, it was just the best thing,” she said. 

Two trans women in N.H. House reelected

New Hampshire currently has two trans state legislators: Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon. Both were initially elected in 2018 and they won reelection on Nov. 3. 

Bunker said President Trump’s 2016 election initially motivated her to run, but she ran in 2018 after Roem’s victory the year earlier. After she decided to announce her candidacy to represent Rockingham County District 18, which includes the city of Exeter, Bunker said the race was “relatively easy.”

Because the New Hampshire House of Representatives has 400 members, each person has to represent relatively few constituents, which means it takes much less money and resources to start a campaign. When she came into office in 2019, Bunker said there was no open hostility towards her or Cannon. 

“There’s a culture and an expectation of courtesy that’s strongly enforced. People are expected to treat each other with decorum and courtesy at all times,” she said. “But there are certainly folks serving in the state legislature who are demonstrably, evidently, deeply uncomfortable with me as a trans person. One comes to know the fixed stares or the refusal to meet my gaze in the hall and things like that.”

Cannon spent her years before public office as a carpenter and truck driver but she started to work with state politicians to pass protections for trans people after she came out at 45. 

Her first effort died in 2009, the same year New Hampshire lawmakers approved a marriage equality bill. Cannon said this was the first time she was asked to run for office but declined because her own business was in peril during the economic crisis. 

She left to become a truck driver for five years and she said that when she came back, no one had made any progress with trans protections so she decided to step into politics herself. In 2018 she won her race to represent Strafford County District 18, which includes most of the city of Somersworth. 

Cannon said the most important aspect of having trans people in the New Hampshire General Court was to represent the experiences of a community which doesn’t frequently get a voice at the table. 

“I think more people are seeing that they don’t have to sit in the shadows,” she said. “They don’t have to just put up with what the legislature is going to do. They can get involved, they can help set the agenda and set the direction. They can spread knowledge and information about trans people because we’re people too and it’s important for others to know that.” 

When Joshua Query joined the New Hampshire House in 2018, they identified as a gay man but halfway through their first term started questioning their gender identity. They said the strict dress code for state representatives—men are expected to wear pants and suit jackets with ties—helped them realize how uncomfortable they were living in the gender binary. 

“This helped me realize that I was being a little bit restricted and I didn’t feel comfortable expressing myself, or being tied to that certain gender performative nature that we’re required to,” Query said in an interview.

They came out to their colleagues in late 2019 as genderqueer and said most of them didn’t “bat an eye.” 

“Some people on the other side of the aisle just say it’s identity politics playing and all that kind of stuff,” they said. “But I don’t really pay too much attention to that.”

Query ran for reelection in 2020 to continue representing Hillsborough County District 16 but the election has gone to a recount with Query up by only 36 votes. Query said they’re confident they will prevail over their Republican challenger, Robert Kliskey.

“I think it’s just the same as Election Day jitters but I’m confident in the way our poll workers handle our elections and from my research, Manchester has rarely seen a race be flipped on because of a recount, and in those few instances, they were all under 10 votes,” they said. 

Along with Bunker and Cannon, Query said they have led the New Hampshire House’s LGBTQ caucus in pushing for reforms to make state laws more inclusive. 

Cannon in 2017 pushed for legislation that would protect individuals from discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, housing and private or public employment. Cannon was a member of the Somersworth School Board when Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill.

According to Bunker, she and other LGBTQ state representatives focused on extending this language to other areas of state law. Another area of focus, Query said, is eliminating the gay and trans panic defense. 

“When the Black Lives Matter protests started to break out, I had a lot of people who were Black or indigenous reaching out to me because they were also queer, and they saw the gay panic defense as a way that someone could condone violence towards them just because they’re out protesting for their rights,” Query said. 

The wave of new gender non-conforming lawmakers in state government comes at the same time President-elect Biden’s defeated Trump in the election. Biden in his victory speech called for unity and peace in the deeply divided country.

For Small, the term “unity” tends to be challenging. 

“It is so much easier to say that we need to come together when you are coming from a place of power, because you know that it is not a risk for you to come together,” she said. “There are people who carry hate towards marginalized communities and you cannot unify with someone who is going to actively harm you. I would love for our communities to embrace one another and see each other holistically. Until we can hold that everyone deserves equitable rights in the United States, we truly cannot unify.”

Titone said she understands the hesitations to reach across the aisle and unify in a bipartisan way but also understands the importance of it. 

“The bully picks on you and beats on you for years, and you finally get the upper hand, it’s hard to just take the high road and work with that person to try to make them into something better,” she said. 

In her traditionally conservative district, she said she has had to work with people she doesn’t agree with and has had to hold space for those who don’t agree with her. 

“I want to hear people’s opposing sides. I can’t make allies when I constantly push away those who disagree with me,” she said. “Joe Biden understands that when there’s such polarization that has happened, you have to try to bring those people back together somehow.”

WILMINGTON, Delaware – Sarah McBride said she didn’t run for the Delaware state Senate to make history or headlines, but her victory on Nov. 3 over Republican Steve Washington did just that. 

She is the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state’s senate and come January, will be the highest-ranking out trans state legislator in the U.S.

“I’m looking forward to being able to roll up my sleeves and, and help to implement the kinds of policies and changes that we just spent the last year fighting for,” she said during an interview. “It’s an unbelievable privilege to be able to represent this community in the Delaware state Senate, a community that I was born and raised in, a community that’s helped support me and sustain me through some of the most difficult challenges in my own life, a community that that reflects the vibrant and beautiful diversity of Delaware in so many ways.”

McBride was expected to win handily in the heavily “blue” 1st Senate district which includes parts of Wilmington. The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which seeks to elect LGBTQ people to political office, declared the race for McBride shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m.—she ended up claiming more than 70 percent of the votes. 

McBride previously worked as national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. When she addressed the Democratic National Convention in 2016, she became the first openly trans person to speak at the major party convention in the U.S.

McBride is part of the wave that nearly doubled the amount of trans and gender non-conforming candidates elected to state legislatures around the country. Eight of them were elected or re-elected on Nov. 3.

She said the increasing number of trans legislators proves voters are beginning to look past candidates’ identities that were previously considered handicaps in politics. 

“Whatever message was sent by my campaign was not sent by me but was sent instead by the voters in my district,” said McBride. “Voters are looking for candidates who are authentic and will fight for what they believe in. I think that desire for authenticity and courage in elected officials transcends geography, political ideology, and party affiliation.”

While she wouldn’t describe it as pressure, McBride said she feels a responsibility to ensure that she isn’t the last LGBTQ person who can hold a position like hers.

“I certainly feel a responsibility to ensure that we grow not just the numbers, but the full diversity of LGBTQ people who have a seat at the table,” she said. “But I also know that the only way that I can fulfill that responsibility to the LGBTQ community is to be the best state senator possible for the residents of my district. Ultimately, that’s what I’m focused on.”

The coronavirus pandemic, which shut down businesses in Delaware for months, forced McBride’s campaign to “get creative” when reaching out to voters. She said they ramped up their phone banking efforts to have conversations with people safely. McBride’s campaign was already focused around reforming healthcare, the criminal justice system, and providing paid family and medical leave for families in her district. The pandemic, she said, only helped to drive home to her points. 

“We recognize that no one should have to give up their income in the face of a global pandemic. But whether it’s COVID, or cancer, the more fundamental truth is that no one should have to give up their income in the face of any illness,” she said. “And so from the start of this campaign, I was focused on health care and paid family medical leaves and COVID-19 only reinforced the urgency of those issues.”

Delaware, as a state, voted resoundingly to put President-elect Joe Biden into the Oval Office. McBride has a close personal relationship with the Biden family, having worked for Beau Biden when he was Delaware’s attorney general. McBride said she has become much closer with the president-elect after Beau Biden died in 2015 and after her husband Andrew Cray died in 2014—both after battles with cancer. 

“[Biden] is a decent, kind, compassionate, big hearted person and I’m thrilled that he will be leading our country in just a few short months,” McBride said. “I certainly felt like so many people across this country felt unbelievable relief that Donald Trump had lost the presidency and excitement that we will have in the White House, two leaders in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who listen to the data and the science and the experts, will approach issues with compassion, and who have a record of delivering meaningful results for so many people across this country.”

In Biden’s victory speech Saturday evening, he spoke of uniting the country and rebuilding the soul of a divided nation. McBride said that for her, running for local office was the “perfect antidote” for the toxicity of national politics. 

“When you spend your days running for local and state office, you talk to dozens, if not hundreds of voters a day and in those conversations, you see just how much we do have in common,” she said. “The hopes and the fears and the challenges facing a single mom who votes for a Democrat are the same as the challenges that face a single mom who votes Republican. You see how hungry people are for politics that’s rooted in compassion and so I’m incredibly hopeful that we can begin to heal some of the divisions in our politics.”

HONOLULU- In a race for a seat in the Hawai’i House of Representatives 22nd district— which includes Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kakaako on the island of Oahu, a 28 year old gay Asian-American and first-time candidate defeated a leader of the Hawai’i chapter of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.

Adrian Tam, a son of Chinese immigrants, took 63% of the vote against his opponent Republican Nicholas Ochs, whose campaign Facebook page was deleted by the social media giant for violating terms of its service and community standards, KITV-ABC4 Oahu reported in September.

Reacting to his victory, Tam told NBC News reporter Sakshi Venkatraman, “It feels really good to know that someone who is openly LGBT can win. There was a time when people like me could not win. I’m glad that I can bring that representation to the capital.”

The newly elected House member told NBC News that it was a tough election campaign, first trying to establish communications with his constituency during the coronavirus pandemic as he ran to defeat longtime incumbent Tom Brower in the August Democratic primary.

Then this was coupled with a never-ending diatribe of hatred, both over his sexual orientation and even in multi-ethnic/cultural Hawai’i, his background as the son of immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Taiwan. “It’s almost to a harassment level,” Tam told NBC News, noting that Ochs’ supporters bombarded his campaign’s social media to the point where the messages from his own voters were drowned out.

Ochs has a checkered history on Oahu with minority groups. He has been criticized in the past for offensive posts toward Black, Jewish and LGBTQ communities.

KITV-ABC4 Oahu reported that the Democratic Party of Hawaii also called out Ochs for a history of offensive posts on social media about the Black, Jewish, and LGBT communities, as well as a video showing Ochs urinating into active lava fissure at the Kilauea volcano.

“This isn’t a political issue, this is a moral issue, this is about what we as a community stand for and we as welcoming people of Hawaii believe in,” says Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, the chair of the Hawaii Democratic Party.

Ochs told NBC’s Venkatraman that “he also faced harassing messages from Tam’s supporters and that he was disappointed the two didn’t get a chance to debate. He said that he is not racist.”

“I hope the voters know that this does not represent Hawaii values and more importantly that they exercise their right to vote and reject this racism, bigotry, and hateful ideology,” Tam said to KITV then and in his interview with NBC said part of his job now is to serve even those who directed hate toward him and his allies.

“I wanted our community to come together,” he said. “I wanted to let everyone know that I’m a public servant that will work with everyone. My office door will always be open to them and their families.”

Tam was one of the 155 state legislative and local governmental candidates endorsed by the LGBT Victory Fund, the Washington D.C. based political action organization that assists in electing LGBTQ politicos across the United States. Former Houston, Texas Mayor Annise Parker, who is president of the Victory Fund told NBC News in a statement that when there are no LGBTQ elected officials in a state, “it has consequences, both in policy and how young LGBTQ people view themselves.”

“Adrian will ensure LGBTQ people are considered and prioritized in the state capitol and will inspire more LGBTQ people to run and serve,” Parker said.

Hawai’i’s 22nd district has tremendous issues with homeless residents, the state itself has the third highest rate of homelessness in the nation. Tam said that in addition to battling the coronavirus pandemic- he will focus on this issue. This marks a difference from his primary opponent, former five-term State Rep. Tom Brower, who literally waged war on the homeless in the district, most notably smashing and throwing out their belongings.

NEW YORK — Activists around the world are celebrating the election of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

OutRight Action International Executive Director Jessica Stern in a statement said “the outcome of this election has far-reaching implications for LGBTIQ people globally.”

ILGA World Executive Director André du Plessis was with his husband in Richmond, Va., on Nov. 7 when the Associated Press and television networks declared Biden and Harris had won the election. Du Plessis on Monday told the Los Angeles Blade that LGBTQ people around the world over the last four years “have been subject to increased hate that has been unleashed in copy-cat imitation of the poor presidential leadership in the United States” and “have experienced first-hand what happens when society is encouraged to bully, shame, mock, harm and belittle others who are different.”

“The citizens of the United States have this week voted—albeit closely—to reject this kind of leadership,” said du Plessis. “The planet is crying out for more compassionate, mature, visionary, unifying and empathetic leaders, and we now look to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris to be an example.”

Hila Peer, chair of the Aguda, the Israeli National LGBT Task Force, also celebrated the election of Biden and Harris.

“We are celebrating with the U.S. LGBTQ+ community for one that seems to place human rights and in that LGBTQ+ rights as one of great importance,” Peer told the Blade from Tel Aviv. “I hope the winds of positive change will be obvious soon across the U.S. and from there will send ripples of progressives (sic) and true equality to the world-at-large and Israel.”

Tiziana Fisichella, coordinator of Milan Pride in Italy, agreed.

“We are so happy for America,” proclaimed Fisichella on Tuesday in a WhatsApp message to the Blade. “New President-elect Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be tasked with restoring social justice and democracy to the U.S.”

Leandro Rodríguez, an activist in Cuba who is a vocal critic of his country’s government, on Monday told the Blade that Biden’s public support of LGBTQ rights is a sign of “hope.” Danilo Manzano, director of Diálogo Diverso, a group that is based in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, said the election results mean the U.S. will become a “more just, less discriminatory and much more equal country.”  

The promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad was a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy during President Obama’s second term.

Biden in 2016 described LGBTQ rights as the “civil rights issue of our time” when he spoke at a U.N. LGBTI Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of that year’s U.N. General Assembly. Caleb Orozco, an activist in Belize who successfully challenged his country’s colonial-era sodomy law, on Sunday recalled meeting Biden at the event.

“I got an unplanned, but welcomed hug as I was aware of his pain as a father who lost his son to cancer,” Orozco told the Blade in an email.

“During the meeting he waved his pencil at me and I was left shocked because I did not realize he was speaking to me,” he further recalled. “A man with so much loss in his life can become remarkable in leadership, shaped by personal pain.”

The White House in 2019 launched an initiative that encourages countries to decriminalize countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Trump named five openly gay ambassadors, but activists with whom the Blade has spoken after the election sharply criticized the outgoing administration over myriad other issues that include the repeal of legal protections for transgender Americans and its hardline immigration policy.

The U.S. in 2018 withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ issues, on Monday during a telephone interview from his native Costa Rica noted to the Blade that the council gives him his mandate. Madrigal-Borloz also said he was “glad to congratulate all of you on the election of the 46th president and I very much look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration in the furtherance of U.S. support in relation to global furtherance of LGBT issues.”

“There’s a reason why explicit and unambiguous political statements are important and that is because they do have an impact all across the world,” he said when the Blade asked him about the impact the Biden-Harris administration will have on countries with anti-LGBTQ human rights records. “While that is true of any political leadership, it is especially true of the United States given that it is, of course, a global power around the world.”

African Women for Sexual Health and Gender Justice (AWOSHe) Managing Director Hazel Mokgathi, who is based in Botswana, on Monday told the Blade the Biden-Harris administration has pledged to lift the so-called global gag rule, which prevents the U.S. from funding international organizations that provide abortions. Mokgathi also noted Biden in his victory speech specifically mentioned trans people.

“That was very moving for me as a transgender leader, because that on its own has ripple effects to the rest of the world leaders—and including my very own president of Botswana—to protect and acknowledge underserved communities in their own countries,” she said.

Glenroy Murray, director of strategy and impact for J-FLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group in Jamaica, on Monday said he “was pleasantly shocked that the Biden-Harris campaign won out.”

“The Jamaican in me is claiming this victory as a victory for us in the small way,” added Murray. “The USA has positioned themselves as a global leader for LGBT rights and in the last four years that status fell into doubt, particularly from the eyes of an LGBTQ person of color from the Global South.”

Transgender activist in India pays tribute to Harris

Harris’ father, Donald Harris, was born in Jamaica. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. Harris is the first woman, first Black person and first American of South Asian descent elected vice president.

Meera Parida is a member of India’s National Council for Transgender Persons. She is also the state secretary for the Biju Janata Dal, a socialist party that governs India’s Odisha state.

“Being an Indian, I feel proud myself to see a lady of Indian origin being elected,” Parida told the Blade.

Dédé Oetomo, founder of Gaya Nusantara, an Indonesian LGBTQ rights group, on Tuesday also noted Harris’ background when he discussed the election results.

“The reaction among Indonesian LGBTQ folks is one of hope and excitement, given Mr. Biden’s track record in advocating for LGBTQ human rights when he was vice president,” Oetomo told the Blade from the Indonesian city of Surabaya. “There has also been excitement about a half Asian vice president-elect.”

Biden ‘hardly revolutionary’

Elias Jahshan is the former editor of the Star Observer, an LGBTQ newspaper in Australia. Jahshan is also a gay man of Arab descent who now lives in London.

Jahshan on Monday told the Blade he “felt massive relief when Trump lost the election.”

“He is quite possibly the worst kind of leader, by Western democratic standards, for LGBTQ people—especially for the trans community and queer people of color,” he said. “He is absolutely toxic in so many ways. Good riddance that he won’t be around for another term.”

Jahshan described Biden as “a step in the right direction,” especially on LGBTQ rights, but he added his position is “hardly revolutionary.” Jahshan told the Blade that he is “not holding my breath in Biden doing anything to bring about genuine equality and freedoms for Palestinians who lives in the West Bank or Gaza.”

“Time after time we’ve seen both Democrat and Republican leaders use their imperialist powers to reward countries that pander to their exceptionalism, regardless whether they’re dictatorships or not,” he said. “Israel is an example of this—as are Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Palestinians are always thrown under the bus, and this includes LGBTQ Palestinians.”

OutRight Action International’s statement did not refer to the Israeli government’s policies towards the Palestinians, but it did include a list of policy changes the organization would like the Biden-Harris administration to make. These include the appointment of a special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad, which the Obama administration created, and the removal of religious exemptions from U.S. policies.

“OutRight looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to reestablish respect for LGBTIQ rights through U.S. foreign policy,” said Stern. “We will also hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for an intersectional human rights agenda that values LGBTIQ people, people of color, immigrants, women and other vulnerable groups.”

LOS ANGELES – There was excitement in the air. Pollsters and pundits predicted a “blue wave” that would sweep the country Election Night and definitively toss Donald Trump, his spawn and cronies from their gilded seats of power. That didn’t happen. In fact, Republicans flipped one Orange County congressional seat while two others remain too close to call and stunned progressives try to grasp why propositions considered “no brainers”  were defeated. One of those measures, Proposition 21, the Rental Affordability Act, would have helped staunch an expected eviction tsunami at the end of January.  

Surely, any post-election “autopsy report” by the California Democratic Party will transparently dissect not only the Republican performance but the political power plays that resulted in silence or self-imposed sideling or outright conflicts — such as Gov. Gavin Newsom sticking it to the Democratic Party and becoming a poster boy for the misleading No on Prop 21 campaign. His very visible endorsement in ubiquitous campaign ads and massive campaign contributions from corporate landlords in the real estate industry — corporate landlords such as Blackstone Group, Essex Property Trust, and Equity Residential contributed a whopping $86 million to No on Prop 21 — should also raise the question about whether California’s initiative process is really an effective device for voters to independently create law or yet another tool for the rich and powerful to achieve their usually profit-oriented goal. Exhibit A: the real estate industry is gloating about “cleaning up on Election Day.”

The old amusing Will Rogers adage — “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” — is no longer funny as those vulnerable to eviction face flu season and a COVID-19 winter  with the prospect of fast federal, state and local relief still in chaos.

Prop 21 was the statewide ballot measure that put limits on unfair, sky-high rent increases, reined in corporate landlord greed, and would have prevented homelessness. Top experts at USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley agree that sensible rent limits are key for stabilizing California’s housing affordability crisis. The initiative was supported 342 organizations and individuals including Reps. Maxine Waters, Karen Bass and Barbara Lee, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, the City of West Hollywood, the California Democratic Party, the ACLU, the California Nurses Association, Black Lives Matter, the LA Times and the LA Blade, and a slew of LGBTQ organizations and individuals  such as LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin and LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.  

Interestingly, the movement for housing justice  is in large part being organized, led and fueled by LGBTQ political activists.  René Christian Moya, for instance, was the Campaign Director for the Prop 21 campaign,  and is the Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Housing Is a Human Right. HHR was founded by Michael Weinstein, who co-founded the AIDS Hospice Foundation in June 1987 that transitioned into the AHF in July 1990 to meet the critical treatment needs of people with HIV/AIDS. AHF was the primary funder of Prop 21.

“AIDS Healthcare Foundation was born of moral outrage over the mistreatment of people with AIDS. We began as a hospice provider when people were dying in the hallways of the county hospital,” Weinstein told the LA Blade last year. “Today’s housing crisis is a similar crisis of indifference to suffering. Our patients and employees are feeling the devastating impact of skyrocketing rents. AHF has jumped into the breach with advocacy and by directly creating affordable housing units.”

Weinstein, for whom renters rights is a personal issue,  vows to fight on.

“The Prop 21 campaign was outspent more than two to one by our opponents, opposed by Democratic outlier Governor Gavin Newsom—going against his own California Democratic Party, which unanimously endorsed 21—and received full-throated endorsements from a who’s who of respected local, state and federal California Democratic office holders. We built a broad, diverse coalition of over 300 organizations, elected officials and individuals and ran an honorable, hard-hitting campaign. Nevertheless, we fell short,” Weinstein told the LA Blade. “However, this is not the end: our fight for housing justice will continue. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ Together with our growing coalition, we will carry on in the fight for housing justice!”  

Elena Popp, the out lesbian Executive Director of the Eviction Defense Network, has been fighting for housing justice for decades. “I am frightened. They’re 191,000 of our families at risk of eviction for nonpayment of rent — and that doesn’t include all of the other people who are going to get evicted because their owners want to raise the rent and so they’re looking for an opportunity to get them out,” Popp told a Yes on Prop 21 rally.  

LA City Hall just got two new vehement housing justice advocates. Prop 21 endorsers Kevin de León, former President Pro Tem of the California State Senate, and urban planner and homeless advocate Nithia Raman are joining out Councilmembers Bonin and Mitch O’Farrell on the LA City Council.

Bonin called Prop 21 “profoundly significant” during a Get-Out-The-Vote webinar. 

 “We live in an era of bizarro politics where governments at all levels are doing the opposite of whatever the crisis demands,” Bonin said. “Costa Hawkins being in effect right now and prohibiting us from doing rent control is the same logic that has a federal government not extending relief programs for people in the middle of a brutal recession. It’s the same logic that has a federal government trying to take away healthcare coverage in the middle of a fatal pandemic.”

Homelessness and affordable housing are serious issues for O’Farrell, as well. Last September, he posted a simple Q & A fact sheet about tenant protections during the COVID pandemic introduced a tenants defense program, and announced an initiative with Council President Nury Martinez to assess all services provided by the three County Departments of Public Health on behalf of the over 41,000 homeless Angelenos in the city.

“The status quo is not working. The City of Los Angeles has witnessed annual double digit increases in people experiencing homelessness, bringing the population to well over 41,000 individuals,” O’Farrell, who represents the 13th District, said in a press release. “My initiative takes a close, purposeful look at all of the programs and services that were designed over the years to address this humanitarian crisis.”

De León, a lifelong renter and longtime LGBTQ ally, says his passion for rent control and “transformational change” is personal. “Like many of you, we were just one stroke of bad luck away from living on the street. We took nothing for granted because we didn’t know where the next paycheck would come from,” he said after his swearing in on Oct. 15.

“What we’re seeing today in Los Angeles is a modern-day human catastrophe, a dystopian nightmare, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s shocking. It’s shameful. We have a moral and human obligation to do better, to improve our quality of life, ensuring that everyone can afford to keep a roof over their head.”

Raman, who defeated LGBTQ ally and Prop 21-supportive incumbent David Ryu for the 4^th Council District, spoke at a renters rights rally downtown about hearing painful stories from people “who had just fallen behind, who couldn’t catch up. People who could see the apartment they used to live in from their tent, especially in my neighborhood in Silver Lake. That’s the consequence of our housing and tenants’ rights policies here in California…We’re using a bucket to bail out the Titanic here in California.”

Newsom signed AB 3088 on Aug. 31 as a “bridge” bill to delay a then-expected tsunami of evictions for unpaid rent as a result of job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill expires at the end of January 2021.

But Francisco Duenas, director of Housing Now! California,   a statewide housing justice advocacy coalition, noted that Newsom then actively collaborated with Trump corporate donors backing the  No on Prop 21 campaign.  

“Gov. Newsom has shamefully chosen to align himself with corporate real estate interests to the detriment of everyday Californians, especially communities of color most impacted by the twin crises of coronavirus and exorbitant housing costs,” Duenas said. “Unfortunately, year in and year out, these corporate interests and their billionaire CEOs give lots of money not only to ballot initiatives but to political campaigns so that elected officials know who is calling the shots.”

Duenas, formerly an attorney with Lambda Legal, thinks LGBTQ advocacy in the housing justice movement is “about community building. It’s about belonging and that is so central to LGBT identity, like finding a community, being able to belong and — this housing issue is a threat.”

And it’s critical. “(LGBTQ) individuals represent between five and ten percent of the general youth population, yet they make up 15 to 25 percent of the homeless youth population,” reported the California Homeless Youth Project. 

“Percentages are even higher in certain communities known to offer support and services to the LGBTQ community, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where LGBTQ youth represent up to 40 percent of the homeless youth population.”

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated approximately 50,000 to 60,000 people were homeless in LA on any given night in 2019, more than 44,000 on the streets. Though the LAHSA did not post LGBTQ-specific statistics, out LA City Controller Ron Galperin produced an online map to help link homeless and the 40% at-risk LGBTQ youth to services. “The homelessness crisis gripping our region spans the spectrum of age, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation and expression, but is particularly difficult for LGBTQ youth,” Galperin said.

Though Prop 21 was defeated, the movement goes on.

“Unfortunately, for several years now the California legislature and Governor Newsom have not come up solutions commensurate with the monumental problems we face here in California with housing and homelessness,” said Weinstein. “That is why we took this measure, and Prop 10 before it, directly to voters. In the immediate future, AHF will now concentrate more energy directly on housing the homeless and extremely low-income people through AHF’s Healthy Housing Foundation and our innovative, far less costly housing model adapting and refurbishing old SRO hotels repurposed as longer-term housing solution.

We pioneered this model in late 2017 and now have nearly 700 people—including many parents and their children—in eight former hotels and motels throughout Greater Los Angeles. We are pleased to see that some other organizations and cities–notably, San Diego—are exploring and deploying this adaptive reuse model to address their housing crises.”