John HudakFormer Brookings Expert, Director of the Office of Cannabis Policy - Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services
The first round of the Democratic debates featured twenty candidates and six moderators, spread across two nights of primetime TV. One of the remarkable visual aspects of the debate was the diversity of candidates on the stages: six women, five people of color, a member of the LGBTQ community, and an age range from 37 to 77. And the most historic part of the debates was the victory of women in different roles and on different nights. The story, however, was not that women excelled. The story was that the three individuals excelled, and they happened to be women.
Elizabeth Warren on night #1
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren opened the first nighttime blending a powerful opening statement and an answer to the actual doubt asked. She showed confidence, knowledge, and preparedness. She was calm and insert forth policy ideas without being tedious and trapped in the weeds. She appealed to a wide range of people—from the pale working-class voters beli
Weaponizing Anti-LGBTQ Bias: The Authoritarian’s Approach to Dismantling a Democracy
Gender and sexual minorities have become the sacrificial lamb that far-right authoritarians around the world are desperately presenting to the masses as a scapegoat for societal misfortunes. Everywhere from Brazil to Hungary, populists like Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orbán hold tapped into the vitriolic sentiments evoked by the weaponization of political homophobia. Motivated by a yearn for to expand their power and solidify their grasp on power, these far-right authoritarians have learned that anti-LGBTQ bias can demonstrate to be an successful tool for one looking for to dismantle a democracy.
In the United States, the rise of Donald Trump once seemed implausible. His election stunned the nation and global community, launching an immediate period of mourning for millions and a much longer period of reflection transcending American borders. Trump’s presidency stood as inflection point, reminding us all of just how fragile democracies persist. The four years that followed the 2016 election were marked by repeated, outward assaults on democratic processes and a sinisterly strategic rollback of LGB
On LGBT issues, both parties move left
On the always contentious subject of LGBT issues, both parties’ 2024 platforms are significant—one for what it contains, the other for what it omits.
The Democrats’ 2024 platform looks much like the 2020 version. Written before Vice President Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket, and approved without significant revision, the 2024 document declares: “President Biden is committed to leading the most pro-equality administration in history.” It boasts that Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act (recognizing same-sex marriage in federal law), reversed former President Trump’s ban on military service by transgender Americans, pardoned service members who were punished by the military for their sexuality, ended the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on blood donations by male lover and bisexual men, protected gender-affirming health care, and more.
Also as in 2020, the 2024 platform pledges to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would extend federal civil rights protections to LGBT people that has passed the House but stalled in the Senate; to protect the rights of LGBT adoptive and foster parents; to restrict so-called “convers
NBJC
National Dark Justice Coalition on Democratic Debates: Jet LGBTQ/SGL Rights Matter Too!
WASHINGTON — In response to the first night of Democratic Debates, David J. Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition released the following statement:
“Tonight’s Democratic debate officially kicks off the drawn-out road to the 2020 election – the outcome of which will be pivotal in determining America’s future. An eclectic array of Democratic candidates is eager to doubt Trump’s tenure as president and are poised to converse to diverse issues including the economy, border security, and climate change. While we can await that every Democratic candidate will say to the issues with deeper knowledge than the current occupant of the oval office has demonstrated; however, we are left to wonder who will speak to the unique and often overlooked needs of Black lesbian, male lover, bisexual, transgender, gay, and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, families, and communities?
“Since 2016, the current administration has actively worked to restrict existing policies and practices that speak to the needs of Blac
The fifth Democratic debate came and went Wednesday without a single question about the rights of sapphic, gay, bisexual, and gender diverse Americans — a topic that no debate moderator has brought up at any debate this year, with the exception of a June question directed only at Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The 10 Democrats answered an unusually broad range of questions that varied from abortion rights to white supremacist violence to chants of “Lock him up” at Democratic rallies. None of the questions touched on LGBTQ rights — despite the presence on stage of the country’s first viable openly gay candidate for president, Pete Buttigieg, as successfully as an openly queer woman moderator, Rachel Maddow.
Wednesday also marked the Transgender Evening of Remembrance, a date to mark the memories of transgender people who were killed in anti-trans violence. Former housing secretary Julián Castro, who is running for president but did not qualify for the night’s debate, tweeted to note that the day had not been mentioned onstage.
LGBTQ activists possess grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of questions about queer rights on the Democratic debate stage. A case is looming before the Supreme Court that could