LGBTQ Community: Your Vote Matters

Lately, you’ve probably been seeing a lot of ads and banners encouraging you to get out there and vote. Maybe that idea is a bit intimidating or perhaps you’ve never voted before. Maybe you have little interest in voting. Maybe you just don’t believe you can change anything; or perhaps you have been told (by those trying to suppress your right) “why bother, it’s not like it will even matter”. 

The truth – it DOES MATTER.  Elections have been won & lost by the smallest of margins.  The LGBTQ community has been fighting for equality for decades.   Significant progress has been made, yet over the past few years, there has been some backtracking in terms of LGBTQ equality. The fight is ongoing and with the current congress’s actions in packing the court with judges that have anti-LGBTQ positions, the fight is just going to get more challenging. 

The community has stepped up so many times, and now more than ever, the community, allies, friends, family, neighbors, and non-voters need to come together in absolute solidarity.   How? By getting informed and making a plan to vote.  Register (if you haven’t already), educate yourself on all of the candidates on the ballot.  Don’t just stop at the top – look carefully up & down the ballot as local & state-level elections are just as critical as the House, Senate, and the Presidency.  Educate yourselves about the candiates on the ballots, talk about the positions these candidates have with others in your orbit.  DO NOT sit this one out.

Check your registration at IWillVote.com

The Stonewall riots in 1969, though not the beginning of the fight for LGBTQ rights, it was most certainly a catalyst. The people in the community had oppression, discrimination and injustice. They would be silenced no longer! What happened at Stonewall empowered the community to take more action & actively jump in the fight for gay rights, justice and equality.

What’s at stake in 2020?

The current administration has done it’s best to roll back many of the rights the gay community had fought for. With so many influential people in positions of authority that actively fight to remove our rights, we must stand even stronger together & united against these forces of evil.

During the first week of the current administration, mentions of LGBTQ rights were removed from the official White House website. The administration took up the fight to include questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on the Census. Transgender people were banned from joining the military. Flying the rainbow flag at US Embassies during PRIDE MONTH was banned. The Department of Justice thought it a good move to suggest that employers could fire LGBTQ individuals solely due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Supreme Court. The highest court of the land. Justices that are nominated by the President of the United state and confirmed to a LIFETIME seat on the bench by the Senate.

Elections matter. Elections have very real benefits and equally large consequences. Electing representatives that will write legislation to create new laws that bring the gay community closer to equality is absolutely imperative. Change happens locally, statewide, and eventually on the national level by showing up & voting in the RIGHT representation. We need to run for office. We need to actively work towards getting these candidates elected. We NEED a seat at the table. Be the next generation of young queers to get involved, join & lead the charge into the next chapter of progress for justice & equality. You CAN DO IT!

Be the change

This is a call to action. Use your voice to speak out against what this administration has done and will continue to do. A recent article in The Nation estimates that 9 million LGBTQ adults are old enough to vote, with almost half of that group being younger than 35. In other words, the gay community can quite possibly decide entire elections (from local to nationwide) that benefit LGBTQ rights and equality. Let’s put into office & positions of power a government that will fight alongside the gay community..

If you have not registered to vote yet, do not let another day go by. Voter registration deadlines have passed for some states and are quickly closing for the remaining. Get educated on the candidates that are running for office in this election. Find out which candidates support gay rights and which ones will strongly oppose the fight for equality. Register. Get informed. And vote to protect our rights.

Wear your voting PRIDE loudly & proudly – check out some of our election themed pride merch back at the shop.