This is my last column before the election. To say this is the most important election of your life does not do it justice. As an LGBT person it literally could determine your life and your marriage.
Donald Trump has waged a war on the LGBT community for the last four years. Yes, a war. He and his Vice President have systematically dismantled any LGBT rights they could through department regulation. They’ve done so in education, the military, housing, healthcare, foreign policy, and many more areas.
They also sided against marriage equality by having Attorney General William Barr submit a brief with the Supreme Court fighting against your right to marry. They are in court at this very moment supporting the right of an adoption agency to forbid you from adoption. And if their Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed to the Supreme court, the next time marriage equality is challenged your marriage will be tossed out of the window.
This election also has the opportunity to change more than who’s in the White House. If it is a blue wave it has the possibility of flipping the U.S. Senate. That would make Joe Biden’s job in Washington much easier. He can appoint judges who care about LGBT rights; he can appoint a Health and Human Services secretary who cares about LGBT healthcare; he can appoint an Education secretary who wants to ensure LGBT children are protected.
And it’s not just benefits on the federal level. If there is a blue wave, it has the possibility of flipping the Pennsylvania State House. The Republicans in Harrisburg have steadfastly refused to move on any form of LGBT rights. They have not updated PA’s hate crimes laws to include LGBT people. They have not voted to pass a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill in housing and public accommodations. In many parts of this state, you can be kicked out of where you live solely because of your sexual orientation or gender identity. You can change that by voting Democrat this year.
We can win the war that Trump and Pence have brought on our community, but we can only do it if you get out and do your part for equality. We can only do it if you get out and vote for Joe Biden, for Senate, for Congress, for the State Legislature, and for Democrats up and down the ballot.
Are helping us win this war, or are you standing on the sidelines?