Whether it was financial or ideological fear that motivated a majority of American voters to go Republican in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the nation’s LGBT citizens are left holding their collective breath over the legislative implications.
With the GOP taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives and, in Pennsylvania, the state House, the future is less promising for a slew of pro-LGBT bills.
Among the community’s biggest political losses is U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, prime sponsor of the bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and credited with garnering House approval for the measure this year. Murphy lost his bid for reelection to Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, whom he defeated four years ago.
“Losing Patrick Murphy sent a very damaging signal to our allies who have already been resistant to taking on a leadership role in regards to LGBT issues in Congress,” said Steve Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. “Patrick stuck his neck out for us and was an extraordinary champion for LGBT rights, and became the face and voice of the repeal for ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ And, while I don’t think that’s the reason why he lost, I think many will perceive that that kind of courage carried too steep a price. So I’m concerned that our allies on both sides of the aisle may be more reluctant now to take on leadership roles in regard to ensuring our equality.”
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, called Murphy a “bright, capable young leader.”
“SLDN will forever remember and be grateful for Patrick’s remarkable leadership in the fight to repeal DADT, and I have no doubt Patrick Murphy will be back to serve this nation again,” Sarvis said. “We appreciate his long and extraordinary service to our country.”
Meanwhile, at the state level, Democrats made some gains with the election of candidates like Kevin Boyle, who ousted longtime Republican Rep. John Perzel. But Republicans are now in control of both the state Senate and House, which could make the passage of an LGBT-inclusive employment nondiscrimination or hate-crimes law extremely challenging, noted Glassman.
“When we passed the hate-crimes bill [to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s hate-crimes law, which a court later overturned] in 2002, it was passed with a Republican governor and a Republican-controlled House and Senate,” he pointed out. “But the makeup of this Republican Party is so different now. The parties are so polarized and have much more extreme points of view on both sides, so it’s going to be exceedingly more difficult to move any equality legislation forward in a legislature that is now much more conservative than when [former Gov. Tom] Ridge was in office.”
The Democratic sweep out of Pennsylvania also claimed the governor’s race, with Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett taking 55 percent of the vote over Democratic nominee Dan Onorato. Corbett has spoken out against hate-crimes laws and recently filed a motion to support overturning a California court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, an LGBT ally, lost his U.S. Senate bid to Pat Toomey, a Republican who has compared himself to former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a strong opponent of LGBT rights.
Pennsylvania Democrats Chaka Fattah, Jason Altmire, Allyson Schwartz, Mike Doyle, Tim Holden and Mark Critz were able to hold onto their Congressional seats. However, Republican Patrick Meehan defeated Democrat Bryan Lentz to fill Sestak’s open Seventh District seat, Democrat Manan Trivedi failed to unseat Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach, and Democratic incumbents Kathy Dahlkemper, Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski were ousted.
Fern Kaufman, a Pennsylvania state House candidate from Chester County, was defeated for the second time in two years by Republican incumbent Tim Hennessey. Had she been elected, Kaufman would have been the first openly LGBT legislator in the state.
But the LGBT community did see one small victory at the polls: Voters approved a measure on the ballot questions that requires city contracts to explicitly prohibit LGBT discrimination.
Although the outlook for pro-LGBT legislation is “pretty bleak,” said Ted Martin, executive director of Equality PA, the community is resilient.
“I think we are in for some frustrating times. While I congratulate the new majority and certainly offer them every hand in partnership, I think a lot of work needs to be done to build the trust that’s needed to get anything done,” Martin said.
“But none of the victories LGBT folks have worked for have ever come easily,” he added, “so we’re used to working hard, and I think we’re going to continue doing that, no matter how much more difficult it’s going to be now.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].