The LGBTQ
community made a major impact on the outcomes of the 2020 election
season. LGBTQ Nation analysis of data revealed that without
LGBTQ voters in key states, Donald Trump likely
would have won reelection as President, for example. Further reviews
have also concluded that Trump
could have won again, if not for the force of LGBTQ voters all over
the country.
Billy Porter
doesn’t want you to forget. He’s working with GLAAD to remind everyone that
LGBTQ voters, organizers, and groups like GLAAD made the difference in what was
considered the most pivotal election of our time.
In a new
video, the Pose star himself narrates a review of the tireless
work that GLAAD committed to during the 2020 primary and general elections. The
two-and-a-half minute spot highlights “the LGBTQ community’s impact on the 2020
general election, as well as the impact we are posed to have in the Georgia
run-off,” GLAAD announced.
“After five
primary debates without a single question about LGBTQ health care protections,
workplace discrimination, violence against the community or support for the
Equality Act, GLAAD deployed thirty years of media expertise to amplify the
LGBTQ voice in the election conversation,” Porter explains.
He lists their media guide for journalists,
petitions to debate moderators, and self-hosted Presidential Forum in Iowa as
examples of the group “spotlighting LGBTQ issues on the national stage.”
“GLAAD went
into combat mode against rampant lies and disinformation,” Porter continues,
“with daily media pushback from its news and rapid response team, pre-election
polling, and a heart-wrenching
ad that aired on Fox News.”
“GLAAD led the
charge to turn out LGBTQ and ally voters,” says Porter, “resulting in the
biggest LGBTQ turnout ever.”
“Because of
GLAAD, the voices — and the votes — of LGBTQ people and their allies were heard
loud and clear at the ballot box, and GLAAD will continue to lead the fight for
equality and acceptance,” Porter concludes.
Yet, the
extent of progress for LGBTQ rights under incoming President Joe Biden’s
administration remains uncertain. It
all depends on if Democrats can take hold of the Senate by winning the
runoff elections for Georgia’s two seats on January 5.
If either
incumbent — Kelly Loeffler or David Perdue — were to defeat their challenger —
Rev. Raphael Warnock or Jon Ossoff, respectively — Republicans would retain
control of the Senate. That means current Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would
remain in charge of the chamber’s agenda.
If both
Loeffler and Perdue lose, there would be exactly 50 Republican and 50 Democrat
Senators in the next Congress. That would allow Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris to cast the deciding vote to end tiebreakers in the chamber, and giving
pro-LGBTQ legislation like the Equality Act a chance of passing.
As Porter
says, “the election is over, but GLAAD’s work goes on.”
That’s why
GLAAD also announced that it will undertake yet another text messaging campaign
this week, hoping to encourage millions of potential voters to make that
difference yet again. They are working with LGBTQ organization Georgia Equality
and VoteAmerica to reach as many voters as possible before polls close next
Tuesday.
“Join millions
of people supporting diversity and inclusion by voting in the Jan. 5th Senate
runoff,” the sample text messages shared with LGBTQ Nation read.
“Early voting is open now,” they remind readers, before encouraging them to
find their nearest polling location and other information on the runoffs
at GLAAD.org/georgia.
“The texts
will continue through December 30 when early voting ends in select locations,”
GLAAD said in a statement.
Earlier this
month, the anti-LGBTQ records of Sens. Loeffler and Perdue were published to
GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project,
also in collaboration with Georgia Equality. They found that Loeffler donates
her salary to an anti-LGBTQ group and has close ties to the Family
Research Council, a hate group, while Perdue has earned praised from the
Council and the Family Policy Alliance, a lobbying front for another anti-LGBTQ
hate group, Focus on the Family.
Neither have
voiced support, or even acknowledged, the proposed Equality Act, GLAAD points
out. Both Ossoff and Rev. Warnock support it.
That’s part of
why GLAAD is working just as hard to get the vote out in the Peach state — and
so far, early voting numbers reflect
higher turnout than in November’s election.
“The general
election began with a lack of attention given to LGBTQ issues and pivoted to
the Trump Administration falsely positioning itself as LGBTQ-affirming in a
shameless effort to court LGBTQ voters and our allies,” GLAAD President and CEO
Sarah Kate Ellis told LGBTQ Nation.
A
post-election poll by GLAAD found that Trump only earned 14 percent of the
LGBTQ vote, which was the same as he had in 2016. By contrast, Joe Biden earned
81 percent of the community’s vote.
That
contradicted a previous analysis that determined that Trump had doubled his
LGBTQ support in this election, based on an exit poll using a much smaller
sample of LGBTQ respondents.
“Combatting
that false narrative and growing visibility for LGBTQ issues became
centerpieces of GLAAD’s largest election campaign ever,” Ellis said. “LGBTQ
voters turned out in historic numbers and it’s thanks to our community, along
with other diverse Americans, that pro-equality candidates crossed the finish
line.”
GLAAD found
that approximately 93 percent of LGBTQ identifying people voted, and 25 percent
did so for the first time.
“Now, we must
join together to secure another win for equality in the Senate run-off,” Ellis
said, because “the Equality Act, an end to the trans military ban, and
rollbacks of other recent anti-LGBTQ policies can become realities” after
“years of advocacy.”
See GLAAD’s
video as narrated by Billy Porter here first.
SOURCE: LGBTQ NATION
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