As Democrats huddled over a path forward after losing the White House and both houses of Congress, LGBTQ+ candidates celebrated historic victories. This cycle LGBTQ+ hopefuls boasted an estimated 80% win rate and ran significantly ahead of the top of the Democratic ticket in many places.
Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay Senator in US history, won reelection in Wisconsin, a state Trump won by a whisper. Keturah Herron was elected as the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in Kentucky’s State Senate, a state that Trump won by almost 20%. Julie Johnson was elected to Congress from Texas’ 32nd District, making her the first openly LGBTQ+ US Representative from the South. Trump won Texas by over 1.5 million votes. Two counties partly in D32, Collin County and Denton County, went to Trump by 11 points and 13 points respectively, but in the parts of those counties that fall in D32, Johnson won by 12 points and 27 points respectively.
So why did openly Queer candidates win in the same cycle that sent Donald Trump to the White House? Electoral experts point to the candidates’ direct, unapologetic presentation of themselves and the issues they cared about.
“I think the anti-trans messaging is painful, it’s unfortunate, it is complete misinformation, and I think it contributed to an atmosphere of anxiety and upset. But it’s not why people voted for Donald Trump,” said former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, President of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and the first openly LGBTQ+ mayor of a major American city.
Mayor Parker underlined that Trump’s messaging reached voters in ways not directly related to LGBTQ+ issues, citing his volume of talking points on the economy and immigration. She also noted that Trump’s campaign rhetoric underlined what Americans were looking for this cycle.
“If you ask Donald Trump voters why they voted for Donald Trump, a lot of them say because they can see he’s authentic, they know who he is. People want authenticity,” said Mayor Parker.
While the Trump campaign’s version of “authenticity” ran counter to the basic moral principles grounding LGBTQ+ campaigns, the winning value of authenticity also showed in those campaigns. Perhaps even more important, those candidates spoke directly to the same sense of lack and precarity Trump preyed on.
Sarah McBride won her race in Delaware, becoming the first out trans person to be elected to Congress. Representative-elect McBride underlined how her trans identity and her electoral victory walked together in a recent press conference.
“I did not run on my identity, but my identity was not a secret,” she said. She ran on her reputation as a problem-solving state legislator and spoke to voters’ concerns “What I was hearing from voters across the state of Delaware was not the ads that Donald Trump was putting on the air. What I was hearing from folks was the need to build an economy for everyone… What I was hearing was that the American dream is increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible. What I was hearing was that we need to guarantee affordable healthcare, housing, and childcare for every person in this state and country,” McBride said. The soon-to-be freshman Congresswoman received the highest percentage of votes of any Democrat running statewide.
McBride’s genuine prioritization of kitchen table issues and her unapologetic sense of identity sent her to the Capitol. In a similar fashion, Keturah Herron, who while running for state senate also served as the only LGBTQ+ member of Kentucky’s House of Representatives, did not run from defending her Queer constituents while grounding her campaign in issues that serve all of Kentucky.
Herron became one of the state’s premier voices on gun violence in a state the Giffords rates an F for legislation relating to firearms. Herron put in the work to keep Ketuckyans safe by introducing legislation and employing talking points on the campaign trail that underlined her commitment to common-sense gun laws. Herron’s victory tells an important story that embracing your identity as a queer person and also having a popular policy platform are not mutually exclusive. Herron remained in defense of queer folks in Kentucky while holding public office and on the campaign trail, and this cycle voters rewarded her for that authenticity.
Breaking molds and turning out the vote
The ranks of this year’s candidates were more diverse than in past years, and they won despite MAGA’s high volume of anti-trans hate.
“Eighty-three percent of our candidates of color won. 69% of our trans and non-binary candidates won. 74% of our candidates under 40 won as well. We often say that when queer women and non-binary candidates run, they really do win,” said Michelle Atwood, the National Political Director at LPAC, an organization that endorses LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary candidates.
These candidates broke molds during the same cycle where the vilification of identities took center stage in races across the country. Republicans spent approximately $215 million on anti-trans ads this cycle, ads that contained rampant misinformation and dangerous rhetoric.
While Democrats reassess party strategy for the midterms, how they interact with and support queer people is top of mind. Some in the party blame Harris’s loss on “wokeness” and support for transgender rights, and appeared poised to back away from the issue. McBride herself distressed some in the queer community by backing off an early fight over the Republican introduction of a “bathroom bill” for the US House.
But Democrats didn’t lose on LGBTQ+ issues; in fact, voters–including many Republicans– overwhelmingly reject anti-trans messaging. Queer candidates are not only Democrats’ biggest success story this cycle, but also one of their most powerful assets as an engaged voting bloc. A poll from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) that surveyed registered LGBTQ+ voters this cycle indicated that 94% of respondents planned to vote in 2024. Queer people are engaged, and as the LGBTQ+ population continues to grow, by 2040 one in five voters will identify as LGBTQ+. The electoral power of queer communities is deep, but also hyper-fixated on rejecting authoritarianism and embracing liberation.
Yes, 93% of LGBTQ+ voters identify as Democrats, but the resistance to oppression is far deeper than party lines. Queer Americans also have been on the front lines of resistance to the Genocide in Gaza. They have been leading fights across the country for stronger laws relating to the use and the ownership of firearms. They have been engaged in the protection and expansion of reproductive rights for all people. The LGBTQ+ community is not a monolith, but it is clear that many of its members play an active role in the broad front against political extremism and persecution.
Is the “lavender ceiling” cracked or shattered?
These sizable gains for queer representation in elected office also begin conversations on what limits and boundaries still exist. The “lavender ceiling” is the metaphorical manifestation of boundaries facing queer people as they seek to exist in rooms where no person like them has been allowed to enter.
Since San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk became one of the first openly gay elected officials in US history in 1977, more than 1,300 queer candidates have won office. Now as US voters choose LGBTQ+ people to occupy the highest positions of power, is the “lavender ceiling” cracked or shattered?
“There is no such thing as a lavender ceiling any longer. We just have to have the right candidates with the right experience to go for those positions. Right now, we have three sitting (LGBTQ+) United States governors. Three (LGBTQ+) U.S. senators. Pete Buttigieg was capable and qualified as a presidential candidate and was successful farther and longer than other non-LGBTQ+ candidates. I don’t accept a lavender ceiling. We just haven’t gotten to the point where we’ve had enough people in the pipeline to say, yes.” said Mayor Parker.
As of May 2024, voters would have to elect over 38,000 more LGBTQ+ people to offices across the country in order to achieve representation that coordinates with the LGBTQ+ population. While candidates belonging to this community continue to occupy new spaces, the mountains left to climb are still daunting.
“It can feel very black and white to say either we’ve broken the lavender ceiling or we haven’t. That’s not how progress works. We definitely made a lot of progress this cycle with wins…Obviously, it’s a tough landscape right now, but this is why we’re sharing these successes.” said Atwood.
Gearing up for rough terrain
As newly elected LGBTQ+ candidates prepare to join congressional delegations, school boards, statehouses, and more, the opposition to LGBTQ+ rights has veered into more extremist terrain.
The Trump campaign has made promises to withdraw federal policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, discussed a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for trans people, made threats targeting trans-Americans in the military and trans students, and even floated loose commitments to roll back marriage equality. It is clear that a Trump administration will be a chaotic time for progress on issues of queer liberation, but progress is not impossible either. New electeds with dignity and community at the forefront of their work send a message of hope.
“I know a lot of people feel very scared and that it’s very daunting that it’s red everywhere. But I think these are our shining spots. Seeing that we have these champions who are committed to the values that their constituents share around equality and nondiscrimination, they’re in the fight,” said Joanna Hoffman, Director of Communications at LPAC.