While presidential elections garner far more interest than midterm elections, the midterms tend to determine the balance of power in states, which is where the bulk of policies that affect queer Americans are set.
In this episode of The Library, activists and writers Gabriel Arana and Adam Eli join sit down to discuss the state of LGBTQ rights and explain why voting this midterm season is more important than ever.
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- Hello, everyone and welcome.The Library is officially open,which means it's time to reador be read.I'm Samhita Mukhopadhyay.- And I'm Lucy Diavolo.It's midterm season and thatmeans it's almost time to vote.- Queer rights have developed a lotover the past decade,but the fight for equalityis just beginning.In the upcoming midterm elections,the stakes for LGBTQ+ folks,and really all of us,are huge.We're really excited today to be joined byactivist and writer, Adam Eli.And writer and activist,Gabriel, and gay man.[laughter]Gabriel Arana.- I think that you need all my titles.- Welcome.While the Presidential electionsgarner far more interestthan the midterms--we all kind of know that, right?The midterms tend todetermine the balance of powerin the States.The bulk of policies thataffect queer Americansare actually happening inthe Senate and the House.Gabe, talk to us a little bitabout this project that you didabout the 50 States of Queerand why it was important to do.- So the 50 States of Queer projecthas a number of components.One is a feature I wrote about whatis at stake for queer peoplein this upcoming election.Another portion of it looks atthe state of queer rights afterthe gay marriage decision in 2015and the third part,which is most directlyrelated to the election,is a voter guide whereusers can go and stickin their address andthe page spits out yourpolling location,who's going to be on your ballot,and the candidates are givenLGBT friendliness ratings.So the goal of it was really to informqueer people aboutthe election.It's comprehensive.- Really amazing,amazing tool and honestly,not something I've ever heard of before.Why does it matter for queerpeople to get out the vote?- It matters in particularfor the midterms becauseconservative voters havean advantage.Midterms is when theyconsolidate power in the statesand so if you look at state legislaturesand governorships,most of them are Republican.You know, there are abouthalf dozen states where bothhouses of the legislatureand the governor's mansion areRepublican.And it's really inmidterm elections whereprogressive voters stay home andconservative voterscome out at higher rates that theysecure that advantage.- Can you talk about one state where,you know, we were seeing things flippedhad all queer voters come out?- Yeah, so,one of the things we lookedat for the project waswhat would the impact ofqueer voters had been on swing states?One of the ones we looked at was Michigan,where Trump won by a mere 13,000 votes?The number of LGBT voters who stayed homeis around 150,000.- Oh my God.Wow.- Yeah, so if queer people had only,you know, had gotten10% of theirvoters out, then it would haveflipped the state.- So, Adam,often, when we talk about the election,we talk about it in the nationalscheme of things and often,that can make an individualfeel like their vote is not meaningful,or it's not going to be effective.What is your advice for that person?- So I would say that that is justobjectively not true.Gabe just gave us a beautiful reasonand beautiful example ofMichigan of why that is nottrue, particularly if you're queer.I work with an organizationcalled Swing Leftand they identifyswing counties, which is a county thatwent redduring the last electionby a very thin marginand if you give them your zip code,it'll give you like tangiblevolunteer opportunitiesto try to,in like, a very pointedplaces of to turn thoseswing counties bluein the hopes of taking backthe House of Representatives.So,if, for whatever reason,you're feeling like yourvote doesn't matter,get on a bus and volunteer and it willbecome very clear very fasthow much your vote and thevotes that you might be ableto influence do matter.- Can we talk aboutsome of the key issues?I think it's easy to getwrapped up in the federal levelbut you were just saying howthis is a midterm electionthat's gonna play outall across the country.So what issues shouldpeople be looking forin their states when it comesto the midterm elections?- So the Massachusettslegislature passed a lawsaying that you can't discriminate againsttransgender people inpublic accommodations, whichare things like doctors offices,the store,basically anythingthat's not home or work.Opponents of LGBT rightssucceeded in getting thislaw on the referendum soin Massachusetts, there'sa process whereby you cangather enough signatures andany act of the legislaturethat's passed, you canput it before the votersand voters can sayyes or no.- 'Cause what your project does so well,I think, is makes clear howso much of this stuff happenson a state by state basis right now.- We talked about why itmatters at the state level,it's really clear,you know, and why it'simportant at the national level,but what are some other implications fora young queer person'svote in the United States?- So something I think thatqueer voters particularly,queer voters in Michiganmay not understand is thatwhen you are voting,you're not just votingfor your own rights orthe rights of your friendsor your communities,you're voting for therights of queer peopleall over the world andlike, just for example, like,the President appointsthe Secretary of Stateand then the Senate has to confirm himand he is in charge of foreign policy,he is in charge of representingAmerican interest abroad,appointing ambassadors and dignitaries.There's also been a slide back ofLGBT rights around the world.We have issues coming up in Euro Asiain like, Chechnya and Uzbekistan,but also in Egypt and Indonesiaand almost every single day,we're getting reports thatthings are just gettingworse and worse and worseand that contributes to theglobal refugee crisis andthe State Departmentlet in the least amountof refugees since 1977this year.That impacts the whole world,but particularly queer people who can'tbe themselves in their own country.When we talk about deportationand when you hear about thedeportations that ICE is doing,it's very possible that a queer personis gonna be deported to acountry where they can'tbe themselvesso atbest,a queer person being deportedis being forced back into the closet,but at worst, and likelycould be a death sentence.So when you vote,it's for you and your queer friends,or you know, that queer person you know,but it's also for thequeer person you don't knowwhose life literally will depend on it.- I mean, after the election, most likelyRepublicans will lose the Houseand they might lose the Senate,but just losingone house of Congress willput a significant check onPresident Trump's power.But after that, I mean, toreally change the system,you need long-term engagement.So, you vote butyou actually have to be activeto make a lasting impact on the system.And change is really slowand you know, it canfeel in the moment thatyour vote doesn't matter,but politics is along-term game.- Absolutely.Before we go,we have to get to The Go Off,the part of the show where we set asidea minute of uninterrupted airtimeto go off.- I'm ready for this.- This week,Lucy Diavolois going to do the honors.Okay, Google.Set a time for 60 seconds.- [OK Google Device] Okay,one minute starting now.- Let's talk about Lawrence versus Texas,the 2003 Supreme Court casethat finally invalidatedTexas's anti-sodomy law.Until the Supreme Court ruling,Texas and 13 other stateshad laws on the bookthat made sodomy illegal,something you could be prosecuted for.It's not that uncommon that laws thatdon't really name queerpeople in the titletargeted us,whether it's cross-dressing laws,or whether it's the factthat I can't even changethe name on my birth certificate in Ohiobecause I was born there.You need to vote in the midterms becausethese things are what happens whenwe're notempowering ourselves.In the mean time, youcan keep throwing stones,you can keep ragingabout the Supreme Courtand how it's getting furtherand further to the right,we're less likely to everhear Gavin Grimm's caseat the Supreme Courtand just pay them no mindbut you have to votejust for the one day.And that was my go off.- Go off.- She went off.- She went all the way off.[laughs]- So that's all our time for today.Thank you so much for joining us.Thank you for joining us.Be sure to follow themon all of our socialsand we'll see you next time.