GLAAD’s “Vote with Pride” video series continues with conversations between LGBTQ leaders and allies for equality, discussing critically important issues for LGBTQ voters.
It’s a record breaking year for the number for LGBTQ candidates for elected office. At least 1,065 out LGBTQ people ran or are running for offices with elections in 2022, the most in history. Of the 1,065 candidates, 678 appear on the ballot today—up 18% from 2020.
For the first time we have at least one out candidate in all 50 states—416 LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures this year, also a record.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis talked with Annise Parker, President and CEO of the Victory Fund and Victory Institute and former Houston mayor to discuss this history-making midterm election.
Watch and embed here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CktnBhqAtaq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Additional information:
- The proportion of LGBTQ candidates of color grew significantly in 2022, accounting for 38.2% of all LGBTQ candidates.
- Candidates who are not cisgender (including transgender, nonbinary and gender non-conforming candidates) ran in record-breaking numbers, representing 13.9% of all LGBTQ candidates compared to 7.9% in 2020.
- More LGBTQ candidates ran for the U.S. Congress than ever before—at least 119—and 77 ran for school boards as LGBTQ students and families faced increasing attacks in those bodies.
Watch these races and candidates for possible firsts:
- First lesbian governor
- Maura Healey (Massachussets)
- Tina Kotek (Oregon)
- First Latina mayor of a major city
- Cecilia Israel (Austin, TX)
- First out immigrant elected to Congress
- Robert Garcia (California)
- First Black LGBTQ person elected to Connecticut statewide office
- Erick Russell (Connecticut)
- First Out LGBTQ person elected to the Alaska state legislature
GLAAD’s “Vote with Pride” video series includes:
- GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis talked with Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood, discussing how abortion rights are among the freedoms at risk and how that’s driving voters from all backgrounds to the polls. VIEW/EMBED THE VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vw6BkeP-9g
- Actor, director and advocate Billy Porter with Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change, the largest online racial justice organization, about the power of the Black and queer vote. VIEW/EMBED LINK HERE: https://youtu.be/nZ5-aRvxl8M
- Actor, activist and producer Wilson Cruz with Voto Latino’s President and CEO María Teresa Kumar about the power of the LGBTQ and Latine vote. VIEW/EMBED LINK HERE: https://youtu.be/wTa0nBHfVt4
- GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis with Family Equality CEO Stacey Stevenson about threats to LGBTQ and ally families, why she decided to move her family out of Texas because of the hostile climate to LGBTQ people, and how voters must speak up to protect marriage equality after Roe was overturned and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called for landmark LGBTQ rulings like Obergefell to be reconsidered. VIEW/EMBED LINK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPx9uIRG0cg&t=3s
Additional research:
- 9 million LGBTQ adults are registered to vote
- LGBTQ voters are expected to be 14% of the eligible voting population by 2030, according to a recent analysis of population data.
- A GLAAD poll of Florida LGBTQ and ally voters shows their top issues include restoring abortion access (47%), gun safety reform (31%), housing costs (22%), inflation (22%), and LGBTQ equality (19%).
- Abortion is an LGBTQ issue: A 2019 study found that bisexual women were three times more likely than heterosexual women to have had an abortion.
Restricting abortion impacts a company’s ability to recruit top talent in states with restrictive laws, as Eli Lilly warned when a restrictive ban was passed in Indiana.