Every year, the number of anti-LGBTQ bills working their way through state legislatures continues to increase, with more in circulation now than ever before. In tandem, the violence and vitriol unleashed against the LGBTQ community also continues to rise. According to the FBI, hate crimes against LGBTQ people increased by more than 19% since last year, and anti-transgender incidents have increased by more than 35%.
This is a direct result of who we elect into office at every level of the government. We must stop the barrage of misinformation and disinformation aimed at villainizing the LGBTQ community and ensure that pro-equality candidates are elected at the local, state, and federal levels.
GLAAD is taking decisive action to ensure the 2024 election promotes equality and safety for all. Our two primary goals are to mobilize a historic turnout of LGBTQ and allied voters and, in so doing, to elect as many pro-equality candidates as possible.
To achieve these goals, we are implementing a proven three-pronged approach:
Holding the media accountable for fair and accurate reporting
Registering, educating, and mobilizing both LGBTQ and allied voters
Countering negative messaging with pro-equality communications campaigns
These strategies combined have been effective in both the 2020 and 2022 elections, and we are confident it will make a significant impact in the election this year.
Holding the Media Accountable
Tell New York Times to Stop Misinformation
GLAAD’s News & Rapid Response team plays a crucial role in ensuring accurate and fair news coverage of LGBTQ issues, candidates, and stories. Day-to-day, we work with news outlets and journalists to inform coverage, immediately correct misinformation when we see it, and ensure LGBTQ issues are included in broader political and social discussions.
We also develop and update, in real time, state-by-state media guides, as well as reporting resources, to provide journalists with the most accurate information on how to report on LGBTQ issues.
Read more about the work our News & Rapid Response team is doing. You can also access our free media resources and state fact sheets by clicking here. To access our media resources in Spanish, click here.
Turning Out LGBTQ and Allied Voters
According to the Washington Post, LGBTQ voters were a deciding factor in the 2020 elections and could once again make the difference between putting pro-equality or anti-LGTBQ candidates in power. With a particular focus on nine battleground states where our efforts will have the most impact, our work educates, empowers, and inspires LGBTQ and allied voters to get out to the polls.
Through resources on glaad.org/vote, we provide information on how and when to register to vote, and how to make a plan to vote (whether that is in person or through the mail). We also provide free trainings to local activists and partner organizations to help them hone in on the most effective messaging strategies to reach and mobilize voters within their communities.
As the opposition pours money into making transgender rights a wedge issue, we counter anti-queer and anti-trans rhetoric using message-tested PSAs and communications campaigns targeting key at-risk voters across our nine target states and beyond. These materials are available to partner organizations, free of charge, to distribute within their communities. Our campaigns include:
ProtectThisKid.com
Protect This Kid, which reclaims anti-LGBTQ rhetoric around protecting children and refocuses on the most vulnerable children in need of that protection. The goals of this campaign are to inoculate moveable voters against anti-queer rhetoric and inspire LGBTQ and allied voters to get to the polls. Learn how to participate at ProtectThisKid.com
HereWeAreNow.com
Here We Are is a storytelling campaign geared toward moveable voters, aimed at humanizing transgender people. This campaign leverages messaging that our research has shown to be most effective at increasing support for transgender Americans. HereWeAreNow.com
What can you do to help?
The LGBTQ community needs your support at this critical time. This year alone, LGBTQ hate groups have committed more than $1 billion with the goal of criminalizing our existence. We can’t let them succeed. Stand up to hate with a gift to GLAAD’s Rainbow Election Fund today.
Your gift to the Rainbow Election Fund helps ensure we have the resources to continue this crucial work. From holding the media accountable to mobilizing LGBTQ and allied voters to countering negative messaging with pro-equality communications, our success is only possible if we stand together. You have the power to help us preserve and expand our freedoms by ensuring pro-equality candidates are elected this year. Donate to GLAAD with the best gift you can make today.
In addition to donating online, you can recommend a grant from your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) or check out this page to learn how to make a stock gift, mail a check, or donate another way.
We’d love to talk! Email philanthropy@glaad.org to be connected with a member of the GLAAD Development team and learn more about our work and the impact of your investment.
A lot is on the line this election year. That’s why GLAAD is mobilizing and educating voters — but we need you to make that work possible. Donate to GLAAD and help us ensure that people who support the LGBTQ community get out and vote.
The following guidelines will help you ensure that the language used to describe transgender victims of violence is fair and respectful. These guidelines apply to all stories that involve the transgender community, but are especially important when the person has been a victim of violence;
