GLAAD RELEASES RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTING LGBTQ RECORDS OF CANDIDATES IN KEY MIDTERM ELECTION RACES

GLAAD, alongside local and state equality groups, releases candidate positions, background, and resources on issues relevant to LGBTQ voters who could be the deciding factor in critical 2022 elections

(New York, NY – October 27, 2022) In partnership with local and state equality groups, GLAAD today released a compilation of resources highlighting what’s at stake for voters who care about LGBTQ-related issues in this year’s midterm elections.

The resources include comprehensive fact-checking and background on candidates in elections in key battleground races in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, and Arizona. GLAAD’s Guide to the LGBTQ Issues for the 2022 Election is here; and more information on voter registration and deadlines may be found at www.glaad.org/vote. The information on specific states can be found below.

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, issued the following statement:
“Ensuring the strongest possible turnout from LGBTQ voters this election is critical for safeguarding our basic human rights. Marriage equality and access to abortion as well as other lifesaving healthcare, particularly for transgender Americans, are all on the ballot. Media should take this important opportunity to discuss what’s at stake for this large and growing segment of the voting population. LGBTQ voters and our allies can make a deciding difference, but only if we participate.”

Polling and turnout analysis from the 2020 election indicates that LGBTQ voters played a deciding role in the victory of Joe Biden for President and in battleground states and districts that made the deciding difference in key races that determined control of the U.S. Senate and House.

Yet in at least five separate televised debates in key battleground states in the past month LGBTQ issues were discussed only once, among the U.S. Senate candidates in Ohio. GLAAD urges the media to include LGBTQ people and issues in their coverage of the election campaign, and ask the candidates about their public statements, policies and proposals for LGBTQ Americans, including in debates. Research on candidates’ policies and statements about LGBTQ issues is included below. Abortion is also an issue which impacts LGBTQ people disproportionately. Lesbians were more likely to have experienced an unwanted pregnancy (at 39%) than both their straight (27%) and bisexual (29%) peers.

In addition to work alongside local state equality groups, GLAAD is currently airing two paid broadcast and digital ads highlighting what’s at stake in this election particularly in the areas of same-sex couples’ freedom to marry and transgender rights. Just yesterday, GLAAD released the first video in its “Vote With Pride” series yesterday featuring Wilson Cruz in conversation with Voto Latino’s President and CEO Maria Teresa Kumar. Future videos will include actor and director Billy Porter and Color of Change President Rashad Robinson; GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis with Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson; Family Equality’s new CEO Stacey Stevenson; former Mayor of Houston and current President and CEO of The LGBTQ Victory Fund, Annise Parker, and others. The series will feature LGBTQ artists in conversation with leaders and advocates in order to inform voters about issues that matter; and to elevate LGBTQ voices in conversations about the 2022 campaign. GLAAD has also been releasing a series of “Say I Vote” videos from celebrities such as Ariana DeBose, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Cody Rigsby, and more expressing their commitment to vote and urging others to do so as well.

In Nevada, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Adam Laxalt.

• Cortez Masto is a three-time cosponsor of the Equality Act, which would provide federal protections against discrimination for every LGBTQ American; a cosponsor of international LGBTQ human rights legislation; and opposes Senators’ efforts to enact a national abortion ban.
• Laxalt is a supporter of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that passed in Florida that bans any classroom discussion of LGBTQ people, families, and history; opposed marriage equality and LGBTQ service members’ participation in the military; and supported allowing health care providers to refuse to care for LGBTQ people.

Nevada voters are also facing one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the nation, with incumbent Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, facing a challenge from Sheriff Joe Lombardo, a Republican.

• Sisolak signed four pieces of LGBTQ legislation into law last year and believes embracing LGBTQ people makes Nevada “more welcoming, more diverse and more loving.”
• Lombardo expressed support for Florida’s extreme “Don’t Say Gay” bill and opposes allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports team.

Nevada voters will also determine a number of tight races that could affect the makeup of the U.S. House of Representatives in the next session.

For a comprehensive fact sheet on key Nevada races and candidate stances on LGBTQ issues, visit /releases/silver-state-equality-glaad-release-lgbtq-records-2022-nevada-candidates-call-media-include. The fact sheet was developed by GLAAD in partnership with Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

Pennsylvania’s race for the U.S. Senate is one of the most closely watched races in the country, between candidates John Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor and a Democrat; and Mehmet Oz, a Republican. The candidates debated on October 25 at WHTM-TV in Harrisburg.

• Fetterman fought for state and local laws to prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In his role as mayor in 2013, he officiated the first same-sex wedding in his county and also hosted a same-sex wedding when a wedding venue refused to do so, as well as more than two dozen ceremonies before the ban on marriage equality was lifted. He supports the Equality Act, supports lifting restrictions on LGBTQ men from giving blood, and urged statewide LGBTQ nondiscrimination legislation in Pennsylvania, He supports abortion rights and beleives it should be a decision between a woman and her doctor.
• Oz has spread disinformation about transgender youth and positioned a discredited representative as an “expert” on the subject of so-called reparative therapy on his syndicated talk show. He praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for signing the extreme “Don’t Say Gay” law. He opposes allowing transgender women to compete on women’s sports teams and praised author J.K. Rowling as “brave” for making disparaging comments about the transgender community. His website says he is “100% pro-life.”

Pennsylvania voters are also selecting their new governor between candidates Republican state senator Doug Mastriano and Democrat Josh Shapiro, the current attorney general.

• Mastriano supported HB 2813, a “Don’t Say Gay” bill banning any discussion of LGBTQ people or issues in schools. He criticized Governor Wolf’s executive order banning conversion therapy, has said that same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt children, and vowed to ban transgender kids from playing on school sports teams on his first day in office. He sponsored a bill in support of a six-week abortion ban, and said women who broke the law should be charged with murder.
• Shapiro has expressed support for “safeguarding the fundamental liberties” of LGBTQ people, resisted efforts to eliminate LGBTQ nondiscrimination policies on the federal level, called for the state’s hate crime laws to better protect LGBTQ people, and supports banning conversion therapy for minors. He supports allowing transgender youth to play school sports.

For a comprehensive fact sheet on key Pennsylvania races and candidate stances on LGBTQ issues, visit /blog/election-2022-pennsylvania-candidates-lgbtq. GLAAD has also released a video highlighting a same-sex couple from Pennsylvania to explain the stakes of this year’s election for marriage equality.

In Georgia, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker is facing the Democrat and incumbent Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock.

• Walker has publicly questioned whether transgender youth can get into heaven and criticized allowing transgender youth to participate in school sports. He said marriage equality is “against stuff I believe in” and supports a nationwide ban on abortion and bans without any exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.
• Warnock was a cosponsor of multiple proactive LGBTQ rights bills including the Equality Act, opposes religious exemptions to LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, supports increasing funding in public health for people living with HIV, and supports transgender rights.

In the state’s highly competitive gubernatorial race, Democrat Stacey Abrams will face the incumbent, Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

• Abrams is a supporter of marriage equality and LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections, and has said she is an ally to the LGBTQ community “in celebrating the unapologetic love, joy & triumph that have built a better state and world for us all.”
• Kemp reiterated his belief marriage is solely between a man and a woman seven years after it became federal law. In 2019, he signed one of the country’s most restrictive abortion bans. He has attended events for and been endorsed by anti-LGBTQ groups that characterize LGBTQ people as being harmful to children, including Frontline Policy Action and the Family Research Council, which has been designated as a hate group.

In the Georgia attorney general race, Republican incumbent Chris Carr is being challenged by state senator Jen Jordan, a Democrat.

• Carr has declined to say whether he supports marriage equality, joined two lawsuits suing the federal government over LGBTQ nondiscrimination policies, and has defended the state’s extreme abortion ban and voting restrictions law.
• Jordan criticized a state Senate bill that restricted adoption for LGBTQ couples for not being in the best interests of children, vowed not to defend the state’s six-week abortion ban in court, and pledged to establish a voting rights division in the attorney general’s office.

For a comprehensive fact sheet on key Georgia races and candidate stances on LGBTQ issues, visit /releases/georgia-equality-and-glaad-release-lgbtq-records-candidates-us-senate-governor-georgia-and. The fact sheet was developed by GLAAD in partnership with Georgia Equality, the state’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) advocacy organization.

In Ohio, during a recent debate between candidates in the U.S. Senate race, candidates Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat; and J.D. Vance, a Republican, responded to questions about marriage equality and other issues affecting the LGBTQ community.

• Vance reiterated that he opposes passing the Respect for Marriage Act to codify marriage equality into law. He criticized Ryan for voting for the Equality Act which would ensure federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections and used inaccurate language to refer to transgender girls.
  • Vance’s record also includes using the term “groomer” to refer to people opposing censorship bills that would prohibit discussion of LGBTQ people or issues in schools. His website states that he is “100 percent pro-life” and refused to answer an interview question about whether abortion laws should include exceptions for rape and incest.
• Ryan said that he voted for the Respect for Marriage Act in the House and would support codifying it in the Senate, and expressed concern for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion overturning Roe v. Wade for also including support for nullifying marriage equality.
  • Ryan was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act to ensure federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections and voted to pass it. He cosponsored LGBTQ anti-bullying and harassment legislation, voiced support for LGBTQ service members in the military, urged Americans to do their part to support transgender equality, and opposed outdated and discriminatory screening based on sexual orientation for blood donation.

For a comprehensive fact sheet on key Ohio races and candidate stances on LGBTQ issues, visit /releases/equality-ohio-and-glaad-release-lgbtq-records-us-senate-candidates-call-media-include-lgbtq. The fact sheet was developed by GLAAD in partnership with Equality Ohio, a statewide organization advancing the rights and protecting the well-being of LGBTQ+ Ohioans

In Arizona, voters will decide between Mark Kelly (D), the incumbent; and Blake Masters (R) for the U.S. Senate seat.

• Kelly was a cosponsor of the Equality Act; the International Human Rights Defense Act; and the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, to prohibit so-called conversion therapy to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. He has cosponsored resolutions honoring June as LGBT Pride Month and called the reversal of Roe v. Wade “a giant step backward.”
• Masters pledged to push a federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill banning any discussion of LGBTQ people or issues in schools or classrooms, supports businesses denying service to LGBTQ customers, opposes marriage equality, wants to defund “gender ideology” which is not taught in schools, and supports a national abortion ban and has called for a “federal personhood law” for fetuses.

Arizonans will also elect either Democrat Katie Dobbs or Republican Kari Lake for Governor.

• Dobbs opposed a bill that would have legalized LGBTQ discrimination; sponsored a bill to update Arizona’s LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws; sponsored a bill to update language in state law to be more gender neutral; and opposes Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban.
• Lake claims to have gay frineds who would oppose a nondiscrimination bill protecting them statewide; claimed that schools that teach students about gender identity are promoting “confusion”; and claimed that “a child’s gender is determined by God at conception,” rather than by a “woke teacher in the 3rd grade”. Lake signaled support for Arizona’s 15-week aboriton ban.

Arizona voters will also determine races for Secretary of State and attorney general.

For a comprehensive fact sheet on key Arizona races and candidate stances on LGBTQ issues, visit /blog/election-2022-arizona-candidates-LGBTQ. The research was compiled in coordination with Equality Arizona, which focuses on improving everyday life for LGBTQ+ Arizonans through better politics and policy.

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About GLAAD: GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.