LGBTQ+ Voices in Politics
by Daisy Penaloza
In prior times, the LGBTQ+ community has been silenced and disregarded, whether it be in society, or in politics. The community has been shunned in this harsh field of games we call politics, but not today and not anymore! There has been an amazing uprising in growth of the LGBTQ+ in recent politics, and here are two examples.
Sarah McBride is a strong Democratic activist. She has been known for being the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. Back in 2013, she urged for the gender identity non-discriminaton act for the state of Delaware, which was later signed into law that same year. McBride made her win to become a Delaware state senator-elect on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020. She took the win with a staggering 73% vote against a Republican candidate, located in Delaware’s first district. Sarah McBride will become the nation’s first transgender state senator.
Mauree Turner, a Muslim non-binary millennial from Oklahoma, focuses on issues such as the raising of the state’s minimum wage, criminal justice restructring, and Medicaid expansion. In the June primary vote, Turner led with 51 percent of the vote against a Republican candidate. In the months leading up to the campaign, Turner says they received an outpouring of support from a multitude of people from all over the country. Turner was elected on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, to the Oklahoma Legislature. This made them the first non-binary state legislature in the country.
We will see how far these two politicians will take us, but for now they will be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
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