AZ-SEN: Openly LGBT Kyrsten Sinema Wins!

Congressperson Kyrsten Sinema has won election to the United States  Senate from Arizona, defeating Congresswoman Martha McSally in a very close race. Sinema, 42, is the first female Senator from Arizona, and as a bisexual woman, only the second openly LGBTQ member of the "world's most exclusive deliberative body," following openly lesbian Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin (who was re-elected last Tuesday) in Wisconsin with 55% of the vote. She will also be one of the youngest members of the U.S. Senate.

June 26 is National #LGBTEquality Day (1 Year Since Nationwide Marriage Equality!)

Today is June 26 and it is being called "National LGBT Equality Day" by openly lesbian United States Senator (I just love saying that!!) Tammy Baldwin. This year, June 26th is the one-year anniversary of the release of Obergefell v. Hodges (which legalized marriage equality nationwide), the 3-year anniversary of United States v. Windsor (which repealed the so-called Defense of Marriage Act) and Hollingsworth v. Perry (which repealed Proposition 8 and restored marriage equality to California) and the 13-year anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas (which struck down any remaining laws criminalizing homosexuality).

Those are some pretty momentous events which should be officially commemorated, I think!

Hillary Clinton thinks so, as well:

“One year ago today, we celebrated a watershed moment for equality in America. Thanks to the bravery of LGBT Americans like Jim Obergefell and Edie Windsor, and the determination and tireless organizing of the LGBT community and their allies, marriage equality became the law of the land in all 50 states. 

“Over the last year, more barriers to equality have fallen – including, finally, the last state law banning same-sex couples from adopting. Just this month, President Obama designated Stonewall as the first national monument commemorating LGBT history in America. 

“We’ve also seen how much work is still unfinished. The attack in Orlando broke our hearts, and reminded us that LGBT people – particularly people of color – are still targets for harassment and violence. Discriminatory laws in states like North Carolina highlight the need for full federal equality under the law for LGBT Americans. And Donald Trump’s pledge to consider appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn marriage equality underscores the fact that so much of the progress we’ve made is at stake in November. 

“But even when the road ahead seems daunting, never forget: on this day in history, love triumphed in the highest court in the land. Today, our march toward a more perfect union continues—toward equality, dignity, and justice for all.”

HISTORY! Senate Cloture Vote on ENDA Succeeds 61-30

As expected, the United States Senate was able to achieve cloture on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) by a vote of 61-30. This means that it is very likely that the measure will pass the body when that vote is taken in few days.

The Washington Blade reports:

By a vote of 61-30, senators invoked cloture on the legislation as Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) presided. The vote enables up to 30 hours of debate and amendments before a vote for final passage, which is expected Wednesday.

Joining 54 sponsors of the bill in voting for ENDA, whose chief sponsor is Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), on the Democratic side were Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who previously articulated support for ENDA. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), an ENDA co-sponsor, didn’t vote.

On the Republican side, additional votes came from Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Other votes came from Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who voted for the bill in committee, and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who previously articulated support earlier in the day. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who also voted for ENDA in committee, didn’t vote.

Including the Republican original co-sponsors of ENDA — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) — the bill had seven Republicans votes. As he indicated he would, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) voted “no” after entering the Senate following [openly lesbian] Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), apparently after a conversation with her.

It will be interesting if all 7 of the Republicans who voted in favor of invoking cloture will also vote in favor of the actual legislation. One can make the argument that one was just in favor of the measure going forward for debate on the Senate floor (that's what cloture means) without actually supporting the measure itself but I dpoubt that most Republican Senators constituents would be forgiving of such apostasy.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) Outed As Gay

The number of conservative Republican politicians who vote against LGBT equality yet are outed as members of the LGBT community has increased by one. John Barrasso, the Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming has been outed as a gay man by Mike Rogers, who has an impeccable record of being correct.

This weekend Rogers posted this tweet:

Curiously, when contacted by media outlets and blogs Rogers just says "my tweets stand on their own."

New Civil Rights Project provides a brief profile of Sen. Barrasso:

Barrasso, who earned a zero percent rating from HRC, voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He also voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women this year, which includes protection not only for women, but for “underserved populations” including sexual minorities and Native Americans. And he voted against the bipartisan expanded background checks bill that 91 percent of all Americans support.

Sen. Barrasso is also the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, which pretends to be a legislative think tank, publishing policy papers like “Obamacare Exchange Opens Door to Fraud and Identity Theft,” and “Democrats Target Family Farms for Death Taxes.”

Senator Barrasso, 61, is a Presbyterian, divorced, remarried, and has three children. He is up for re-election in 2016. He is on Facebook and Twitter.

Sheesh. With the presence of openly lesbian Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, barely closeted Barbara Mikulski and previously outed Mark Kirk could LGBT people be actually over-represented in the United States Senate?

Federal LGBT Rights Bill (ENDA) Passes Senate Committee 15-7!

Good news! The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a proposed federal law to outlaw employment discrimination by private employers based on sexual orientation or gender identity, has passed a Senate committee by a bipartisan vote of 15-7. The United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Tom Harkins (D-IA) sent the bill to the floor of the United States Senate with all 12 Democrats voting for the bill (including openly lesbian Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), along with Republicans Mark Kirk (R-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

The HELP Cmte has passed #ENDA, a bipartisan, inclusive bill to ban #LGBT workplace discrimination. Read more: http://t.co/4jSbxcVniy
— Tom Harkin (@SenatorHarkin) July 10, 2013

The seven Republican Senators who voted against the passage of a bill to protect LGBT workers from discrimination (despite the fact that 90% of Americans incorrectly think that its already against the law to do so!) are Mike Enzi (WY), Lamar Alexander (TN), Michael B. Enzi (WY), Richard Burr (NC), Johnny Isakson (GA), Rand Paul (KY), Pat Roberts (KS), and Tim Scott (SC).

In the Senate, ENDA's chances of passage are unclear because it currently has 53 co-sponsors, 51 of which caucus with the Democratic majority. With the assumption that since Murkowski and Hatch voted for ENDA in committee they would do so on the floor, ENDA has 55 explicit supporters so far.

However nothing in the Senate passes unless it has 60 votes to end a filibuster. There are still three Democrats who have not publicly announced they support ENDA: Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Pryot (D-AR) and Bill Nelson (D-FL).

There are also more potential Republican supporters, like Deb Fisher (R-NE), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) so it is possible that ENDA could pass the Senate in the near future. A version of ENDA (that did not include transgender protections) passed the U.S. House in 2007 but was never taken up in the Senate due to an outcry from LGBT activists about its non-inclusive nature.

If ENDA does pass the Senate it's hard to see how it becomes law since the Republicans who now control the House are openly hostile to the civil rights of most minorities in the USA, including LGBT people.

ENDA Now Supported By Majority of U.S. Senate!

With the addition of Tom Carper of Delaware, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) now sports the public support of 51 Senators, a clear majority of the United States Senate. However, in order to become law, the measure will almost certainly need to clear a Republican filibuster, so the real level of support necessary for passage of this key legislative priority is 60 votes.

Astonishingly, ENDA has bipartisan support with moderate Republicans (Yes, Virginia, they do exist!) Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine supporting S. 815. However, there are still 5 members of the Democratic caucus who have not signed on:

The 5 Democrats who have not publicly said whether they oppose anti-LGBT discrimination are Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Bill Nelson of Florida, Tim Johnson of South Daoka, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. It must be noted that Machin and Pryor are two of the three remaining Democrats who do not support marriage equality (the third is Mary Landrieu of Louisiana). Oddly, Johnson and Nelson and Rockefeller all do support the right of gay people to marry the person they love but not the right of gay people to hold a job without getting fired! (Cognitive dissonance, much?)

There's no question the clamor around full civil rights for LGBT Americans is going to get louder as the month of June continues and the Supreme Court weights in on the issue in the Hollingsworth and Windsor cases by the end of the month.

Celebrity Friday: Ontario Now Has Lesbian Premier

Oh Canada! Kathleen Wynne has been elected to head the Ontario Liberal Party, which means that she will become the Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada. Ontario contains the nation's capital city Ottawa as well as its largest city, Toronto. A Province in Canada is equivalent to a State in America and a Premier is the equivalent to an American governor. However, due to the parliamentary system the people do not directly elect the Premier, Premiers are selected at party convention by members of parliament and other activists in the party or coalition which currently has the most number of seats in the provinicial parliament. It is this election which Ms. Wynne won, making her the first woman and first openly LGBT premier in the history of Canada, according to the Globe and Mail:

A policy wonk with a laid-back, likeable persona, Ms. Wynne successfully pitched herself as a woman ready to govern, promising to bring the legislature back next month and push forward the party’s agenda by working with the opposition.

Despite concerns she was too low-key to fight her way to victory, Ms. Wynne turned in a formidable performance at the convention, with a raucous entrance that saw her supporters dancing on-stage, followed by a speech that combined personal anecdotes with partisan rhetoric.

She also addressed, head-on, the worry some Liberals had expressed that an openly-gay candidate could not win a general election. She pointed out that the other candidates – a Portuguese-Canadian, an Indo-Canadian, a Catholic and a woman – would once have been thought unelectable.

“I don’t believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation,” she said to loud cheers from her supporters. “I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts.”

The United States has never had an openly LGBT person elected Governor of a state and there are only a handful of openly LGBT people who have ever been elected to statewide office in this country. I wonder how long before there will be an openly LGBT governor of  a state?

After all, Tammy Baldwin was just elected to the United States Senate in November from Wisconsin. It is very likely that Christine Quinn will be elected Mayor of New York City later this year, which is probably a more powerful position than being governor of certain states. Annise Parker is currently in her second term as Mayor of Houston.

(It should be noted that all the LGBT people who are making significant gains in politics recently have been women, not gay or bisexual men.)

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Celebrity Friday: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D)

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is the Advocate magazine's Person of the Year for 2012. In the cover story, there is some interesting background about the life story of the person who became the first known non-heterosexual to be elected to the United States Senate. She was valedictorian of her high school class in Madison, Wisconsin and went on to Smith College where she majored in mathematics and political science.

The article summarizes highlights of the Baldwin's long political career:

From her election to the Dane County Board of Supervisors at age 24 to her service in the Wisconsin State Assembly to her election as the first openly gay nonincumbent in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, Baldwin, now 50, has always been a trailblazer. Now, with her seat in the U.S. Senate, the granddaughter of the head costume designer for the University of Wisconsin’s theater department moves to her most visible stage to date in what has been called the “world’s most exclusive club.” She joins the Senate as the freshman member with the most seniority.

You can read the article online yourself, or very soon you will again be able to buy copies of The Advocate on news stands around the country!

Tammy Baldwin Sworn In As 1st Openly Gay U.S. Senator

Tammy Baldwin is now officially the first openly gay member of one of the world's most exclusive legislative bodies, the United States Senate!

Next Congress To Have 7 Out LGBT Members!

The 113th Congress of the United States will have a record seven people who are either lesbian, gay or bisexual. In the U.S. House there will be four newly elected Members who are LGB: Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), Kyrsten Sinema )AZ-09), Mark Pocan (WI-05) and Mark Takano CA-41). In addition, there are 2 LGB incumbents who will be returning to the U.S. House: Jared Polis (CO-02) and David Cicilline (RI-01).

And in a dramatic first, lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (WI-05) gave up her congressional seat and ran (against former governor and Bush cabinet member Tommy Thompson) for the open U.S. Senate seat to represent Wisconsin. She not only became the first openly LGB person to be elected to the U.S. Senate but the 5th Congressional District of Wisconsin became the first congressional district in the United States to be represented by two different openly gay U.S. representatives (Baldwin and Pocan).

Two other important historic firsts will be achieved on January 3rd, 2013 when the new Congress is sworn in. Takano will be the first-ever openly LGBT person of color congressmember and Sinema will be the first-ever openly bisexual member of Congress, one of the youngest, at age 36, and one of the few who claims to be religiously unaffiliated.

The 6 openly LGB members of the U.S. House make up 1.4% of the 435-member body, which is still an under-representation of the 3.4% of Americans who are willing to tell a pollster that they are LGB or the 9% of Americans who are estimated to be LGB.

Baldwin will be 1 of 100 United States Senators, but in a body which allows a single member great latitude to wield disproportional power over federal legislation and public policy.

Baldwin Becomes 1st Openly Lesbian Senator

Tammy Baldwin made history by becoming the first openly LGBT candidate to be elected to the United States Senate tonight. She also became the first woman to be elected statewide in Wisconsin.

And I’m well aware that I will be the first openly gay member of the United States Senate. #Tammy2012 #WIsen
— Tammy Baldwin(@TammyBaldwinWI) November 7, 2012

0 Days Until Election: Obama 290, Romney 191

Today is election day and the TPM Electoral Scoreboard indicates that Obama-Biden will win the election with at least 290 electoral votes. The only undecided states at this time are Florida (29), Virginia (13) and North Carolina (15) with the only change from the electoral prediction I posted 2 days ago was that Virginia has slipped from being in the Blue column to the yellow column. The Romney-Ryan team has essentially been stuck at 191 electoral votes for the last week.

Happily, since Virginia's polls close at 7pm on election day it is very possible that the networks may be able to call these states rather early in the evening, and since Romney basically need to win all three of these states and flip a blue state red, the overall presidential election results may be known at that time.

That will not mean there will not be a lot more races to follow even after the presidential election is called. I will be interested in the four marriage initiative results (in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington), whether Tammy Baldwin gets elected to become the first lesbian U.S. Senator and what happens with important California propositions (Prop 30, 34 and 36).

What results are you looking out for in today's elections?

Victory Fund's 12 Races To Watch

The Victory Fund has put out a list of "12 races to watch" out of the 120 candidates that they have endorsed in state, local and federal elections throughout the country.

• Tammy Baldwin – U.S. Senate (Wisconsin) – Would be the first openly LGBT American in the U.S. Senate.
• Josh Boschee – North Dakota House of Representatives – Could become the first out member of the N.D. legislature.
• Kate Brown – Oregon Secretary of State – Second highest-ranking elected official in the state.
• David Cicilline – U.S. House (RI1) – Running for his first reelection to Congress in a tight race.
• Sean Patrick Maloney – U.S. House (NY18) – Would be the first openly LGBT member of Congress from N.Y.
• Marie Mayor – Delaware House – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
• Tim Brown – Ohio House of Representatives – Tim would become the only openly LGBT Republican state lawmaker in the U.S.
• Kyrsten Sinema – U.S. House (AZ9) – Would become the first out bisexual elected to Congress.
• Stephen Skinner – West Virginia House of Representatives  – Could become the first openly LGBT state lawmaker in W.V.
• Andy Staton – Delaware Senate – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
• Mark Takano – U.S. House (CA41) – Could become the first openly LGBT person of color in Congress.
• Richard Tisei – U.S. House (MA6) – Would become the first out Republican elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.

I pretty much agree with this list, and have been blogging about many of these same races, especially AZ-09, RI-01, MA-06, CA-41 and WI-SEN all year long, since the openly LGBT congressional candidates won their primaries. The most important to me is the Tammy Baldwin Senate race in Wisconsin, primarily because she is a great progressional candidate, and the simple power that an individual Senator can wield in that dysfunctional body. Happily, Tammy has had a clear lead in her race for weeks, has more cash on hand than her opponent, and she has never lost an election ever.

There are some races that I was unaware of, like the Kate Brown race for Secretary of State in Oregon. The number of openly LGBT people who have won statewide races is just more than a handful, so that would be another important milestone.

Of course, these candidate races are probably slightly less important than the specific ballot measure campaigns over marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.

WI-SEN: Lesbian Tammy Baldwin Takes Lead

Tammy Baldwin is the first openly lesbian person elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She has represented the 5th Congressional District of Wisconsin surrounding Madison for over a decade but announced this time last year that she would run for the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Democrat Herb Kohl. Baldwin has done a good job of raising money, easily won the  Democratic nomination and was even able to pass on her congressional seat to another openly LGBT person, Mark Pocan.

However, Wisconsin is the most politically polarized state in the country due to the shenanigans of Republican Governor Scott Walker and the Democratic party's use of recall elections to fight back. This had the effect of energizing Republicans, damaging Baldwin's standing in her U.S. Senate race against 4-time former Governor Tommy Thompson and even putting the entire formerly blue state in play in the presidential contest as well. (Although the latter may be due to the selection of fellow Wisconsin congressman and rabid "Objectivist" Paul Ryan to the presidential ticket.)

Anyway, yesterday came news that for the first time Baldwin is pulling ahead of Thompson in the race, as shown in not one, but two, polls.

The first was an internal poll conducted for the Baldwin campaign which puts her up 50-45 among likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.5 points.

Baldwin leads Thompson, 50 percent to 45 percent, while 5 percent of respondents are undecided. The Democrat's lead is not considered statistically significant because it is inside the poll's margin of error. 

Thompson is considered the favorite in the race, thanks to his history of appealing to independents and moderate Democrats and his four gubernatorial victories. After emerging from a crowded GOP primary last month, Thompson led Baldwin in several independent polls.

The second was a poll by PPP which shows Baldwin ahead 48-45, with a margin of error of 3 points.

In the U.S. Senate race, Baldwin was backed by 48 percent of respondents, while 45 percent supported Thompson. 

The poll found 53 percent of respondents had a negative impression of Thompson, while 40 percent had a favorable view of him. It found Baldwin's favorable-unfavorable split was 44-45.
The survey also found 90 percent of respondents were committed to their choice in the Senate race.

Electing an openly LGBT person to the United States Senate would be an historic moment, and thanks to the rules of that deliberative (and dysfunctional) body would allow Senator Baldwin to thwart almost all anti-LGBT legislation, and perhaps promote pro-LGBT bills as well.

Hat/tip to Gay Politics

RI-01: Gay Congressman Easily Wins Primary

Openly gay Congressman David Cicilline running for re-election for the first time easily survived a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Anthony Gemma which many people had expected the former openly gay mayor of  Providence, Rhode Island to lose. Cicilline received over 62% of the vote compared to 30% for the challenger.

Cicilline joins a slew of other openly LGBT candidates for Congress who have won party primaries this year: Mark Pocan (Wisconsin), Mark Takano (California), Richard Tisei (Massachusetts), and Krysten Sinema (Arizona). The only other openly LGBT incumbent besides Cicilline running for re-election isJared Polis from Colorado. Tisei is the only openly gay Republican running for Congress, the rest are Democrats. Sinema is the only self-identified bisexual, the others are identify as either gay or lesbian.

Tammy Baldwin is giving up her congressional seat to run for the United States Senate; that seat will likely be held by Mark Pocan.

Mark Pocan Will Be 8th Openly Gay U.S. Rep. Ever

Mark Pocan turned 48 years old yesterday, the same day he won the Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional district of Wisconsin last night. Pocan will take the place of Tammy Baldwin who represented the college town of Madison and its environs for 14 years in Congress as the first (and only) openly lesbian member of Congress. Baldwin is giving up her seat to run for open Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat.

Pocan will become only the 8th person in history to serve in Congress as an openly LGBT member of that body when it convenes on January 3, 2013. Other (non-incumbent) openly LGBT candidates hoping to join the U.S. House of Representatives this cycle are Mark Takano (CA-41), Krysten Sinema (AZ-9), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), and Richard Tisei (MA-6). Incumbent U.S. Representatives David Cicilline (RI-1) and Jared Polis (CO-2) are running for re-election. Longtime incumbent Barney Frank (MA-05) is retiring.

WI-SEN: Baldwin Showing Early Strength

Openly lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) is running for the open U.S. Senate seat to represent Wisconsin.  Baldwin is a strong fundraiser and has never lost an election, although a win in November would be an LGBT rights achievement of historic proportions, that achievement is appearing more likely with the release of recent polling data showing Baldwin ahead of all potential Republican challengers.

Public Policy Polling summarizes their recent results:

PPP finds that a match up between Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson for the Senate in Wisconsin would be a toss up. Baldwin leads Thompson 46-45 in this month's poll, continuing a pattern of tight numbers in the contest.  When PPP last polled Wisconsin in October Thompson was ahead 46-44. This seems like a race that's likely to remain closely contested all throughout the year.

[...]

Voters are mixed on Baldwin as well, although she is not as well known. 31% see her favorably and 31% have a negative opinion. She is extremely polarizing with Democrats (54/10) pretty much all liking her and Republicans (3/57) all pretty much disliking her.

You see that same level of polarization in the head to head numbers between Baldwin and Thompson. Baldwin gets 87% of the Democratic vote, while Thompson gets 88% of the Republican vote. Thompson does have more crossover support, winning 9% of Democrats to Baldwin's 2% of Republicans.

Baldwin would be a nominal favorite against either of the other Republican Senate candidates. She leads Mark Neumann 47-41 and Jeff Fitzgerald 47-39. Neither Neumann (23/34) not Fitzgerald (19/38) has very good favorability ratings.

On Wednesday I blogged about the problems U.S. Representative David Cicilline is having in his re-election as an openly gay Congressman from Rhode Island so it is good to see the chances are at least slightly better than even there may be an openly lesbian member of the United States Senate in 2013!

WI-SEN: Baldwin Leads Money Race

Tammy Baldwin is running for the United States Senate from Wisconsin as an openly lesbian, Democratic politician. She is doing quite well, and is expected to easily win the Democratic nomination. This week came news that Baldwin raised over 1 million dollars in the last quarter of 2011 and now leads all her potential rivals in fundraising.

Baldwin announced the news on her Facebook page:

Tammy is thrilled by the enormous outpouring of support for her campaign to fight for WI's middle class. Thanks to you, we raised over $1.1 mil last quarter. Tammy now has $1.8+ mil cash-on-hand to share her message. This shows our strength, and these resources will be critical in responding to the false, negative right-wing attacks sure to come our way. Thank you to our more than 16,000 individual donors!

This is great news. Having an openly gay member of the United States Senate would be an amazing landmark in gay history.

Hat/tip to Metro Weekly's PoliGlot.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank Retirement Announcement

The longest-serving openly gay member of Congress, U.S. Representative Barney Frank (MA-05), announced today that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2012.

There are currently on.y four openly LGBT members of Congress, and Tammy Baldwin is giving up her seat to run for the United States Senate. David Ciccilline looks to have a tough-re-election bid. Jared Polis recently welcomed a newborn son to his household.

Joe.My.God has a collection of reactions from the national LGBT organizations on the news of Frank's retirement.

WATCH: LGBT Equality Caucus Says "It Gets Better"