美国国家公共电台 NPR Rise Of LGBTQ Candidates Could Usher In A 'Rainbow Wave' In 2018

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Rise Of LGBTQ Candidates Could Usher¹ In A 'Rainbow Wave' In 2018

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Democrats² have a lot of diverse candidates running this year. There's a record number of women, African-Americans and Native Americans running in some high-profile races. And as NPR's Jessica Taylor reports, there's also a surge of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates all across the country.

JESSICA TAYLOR, BYLINE³: Massachusetts Democratic congressional candidate Rufus Gifford recalls watching other people run for office when he was a teenager, and there weren't role models for him as he was struggling with his sexuality. It's something he talks candidly⁴ about in one of his TV ads.

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RUFUS GIFFORD: As someone who has been called names, has been discriminated⁵ against, as someone who wasn't taken seriously for a lot of his life because of this, it made me initially⁶ want to fight for the 15-year-old version of me.

TAYLOR: Gifford is running today in a crowded primary for an open seat in Massachusetts' 3rd District. He's a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark under President Obama, but the 2016 elections spurred him to step up and put his own name on the ballot⁷.

GIFFORD: The Trump⁸ election was really the catalyst⁹.

TAYLOR: Gifford is one of hundreds of LGBTQ candidates on the ballot this year who say they've been pushed off the sidelines, fearing their rights are under attack. Three years after the Supreme¹⁰ Court legalized gay marriage, they now see the Trump administration working to bar transgender people from serving in the military and promoting religious freedom laws they say would legalize discrimination. There have been 430 LGBTQ candidates this year running for office at every level of government. That's according to the Victory Fund, which endorses¹¹ viable¹² gay and transgender candidates.

ANNISE PARKER: I think candidates are running because they see it's possible.

TAYLOR: Annise Parker is the Fund's president. She was also the first lesbian mayor of a major U.S. city when she was elected Houston's mayor in 2009.

PARKER: They see the need for more LGBTQ candidates to get involved in the process. But they now see clear evidence that we can win at the very highest levels of government.

TAYLOR: Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was the first elected lesbian senator, and she's up for re-election this year. If elected, Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema would become the first bisexual senator. Sinema is one of only six current LGBTQ lawmakers in the House. Half of them are running for higher office, but their numbers could likely grow next year. There will be at least 22 LGBTQ candidates on congressional ballots¹³ this fall, several in highly competitive districts that will determine control of the House. One of those candidates is Angie Craig, who's running in Minnesota's 2nd District in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. Craig would be the first lesbian mom ever to serve in Congress.

ANGIE CRAIG: I'm so proud of my wife and our four sons. And, you know, I'm not running because, you know, I'd be the first lesbian mom, but that's pretty cool that I would be.

TAYLOR: But her journey to become a mom is part of what drove her to run for office. When she and her then-partner were living in Tennessee and decided¹⁴ to adopt a baby, she was caught in a three-year legal battle after the birth mother's parents sued to challenge their fitness to raise a child. Today, her son Josh is 20.

CRAIG: When you get up every single day for three years and you don't know whether you're going to be able to put your son to bed that night, certainly it makes you unafraid of anything. And I think when I'm running for Congress, I always remembered no matter how tough it gets, there'll never be anything more difficult than what I faced back in Tennessee.

TAYLOR: That theme of struggle is one many LGBTQ candidates echo. Christine Hallquist made history when she won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination¹⁵ in Vermont. She's the first transgender person ever to win a major party's nomination for governor. In an interview with MORNING EDITION after her victory, Hallquist recalled how hard her transition had already been.

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CHRISTINE HALLQUIST: I dealt with not being authentic¹⁶ my whole life, and transitioning was clearly the hardest thing that I could ever imagine doing.

TAYLOR: Hallquist is one of four LGBT Democratic nominees¹⁷ for governor running this cycle. In fact, they represent every part of that acronym¹⁸. Lupe Valdez in Texas is lesbian. Congressman¹⁹ Jared Polis in Colorado is gay. Incumbent²⁰ Oregon Governor Kate Brown - the first LGBTQ person ever to win a governor's race - is bisexual, and Hallquist is transgender. These Democrats are not just hoping for a blue wave this fall. They're hoping for a rainbow wave, too.

Jessica Taylor, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF KINACK'S "HARD TRAVEL")