Ian Price is the President of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats
The 2024 Presidential election has left many of us, our friends and family sad, upset, and fearful for the future. These are legitimate emotions that we should be paying attention to. And we’re all wondering what we do next and what comes next. This isn’t a political game to the LGBTQIA+ community; these are our lives. And whereas we could fight for an expansion of rights and freedoms within the Democratic Caucus, the Republicans openly campaign and garner votes by oppressing us and endangering our lives. It is, therefore, more important than ever that we come together in the community and keep demanding our rights and safety.
Known Unknowns at time of writing (Nov 6, 5 pm):
- Senator Casey’s race (doesn’t look good)
- US House (also doesn’t look good)
- PA State House (could still be good)
Let’s lay out what we know about the election, and it’s bad. Whereas a few days ago, most of us were “nauseously” optimistic about our prospects, things quickly turned sour. On the Federal level, the Trump-Vance ticket took the White House, and Republicans have taken the Senate and possibly kept the House. Two years ago, Pennsylvania got two Democratic Senators but could be down to one unless Senator Casey, a long-time ally, overcomes his opponent’s 30k vote lead in the remaining precincts. Even though Allegheny County is sending Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio back to Congress, if Republicans keep the House, this would lay out a Federal Government very hostile towards our community, and they can fulfill the promises to their electorate to institutionalize their prejudice against us. Regardless of whether Democrats can flip the US House, it is expected that Trump will fill two more Supreme Court Seats, setting up a generational conservative majority and Trump appointing people to many other federal court seats.
On the state level, Trump won Pennsylvania by approximately a 2-point margin, and all the down-ballot Democratic races seem to have suffered; we’re still waiting to see just how bad the damage is. For Attorney General, while a Democratic Eugene DePasquale would have been the fire-wall against Federal encroachment on our state’s rights, the race has been called for the Republicans. Similarly, for Auditor General, Democrat Malcolm Kenyatta would have been the first black man in the role fighting for our schools, and Democrat Erin McClelland for our states’ investments as Treasurer; however, all the State row offices will be in Republican hands. The State Senate remains firmly in Republican hands, and the State House will be decided by three races at the time of this writing. Although multiple vocal LGBTQIA+ allies were on the ballot in Allegheny County to flip State House and Senate seats, Nicole Ruscitto, Angela Girol, Hadley Haas, and Bill Petula lost. The Democratic State House, with a single-seat majority, has been pro-LGBTQIA+ for two years, and we need all three remaining seats to continue having the State House championing our rights.
One bright spot among all of this is that Sarah McBride in Delaware will join the next US Congress as the first trans person elected to the Federal Government. We should all be excited for her and take inspiration of what can still happen despite everything else.
So what now? We start by taking care of ourselves, coming together, and supporting each other; we have always been stronger in community than we are individually. Humanity is always at its most effective when we work as one. We work from the ground up, organizing, attending civic meetings, signing up to speak at public sessions, calling our representatives, and all around making the space for ourselves that society isn’t giving us. It would be nice if we had the privilege of society handing us safety– we have to work together to create safety and rely on each other for defense. And in the spring, we’re going to run for office – Township Council, School Board, and Judge. We are not going to let a single person forget that we are here. And most importantly, we are going to help each other and rely on each other for help in the community. We’re going to fight, and we’re going to succeed. Yes, things are bad, and we don’t know how much worse they’re going to get just yet. But you know what, we’re not going to take it.
