This story is published in partnership with the Queer News Network, a collaboration among 11 LGBTQ+ newsrooms to cover down-ballot elections across ten states. Read more about us here.
Despite running a campaign that the Huffington Post described as “the most racist campaign in modern history,” former President Donald Trump is now President-elect Donald Trump for a second time, with the help of both the electoral college and the popular vote.
While pitching to voters on why he should be elected, Trump announced his plans for the largest deportation program in the country’s history, gave unclear answers on a federal abortion ban, and vowed to undo the Department of Education.
But it could be argued that Trump’s election campaign had the most aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ campaign we’ve seen in this country for more than two decades, when opposition to same-sex marriage was a key talking point for Republicans.
Outside of local anti-LGBTQ+ ads from aligned figures, Trump ran transphobic ads against Vice President Kamala Harris stating, “Kamala is for they/them. Not you.”
For Pennsylvania — which is home to more than a quarter million LGBTQ+ adults — the swing back to Donald Trump in the past election has forced a moment to pause and reflect on one big question: are they safe where they are?
Mike Lee, the executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania said in a statement that the group is taking the threats of the Trump campaign seriously and is prepping for what the future may hold for marginalized people in this country.
“We’re taking Trump at his word, that he will govern in a way that hurts people and will try to eviscerate civil liberties,” he said. “We will challenge the incoming administration whenever and however they move to limit our freedoms.”
Democrats hoped to also flip the Pennsylvania Senate in an attempt to enshrine more protections for the LGBTQ+ community, such as the Fairness Act, proposed by Phila. Rep. Malcom Kenyatta, which establishes protections for sexual preference and gender identity. Pennsylvania does not have a law in palace that stops employers from firing people for being queer.
Executive director of the Women’s Law Project Sue Frietsche said that her team is ready to focus on state-level protections: “We have an arsenal of tools and expertise, and we have never shied away from the fight,” she said. “We are going to stay together. We’re going to stay motivated and focused.”
