Decision 2012

Trump might not be a role model for Romney’s grandchildren, but grandpa isn’t much of one himself.

“When the history books are written, 2012 will be remembered as the year when LGBT Americans won decisively at the ballot box,” said HRC President Chad Griffin, in a statement issued on the morning of Nov. 7.

The number of contributors who gave in support of marriage for gay and lesbian couples was thirteen times greater – about 133,000 compared to an estimated 10,500 – than those giving financial resources to oppose marriage equality, according to an analysis by the Human Rights Campaign of donors to the four states with marriage equality on the ballot this year.

Without a doubt, election night was a landslide victory for equality. Watching the historic results roll in on issues and candidates that matter to the progress of civil rights for LGBT people was truly a snapshot of just how much, and how quickly, this country has changed on social issues…

OLYMPIA, Wash. — State Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) will become just the second openly LGBT person to lead a state senate chamber after his Democratic colleagues on Tuesday night chose him as majority leader of the Washington State Senate.

PHOENIX — Democrat Kyrsten Sinema on Monday was declared the winner in the election to represent Arizona’s Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Without a doubt, election night was a landslide victory for equality. Watching the historic results roll in on issues and candidates that matter to the progress of civil rights for LGBT people was truly a snapshot of just how much, and how quickly, this country has changed on social issues. … Election night also saw the end of a long pattern of losses for state-level marriage equality at the ballot box…

HARRISBURG, PA — Philadelphia policy attorney and civil rights advocate Brian Sims was elected Tuesday to represent Pennsylvania’s 182nd District, and becomes the state’s first openly gay state legislator.

SALEM, Ore. — After fiercely contested races around the state, Democrats are poised to take over Oregon’s House of Representatives with a 34-26 majority, clearing the path for the ascension of openly lesbian House Democratic Leader Tina Kotek to the Speaker’s chair.

In this environment, having a president who advocates gay rights, as Obama has done, provides a foundation of moral and political support that cannot be underestimated. We need the law to do the right thing and make civil rights for the LGBT community both unquestionable and unchallengeable but we also need a leader while in the trenches. It is inspiring. If President Obama hadn’t been reelected on Tuesday I shiver to think what the world would feel like today.