Cancel The GOP

No one is surprised anymore when a Republican legislator attempts to pass a bill aimed at removing the millions of LGBTQ+ people from American society. They’ve been emboldened, especially at the state level, over the past eight years and are making the removal of LGBTQ+ rights a campaign platform across the country. There’s little question that the GOP hates anyone who isn’t straight and Christian, despite the fact that many Republicans themselves are closeted gays. [Yeah, I said it.]

Proving my point is the fact that over 40 policy riders were introduced to the mission-critical budget funding bill passed by Congress and signed by the President this week. The goodness: only one of the riders made it through to the final bill. The bad news: one of the riders made it through to the final bill: banning US embassies from flying the Pride flag.

Why did Democrats, who we expect to be LGBTQ+ friendly, allow even one rider to get through? To get the necessary number of votes to pass the bill. In fact, House Speaker Mike Johnson was busy touting the flag ban as a reason for voting for the bill. Democrats allowed the rider to stay as a concession, saying they’d overturn the rider in later legislation.

Once again, LGBTQIA+ were thrown under the bus for the sake of political expediency. Now you know where you really stand with politicians. Democrats love you until they need Republican votes and then they conveniently forget the millions of people and the rights with which they are endowed.

Across the country, Republicans are making a concerted effort to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, especially at the educational level. Alabama was the latest state to remove funding and forbid DEI education. Many other states such as Kansas and Missouri are waiting to do the same.

Two bills, the “Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act,” and the “Equal Campus Access Act,” both of which target trans students, advanced in the GOP-dominated House of Representatives this week. The attack is unrelenting and ferocious as candidates up for re-election are spouting hate all up and down the campaign trail.

What can be done to stop this storm of hate that’s walking up to your front door and entering without knocking? There are a few things that come to mind.

1. Be visible. To the extent possible, show up at every public campaign event and make your presence known. Sure, there are private events from which we’re excluded but most are looking for public venues that attract the most people. Don’t let them make you invisible. Wear the rainbow proudly and make it impossible for anyone to ignore your presence.
2. Be heard. VOTE. The LGBTQIA+ community is large enough to dominate almost any election. But that means everyone has to vote, even though the Democratic and/or Independent candidates aren’t much more attractive. When they see how the community has the power to sway elections, they’ll start paying more attention.
3. Make noise. Use social media as a platform. Call out your local legislators. Make sure your friends are aware of what’s going on. Call and email your representatives’ offices. Organize or attend marches. Don’t leave any doubt about where you stand on the important issues.

There are too many times when legislation makes its way into law because we aren’t paying attention to what is going on, especially at the state level. There’s not a state in the union that doesn’t have a significant LGBTQIA+ presence. You can’t depend on others to protect your rights. You have to do it yourself. Believe it or not, you do have influence. Your voice matters and the more often it is heard the more power it has.

The GOP agenda is to make all LGBTQIA+ people socially invisible. We cannot let that happen. We can’t let Democrats throw us under the bus like that, either. We have to be so loud that we’re impossible to ignore.

Don’t let hate win.