Windy City Times asked some local members of the LGBT community—who span the political spectrum—how they felt about the results of the Nov. 2 general elections. Below is what they had to say:
—Gail Morse, attorney: "While the national and state results were devastating for progressives, a small light shines through from Illinois with the re-election of Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Secretary of State Jesse White, and the election of Gov. [ Pat ] Quinn. ( Maybe now he will be fully supportive of marriage equality after all the hard work many in the LGBT community put into the election on his behalf. ) But, an even brighter light is shining from Cook County with the quiet election of former Alderman Toni Preckwinkle as board president. My hope for the new year and next big election—that progressives can hang together and elect a progressive mayor in 2011."
—Sean Bennett, president of Log Cabin Republicans-Chicago: "Log Cabin Republicans is pleased at the election of Mark Kirk, the capture of the House of Representatives by the GOP, and the elections of pro-LGBT advocates Robert Dold and Judy Biggert. We hope that, through continued lobbying, members of the GOP will reach bipartisan support on the issues of ENDA, DADT and DOMA. We see the participation of the LGBT community in the Republican party as an important step in securing this bipartisan support. A recent poll showed that 31 percent of gays voted Republican in these 2010 midterm elections. This shows a significant uptick in the importance of fiscal and economic matters to the LGBT community, as more and more GOP legislators embrace LGBT issues of importance."
—Michael Bauer, community leader: "The U.S. House election results are a disaster for the LGBT community—no doubt about that. Speaker [ John ] Boehner and the rest of the Republican leadership in the U.S. House certainly will be hostile to making any progress on LGBT issues and I fear what their position will be on maintaining current funding levels for HIV/AIDS-related matters. The U.S. Senate could have been much worse considering that the Democrats won their races in Nevada and Colorado and probably Washington State.
"The big question to me: How will the functioning of the Congress change with seven or eights senators who are Tea Party members and with about 30 such House members? In Illinois, on a statewide basis, we seemed to have escaped the disaster that hit so many other states, especially in the Midwest. Gov. Quinn won his election and the Democratic losses in the Illinois Senate and Illinois House were very limited, keeping alive the possibility of progress in Illinois on LGBT issues such as civil-union legislation."
—Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network co-founder: "The Democrats got what they deserved Nov. 2. No Ralph Nader excuses this time. They shat on the people they claimed to support. It started with the Rick Warren invocation, continued with no actions on ENDA and DOMA, diminished world AIDS funding and finished with an obnoxious defense of DADT in court just before the election. The same pattern was replicated on virtually every 'non-LGBT' progressive issue, too.
With his headlong spin to the right since 2008, Obama has followed the same sorry trajectory as Clinton before him—ably supported by A-list LGBTs fawning over him at posh White House receptions, then making excuses for him to the LGBT community afterwards. Ironically, Republican-appointed judges have often proven more reliable supporters of LGBT rights than our alleged Democratic 'friends.' As ACT UP proved with its winning of the Ryan White AIDS Care Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act, LGBTs can win big things from Republican-dominated governments—if we are prepared to fight. The tragedy is that too many people bought the 'pro-gay' Democratic Party marketing and, so, didn't fight against the Obama administration from the left, and we won virtually nothing over the past two years as a result."
