Work for change

As President of Steel-City Stonewall Democrats, I am writing this with a sense of deep concern and urgency. The results of November’s elections are a wake-up call to LGBT people and allies in the Pittsburgh region. You may have heard of the disheartening defeat of Maine’s marriage equality measure, but closer to home there were numerous electoral losses that will impact our ability to move equality forward in our region for the next several years. Please read the following and consider what our community could have done better.

 We say we want equality, but are we willing to work for it?

 Republicans won at least six of the seven Pennsylvania court races and may end up sweeping the contests, depending on the outcome of a still-undecided Superior Court seat. What this means is that likely none of the judicial candidates that were good on [pro-LGBT rights] issues for the key races were elected. Instead, hard-right social conservatives, many of whom actively work to block LGBT equality with their rulings, won every judicial seat in this state on the key races.

 How did this happen? It appears that it comes down to a simple thing. Conservative voters turned out and voted. Progressive voters didn’t bother to vote. Early results show only 10% of young people voting for example.

 If you voted, thank you. Please take a moment to consider what inspired you to vote and what information helped you to feel engaged with this process. Then pass that energy and inspiration forward to us or at least one other person and encourage them to become an active voter. Next year there will be other critical elections which will impact our community.

 In the meantime we are heartened by the progressive, LGBT supportive candidates who won their Pittsburgh City Council seats and those who retained their Allegheny County Council seats, and we look forward to continuing to work with them.

If you did not bother to vote, please take a moment to consider why not, and consider what information you need to feel empowered to take the future into your own hands by voting. Then let us know.

The next 10 years just got a little more difficult to move equality forward in the state and region. We are deeply saddened, but a setback is not a defeat. Steel-City Stonewall Democrats will continue to do what we can to try and make a progressive impact.

However, we cannot do this work alone. We are hoping the community comes to understand the enormous long-term impact that all elections have on the future in our region and Pennsylvania in general.

In the future we hope more people to:

* Help us get the word out about good candidates and the importance of voting in every election;

* Become more engaged and informed in the political process by attending political events, fundraisers and meetings; and

* Work with us to counteract the cynicism, lies, misinformation and fear that too often taint our elections.

Thank-you for taking the time to read and consider these thoughts I send on behalf of Steel-City Stonewall Democrats.

Dana Elmendorf, President

Steel-City Stonewall Democrats