What Does the Red Wave Mean for Us?

By Joshua A. Boschee
Staff Writer

Well the votes have been tallied. Most of them at least, until we find boxes of ballots in closets six years from now (thank you Florida). At the risk of sounding like a defeatist, the LGBT rights movement has some long days ahead. Some may say even longer than many of the days that have already past. Regardless of how long the days are, the work of the movement still needs to move forward. That’s me being the eternal optimist, which is becoming more and more difficult for me to espouse.

So here is how I think it is all going to play out. Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 will become one the biggest milestones in the LGBT movement. See, this is the day that the Republican Party took back the House of Representatives, winning the largest number of seats in decades.
Republican Governors now serve in 37 states, and statewide offices throughout the
US turned red. State chambers, houses, senates and assemblies either turned Republican or turned a deeper shade of red.

Closer to home, in Minnesota, Republicans unexpectedly took control of both the House and Senate, with the Governor’s race going into an automatic recount. North Dakota’s Governor Hoeven is now Senator Hoeven, making his much more conservative Lieutenant Governor the top state official. The ND House and Senate went from red to crimson with a maroon border.

To some this may sound like a depressing outcome since the Republican Party is the party of “No,” the party of “don’t make us filibuster on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the party of defining marriage based on religion, and the party of you don’t need a job or a house if you’re a homosexual. But I see this as an opportunity for the Republican Party to rebrand itself around one of its core principles:  individual liberty.

I know a good number of gay Republicans. There are plenty of them throughout North Dakota and greater Minnesota. At first that may sound funny, but when you think about it, as my good friend John Strand says, “of course there are a lot of gay Republicans; there are more Republicans throughout the state.”

Now is their opportunity to provide leadership with the established LGBT movement (predominately Democrat) from within a party that controls one chamber of Congress, the majority of state chambers and the governor’s mansions in 37 states.

We’ve already seen the success of what happens when Republicans and Democrats come together in California with the legal challenges to Proposition 8. In true maverick form, the Log Cabin Republicans were instrumental in challenging Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the courts.

I don’t envy lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or allied Republicans as they are part of an organization that continues to support discrimination and institutional homophobia. Many of these Republicans are people I consider friends, family and role models. It is time for them to truly stand up to their party leadership and rank-and-file members, and demand a seat at the table when drafting legislation and policies.

As their party takes control, they should take note that our movement has lost so many great leaders throughout North Dakota, Minnesota and in Washington, Democrats and Republicans who didn’t hide behind rhetoric and tell their LGBT constituents to wait it out one more year. I can’t thank these lawmakers enough. Some of them may have lost their seats because of their support for us, so now LGBT party members must pick up where they left off and help lead the movement.

So to my Republican friends, families, co-workers, neighbors and elected leaders, congratulations, you now have control of shaping policies that protect our families and individual liberties. I look forward to working with you to ensure that our schools, workplaces, communities and country become a safer place for LGBT Americans.

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