A Queer Vote for Marianne Williamson
I, as you know, am very gay. You should also know from the last couple weeks that I support Marianne Williamson for President, I am voting for her, and I am an active volunteer. There's no shortage of reasons why, from climate policy to healthcare to immigration reform, but today I want to talk about the LGBTQ rights aspect.
Now, as this is with all my MW 2024 opinion posts, discussion is welcome and encouraged. Feel free to respond, even if you disagree, and let's have a healthy debate between campaigns somewhere, because the DNC sure as hell isn't letting any happen on a stage.
The Biden administration has done good things, particularly in its early days, for the LGBTQ community. I'm not denying that. But I also think he has failed in so many more aspects.
His refusal to fight anti- LGBTQ state laws and state- sanctioned violence
Ceded dangerous ground during the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act. The law requires the federal government to recognize same- sex marriages, but does NOT require states to do so; so gay marriage can still be banned at the state level.
Has supported certain restrictions on transgender athletes in high school and college competition based on "fairness in competition", despite there being no evidence to suggest that trans athletes have a competitive advantage.
Has never mentioned the issue of "gay panic" defenses in violent crimes, or police brutality against LGBTQ people
Has refused to meaningfully combat the power of the corrupt Supreme Court, which has handed down dangerous anti- LGBTQ decisions, such as 303 Creative v. Elenis, and Dobbs v. Jackson. Biden has objected to any SCOTUS reforms for fear that it would "politicize" the already political court. Essentially, Biden is willing to let judicial tyrants continue to hand down harmful decisions with no repercussions.
Yes, Biden's power has been limited by the filibuster and now the Republican House. But some of these things he still has power over!
He could be sending down the feds to protect LGBTQ people and enforce the Constitution or giving funds for our groups to defend ourselves against anti- LGBTQ laws. He is not.
He could have passed the Respect for Marriage Act in full force with no compromises, because when it was passed both the Senate and the House were Democratic. He also didn't force the Senate to consider the Equality Act, which would have been so important in stopping state violence.
No one made him support restrictions on trans athletes. He could be launching a campaign to combat the misinformation instead of spreading it.
He's blamed police brutality in part on Black people, and increased police budget, which of course does intersectional damage to Black, queer, and Black and queer communities.
He can't make major reforms to the Supreme Court yet, but he CAN at least support the idea of them, and he could do more to pretend the decisions don't exist and enforce the right to abortion, etc. But he doesn't want to, because he's a neoliberal who believes in compromise at all costs.
Williamson's Policy Plan Regarding LGBTQ Rights
Actually combating state laws regarding attacks on drag, gender- affirming care, etc. See her conversation with drag performer Maebe A. Girl. This includes federal legislation but also appointing an Attorney General who prioritizes defending LGBTQ rights.
Declaring transgender murder and suicide rates as a national emergency on day one, giving a special protection status, and allocating resources to combat these problems at the source.
Restore cuts to local and global HIV/AIDS programs, including restoring funding to research, community support centers, and those supporting access to critical resources such as PrEP. Marianne was a social worker during the AIDs crisis, helping men take their medicine while joining them in prayer. Some of the survivors were later interviewed.
Move to end “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses in violent crimes via legislation
Acknowledge the police brutality against queer people, particularly trans women of color, and combat it through legislation mandating that police adopt policies to ensure fairer interaction.
Not hold back from politically threatening the Supreme Court or considering expansion, term limits, constitutional amendments, etc. See her interview with Hasan Piker where she talks about this more in- depth.
Also just see the page on her website. If you have any more questions, you can always contact the campaign staff.
The Importance of Solidarity
History lesson real quick: In 1984, the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike in Great Britain. With the help of gay Communist Party activist Mark Ashton, Mike Jackson, and others, the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners was founded. LGSM raised thousands of British pounds from LGBTQ Brits to keep the strike running and the workers cared for without their paychecks. Since then, LGSM has worked to support dock workers and minors, and published a movie and book called, "Pride" that is a historical recounting of the strike and LGSM's founding.
"Because I'd learned that concept of being oppressed, suddenly everyone else's oppression seemed to make sense to me. Then I started to look at the world that way and started to feel some kind of affinity for other groups besides my own, as it were." -Jackson, in a 2019 interview
Fundamentally, I think Biden represents the kind of white moderate queer energy that is fake and weak. Take his appointment of Pete Buttigeg, for example. The appointment of a white and middle- class cis gay man with corporate politics and then acting like it is revolutionary in supporting the community.
"Queer", as a word and as an identity, is inherently revolutionary and wanting to break out of the norms. That comes with being unapologetically gay/trans/ace/whatever, but also supporting racial justice, indigenous liberation, disabled power, and revolutionary politics.
The Biden/ Bittigeg political viewpoint is really promoting an assimilation of queer, specifically LGBT, identity into a patriarchal society. We don't want that. I don't want to be a businesswoman who gets married and has three kids, screw that.
Another history lesson? Okay, this time we're going back to 1933. Impacts of WWI and the Great Depression have absolutely tanked the German economy. The Weimar Republic- the democratic government established after the fall of the German Empire- has tried to print more money, but has largely failed to save Germany's economy. Feeding off the chronic economic anxiety of Germans, antisemites exploited the political system to create and expand the Nazi Party. Over the course of a few years, the Nazis gradually won more and more seats in Parliament until Hitler was named Chancellor in January 1933, and he became a dictator in less than two months.
Today, racism, antisemitism and queerphobia form the basis of the Religious Right and the fascist movement in Trump's Republican party. The groups targeted are in fact eerily similar to those murdered by the Nazis. This movement is coming to power in an extremely similar way too; Republicans use culture war issues to distract from economic issues, pulling regular people into fascism with the classic "think of the children!" and "preserving the traditional values of America".
Look. When a cishet white person with no deep affiliation with either of the two parties (which, let's be honest, is most Americans) who doesn't pay attention to politics because he or she is too busy trying to pay their bills is presented with the two options come an election cycle, they get "vote for me because I'm not that other guy" and "vote for me because I'll solve all your problems, all you have to do is redirect your anger", who are they gonna vote for? And I know that sounds crazy, but polls show that fascist rhetoric is indeed slowly having an impact on public opinion. And if you ask Trump supporters their views on economics, their responses might be surprisingly left- wing.
When Trump stood up on the debate stage in 2016 and said that Hillary Clinton was bought out by the rich, he wasn't wrong. Now of course, Trump was also bought out by the rich, didn't actually care, and supported policies that harmed the average American, but what matters is that he had the illusion of populism. That illusion is what has pulled average Americans into "oh, Greg Abbott for reelection? Yeah, sure, whatever."
Alright, alright. The crux of what I'm trying to say is this: when Americans are not being offered an actual solution from Democrats and are desperate, they are prone to falling for fake solutions proposed by fascists with ulterior motives. Fascism only thrives when people are in crisis, and it works in tandem with capitalism to offer a nice little scapegoat for the public. Get mad at the drag shows, not the wealth inequality.
And so the only real solution to win an election, and in general to stop this fascist trend, is strong left- wing opposition. It's ACTUAL populism.
You want actual defense of the LGBTQ community, and you want actually good and popular policies that are going to actually make a difference? Vote for Marianne Williamson.
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