Get Out the LGBT Vote

We are getting closer and closer to election day, and despite the differences of opinions as to which candidate to support, I think most everyone writing on the LGBT side of things agrees, and Pittsburgh blogger Sue Kerr said it wonderfully:

I invite all comers to continue the dialogue.  I hope I’ve convinced you to vote and I appreciate the feedback that one lesbian can make an impact by simply refusing to be silenced.  We need more LGBTQ voices to engage the system, not duck underneath it.  That helps no one.

We do not live in a state, that by default seeks out and promotes the most progressive ideas. If lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons want to be treated as first class citizens, we have to get out there and make it happen. Making our voices heard on election day, is one way, and adding to the dialogue is another. Being out, everywhere, all the time, is another, and directly meeting with your elected officials is still another. But given that next Tuesday is the primary, let’s start there.

I had an amazing email dialogue with a very progressive blogger, which started to be about one specific candidate, but as I read over the exchange, it became clear, that it was about far more than one candidate. It is about a culture where more progressive candidates are the norm rather than the exception. That may happen by electing the most progressive, but it may also happen by working with those who are elected and continuing to nudge them further and further towards the left.

Vote.