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Two Senate retirements mean two losses for gays

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With two veteran Democratic senators last week announcing plans to retire at year’s end, the LGBT community is losing two lawmakers that have largely been allies on Capitol Hill.

Media reports circulated last week that Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) are not seeking re-election this year — and pundits are speculating their retirement foretells a dismal election year for Democrats.

Whatever their exit means in November at the polls, the retirement of these senators means LGBT people will be losing voices that have been largely reliable in supporting gay rights. It’s particularly true for Dodd, who was an advocate for advancing LGBT rights even when such stances weren’t as politically tenable as they are today.

Dodd has consistently voted in favor of hate crimes legislation, including the most recent bill that was signed into law last year by President Obama. The senator also has been a co-sponsor for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act since 1994 and a co-sponsor for the Uniting American Families Act since 1996.

One of the votes in favor of a version of ENDA in 1996 — which ultimately failed by a 49-50 vote — came from Dodd.

Dorgan isn’t a co-sponsor of UAFA or ENDA, but has been a supporter of hate crimes legislation, and voted in favor of the 1996 version of ENDA. The North Dakota senator also voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006. Dodd voted against the measure in 2004, but cast no vote in 2006.

The records on LGBT issues for Dodd and Dorgan aren’t spotless. Both senators voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act when it came to a Senate floor vote in 1996. Dodd seemed have to recanted that vote last year, though, when he came out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement to DC Agenda that Dodd and Dorgan would be missed.

“Senators Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan have been reliable supporters of LGBT civil rights and stood strongly in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment,” Solmonese said. “In particular, Chris Dodd has been a leader in speaking out for marriage equality and repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. They will be missed.”

Who will succeed the two senators remains to be seen. In Connecticut, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, is in contention for Dodd’s seat. LGBT activists have been pressuring Blumenthal to join a federal lawsuit against DOMA filed last year by the state of Massachusetts.

Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons is running for the Republican nomination, and he’s a favorite among LGBT Republicans. Before he was voted out of Congress in 2006, Simmons had been a co-sponsor of ENDA and hate crimes legislation.

North Dakota is known for being a solidly Republican state. The favorite in the race seems to be Republican Gov. John Hoeven. He’s against civil unions and same-sex marriage, and spoke in favor of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004.

On the Democratic side, the Huffington Post reported MSNBC talk show host Ed Schultz is considering a run for Dorgan’s seat.

Also named as a contender is Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a Democratic House member from North Dakota. He’s voted in favor of hate crimes legislation and ENDA and twice voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment.

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National

Trump refers to Anderson Cooper as ‘Allison’

Crude insults continue in effort to attract male voters

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Donald Trump is referring to CNN’s Anderson Cooper as ‘Allison.’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump referred repeatedly over the weekend to CNN’s Anderson Cooper as “Allison Cooper.”

Cooper, one of the nation’s most prominent openly gay television anchors, moderated a town hall last week with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump last Friday called Anderson “Allison” in a social media post, then used the moniker again at a Michigan rally.

“If you watched her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, he’s a nice person. You know Allison Cooper? CNN fake news,” Trump said, before adding, “Oh, she said no, his name is Anderson. Oh, no.”

Trump repeated the name during another Michigan rally on Saturday, according to the Associated Pres, then followed it up during a reference in Pennsylvania. “They had a town hall,” Trump said in Michigan. “Even Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed by it.”

Describing Anderson Cooper as female plays into offensive and stereotypical depictions of gay men as effeminate as Trump continues to pursue the so-called “bro vote,” amping up crude and vulgar displays in an effort to appeal to male voters.

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Pennsylvania

Transgender Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.

Monserrath Aleman is CASA in Action volunteer

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Monserrath Aleman, a transgender woman in Honduras, has canvassed in Pennsylvania for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates. (Photo by Phil Laubner/CASA in Action)

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action. 

They door-knocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.

Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.

“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”

Aleman cited Project 2025 — which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized — when she spoke with the Blade.

“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”

She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”

Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.

Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.

Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad Juárez. Aleman now lives in Baltimore.

“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.

Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.

“There is no other option,” said Aleman.

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HRC rallies LGBTQ voters in 12 states ahead of Election Day

10 Days of Action campaign targets pro-equality candidate

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Human Rights Campaign headquarters (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Human Rights Campaign said it filled 1,426 new volunteer shifts and held 174 events across key swing states between Oct. 10-20 as part of its 10 Days of Action campaign. 

The LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group is working to mobilize and turn out voters in support of pro-equality and LGBTQ candidates, including the Harris-Walz ticket, on Election Day.

HRC reported exceeding its recruitment goals, noting the strong response across the 12 states as a “clear and resounding message” that LGBTQ and allied voters are energized to back the Harris-Walz ticket. 

To kick off the 10 Days of Action, Gwen Walz, the spouse of Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, spoke at a Philadelphia event that HRC and the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted on Oct. 10.

Walz highlighted her husband’s long-standing support for LGBTQ issues, such as his role in fighting to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in Congress and banning so-called conversion therapy as governor, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Other events launched canvassing efforts for Senate candidates, such as U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with House candidates, such as Will Rollins and Mondaire Jones in California and New York respectively. 

A virtual organizing call on Oct. 11 that the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted featured prominent figures, including actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Andy Cohen, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who is running for Congress.

To close out the 10 Days of Action, HRC President Kelley Robinson canvassed with LGBTQ organizers in Phoenix on Oct. 20. 

In a statement, Robinson said the campaign’s work is “far from over.”

“We plan to spend every day until the election making sure everyone we know is registered to vote and has a plan to vote because no one is going to give us the future we deserve — we have to fight for it and show America that when we show up, equality wins,” she said. “Together, we will elect pro-equality leaders like Vice President Harris and Governor Walz who value our communities and are ready to lead us forward with more freedom and opportunity.”

A September HRC poll found that LGBTQ voters favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the presidential race by a nearly 67-point margin.

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