Party Doesn’t Matter?…. (Part 2)

The Democrats are not perfectly good on LGBT issues. The Republicans are not perfectly bad either. That’s pretty obvious, and honestly I can’t think of a single issue where one party is perfectly good or bad, so it’s not all that surprising.

That caveat in place, there are dramatic differences between the two, and that has become clear here in Ohio. In the last cycle, The Ohio Democratic Party had the best performance in the country. The Democrats picked up three U.S. Congressional Seats and, more importantly, picked up 7 Ohio House seats, retaking that chamber for the first time in 15 years.

In the fight for LGBT Equality, this type of election work matters. It is absolutely vital that a grassroots electoral program be integrated with any lobbying or other legislative action. The Ohio Democrats sitting in Washington voted 100% in favor of the Hate Crimes Bill last week. The Ohio Republicans? 0%. Not one.

Here in Ohio politics, the Democratic Party has been working to introduce the Equal Housing and Employment Act. Rep. Dan Stewart has collected more than 20 co-sponsors and the bill should be introduced this week. The Ohio House, under Democratic control, will hear the bill first and conventional wisdom says they will pass it along to the Senate where it will die, trampled by the Elephants who inhabit that chamber.

In Ohio the Democratic Party presently stands as the only orchestrated effort to elect people who will stand up for LGBT Equality. The LGBT Caucus of the party is engaged with all levels of campaigns and seeks to hold accountable those Democrats who do not uphold the values of equality in Ohio.
We, as a community have a responsibility to hold our leadership accountable when they fail us. However, we have an equally large responsibility in supporting those organizations that do. The Democratic Party has delivered people to office who have demonstrated leadership on LGBT issues and followed through on their promises. They deserve our support.