The election is finally over.
Today, I know that many of us, and the people and communities we care about, are feeling many emotions — fear, anger, confusion, and sorrow to name a few. That’s all justified because we lived through it once. This time, we know what to expect and we are prepared to protect and defend our community and values.
Intersectionality is at the center of Equality Connecticut’s values. It is central to how we approach our work and how we plan to approach the next four years. Solidarity with and among communities at risk will hold us together. Knowing that LGBTQ+ people face many forms of oppression informs how we show up as a community.
Finding joy and community in the face of terrible struggles is what makes us strong. Our ability to find one another and build spaces of friendship, safety, and mutual support is the source of our political power. The material and expression generated in this process become our shared culture. We must continue to bring our community together literally and digitally so that we can draw on one another for support and strength in the face of the challenges ahead. Based on what we have seen and felt in recent years, it will be especially important in the work ahead to center the lives, needs, and safety of transgender and nonbinary people and to make sure our young people are valued and affirmed but each of us.
I maintain hope for several reasons. Movement leaders have been working for more than a year now preparing for every contingency of this election. In January, we will welcome the first openly transgender person, Sarah McBride of Delaware, to the U.S. House of Representatives. LGBTQ+ people across the country won races in large numbers across the country. The U.S. Senate includes two Black women for the first time in history, Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. Our LGBTQ+ caucus in the Connecticut legislature has expanded again. Congratulations to Reps. Raghib Allie-Brennan, Marcus Brown, and Dominique Johnson for winning re-election to the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Our precious community has been through the wringer more than once in our nation’s history. Please know that we are with you and we are prepared to fight.
In Solidarity,
Matt Blinstrubas
Executive Director