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LGBTQ+ community used as pawns in Turkey election

President has banned Pride parades, jeopardized public health efforts

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Police crackdown on the Istanbul Pride march on June 26, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Hayri Tunç)

Turkey’s general election on May 14 may be one of the most vigorously contested races in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 20-year rule, so it’s no surprise the conservative leader is continuing the decades-long crusade against LGBTQ people in an attempt to rally his base and claim another victory.

As the country grapples with years of economic mishandlings and the repercussions of an earthquake that killed 50,000 people in February, Erdoğan has intensified police crackdowns against LGBTQ safe spaces and events, jeopardized public health through HIV discriminatory policies and made it known through public records that LGBTQ people are second-class citizens. He even went as far as withdrawing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention — an international treaty designed to protect women from domestic abuse — claiming it promotes marriage equality despite no mention of it in the agreement.

This is a far cry from a nation that was once hailed as a shining example of a thriving democracy in the Muslim world. In fact, Turkey’s human rights record has worsened in the last decade, ranking 48 out of 49 countries in Rainbow Europe’s 2022 Map and Index, ranking countries based on their LGBTQ rights and policies. Still, there is hope.

Erdoğan’s main challenger, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the unity candidate for six opposition parties, advocates a more inclusive, liberal platform that aims to champion freedom of expression and rebuild state institutions to stop Turkey’s slide toward autocracy.

Needless to say, the people of Turkey now have a choice to either continue down a radically conservative path or take swift action to course correct. Both Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu have proposed referendums for their respective visions of Turkey’s future. Erdoğan has submitted a draft bill of constitutional amendmentsrestricting marriage as only between men and women, despite the current article using the gender-neutral term “spouses.” Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu and the opposition parties he represents seek to transition Turkey from the presidential system established under Erdoğan to one led by parliament. This change could potentially decentralize power and promote a more democratic and inclusive society, where the rights of all citizens, including the LGBTQ community, are respected and protected. 

Addressing these issues is more important than ever considering the dangerous implications of Erdoğan’s anti-LGBTQ vitriol on the HIV epidemic in the region. While Turkey’s HIV prevalence remains low, data trends are moving upward in contrast to the rest of the world. According to the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), HIV cases increased 465 percent between 2009 and 2019, with exponential growth starting in 2014 — around the same time Erdoğan’s government banned Pride parades and restricted civil liberties following a series of widespread, anti-government protests lasting three weeks at Gezi Park in 2013.

recent UNAIDS report paints a bleak picture for the region as well. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where Turkey plays a major geopolitical role, there were 160,000 new HIV cases in 2021 — a 48 percent increase since 2010. During that same time period, the number of AIDS-related deaths rose by 32 percent. The year before, in 2020, a reported 54 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the region were detected at a late stage (CD4+ <350 cells), a 10 percent increase in only two years. The Middle East and North Africa regions showed similar concerning trends as well.

Using LGBTQ issues as a political pawn has directly impacted HIV education and access in Turkey by perpetuating societal stigma and hindering progress in combating the virus. Furthermore, PrEP, a proven and effective HIV prevention method, remains uncovered by health insurance in the country, which limits access to essential preventive tools for those most at risk.

This is a critical moment for the future of Turkey. The outcome of the election will not only shape the nation’s domestic policies and stance on human rights but will also reverberate beyond its borders. As a key player in the Middle East, Turkey’s approach to LGBTQ rights will inevitably send a message to its neighbors during a time of political and social realignment across the region.

As Turkey stands at a critical crossroads, the very fabric of its society is at stake. Erdoğan’s fear-driven anti-LGBTQ campaign not only threatens the rights of marginalized groups but also endangers Turkey’s public health. The international community must not only condemn the human rights abuses against LGBTQ individuals in Turkey but rally behind the local organizations and activists courageously fighting for change. If history taught us anything, it’s that the consequences of Erdoğan’s political gambit are far-reaching. It’s time to change course. 

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Federal commission acknowledges violence against transgender women of color

Commissioner Glenn D. Magpantay to present findings to Congress on Wednesday

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Glenn D. Magpantay (Photo courtesy of Magpantay)

I don’t think President Eisenhower ever thought of transgender people when the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was founded in 1957. But today the horrific killings of transgender women of color is too much to be ignored. In 2018, 82 percent of recorded transgender homicides were of women of color.

So it was critical that the commission examine the violence against transgender women of color as part of its larger investigation of racial disparities among crime victims

Today, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, as a commissioner, I am proud to present to Congress and the White House our findings and my recommendations to address the rising violence and killings of transgender women of color. 

The commission’s report, and its documentation of this violence, recognizes transgender women of color under federal law. They are entitled to all of the protections of the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.  

Over the past year, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated racial disparities in crime victimization as violent crime rose from 2017-2021.  The commission’s investigation did not find differences in the risk of victimization for different races at a national level, as some might have suggested. But the data shows that LGBTQ+ and transgender communities of color are at a higher risk of violent crime.  

Transgender people, especially transgender African Americans face persistent and pervasive discrimination and violence. Kierra Johnson, the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, testified in how transgender individuals are victimized four times more often than non-trans people, with young Black and Latina transgender women at the highest risk. It was historic for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to recognize that sexual and/or gender minorities face increased risk for violent victimization. 

Still, we must more accurately capture the rates of violent victimization against LGBTQ+ people. There are inadequate data collection measures of gender and sexuality. A large percentage of Black transgender deaths are unaccounted for. 

Transgender homicides are likely undercounted for because of misgendering and “deadnaming” in police and media reports. Audacia Ray at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, explained that transgender individuals often do not share their legal names so when they are reported missing under their known name, their loved ones do not know what happens. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 only considers “sex” and does not look at “gender” or “sexual orientation.” So as the commission advises Congress and the federal agencies on the enforcement of modern civil rights, we must incorporate “race” and “gender” under our civil rights purview. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program should include disaggregated data on sexual and gender identity.  

Transgender and gender-diverse victims of crime are unable to access crucial assistance and vital services. The commission’s investigation formally documented how LGBTQ overall, and especially those of color or transgender experience, continued to face discrimination and harassment by law enforcement. The U.S. Transgender Survey, found that 61 percent of Black respondents experienced some form of mistreatment by police, including being verbally harassed, or physically or sexually assaulted. 

Victim service providers testified that LGBTQ+ survivors hesitate to seek help because of fear of being blamed themselves; distrust or discrimination by the police; and expectations of indifference. Survivors of violence — of any race, sexual orientation, gender, or gender-identity — must be able to receive essential services and assistance to help them heal from the trauma of violence. Mandatory and proper training for law enforcement and victim service providers can help victims feel safe when reporting incidents. 

Queer and trans Americans often fear retaliation by a world where they are living their true selves. The intersectional experiences of race exacerbates this fear. Our federal government needs to do more to ensure that all marginalized communities are better protected in our society. 

I never would have imagined that a federally authorized report to Congress would have the powerful statement on its public record “Black Trans Lives Matter!” That was until Kierra Johnson of the National LGBTQ Task Force said “I am here to say that Black Trans Lives Matter!” I am proud of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’s report to Congress and the country on the rise of violent crime in America and its highlights of the violence against transgender women of color. 

Glenn D. Magpantay is a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan federal agency that advises the White House and Congress on federal civil rights policy. The views expressed herein are as a commissioner, Magpantay’s own, and does not represent the entire commission. 

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LGBTQ communities around the world embrace antisemitism

Political opposition towards Israeli government has turned into Middle Ages-style bigotry

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Agas Israel Congregation in Northwest Washington on Oct. 10, 2023, hosted a prayer vigil for Israel. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

“I stopped reading Facebook feeds,” one of my queer Jewish American friends told me. I won’t say their name, but they are one of the many who showed similar sentiments.

We were speaking about increasing antisemitism among the LGBTQ community, and they were devastated.

Unfortunately, recent events in the Gaza Strip caused a peculiar situation when all Jewish people are blamed for the brutal response of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government; and LGBTQ Jews faced microaggression and direct violence, get insulted and attacked, even at Prides. 

First and foremost, I want to say that indiscriminate slaughtering of Gazan civilians is definitely a war crime that should be condemned and avoided in the future, but there are a lot of articles written on this topic by others who are more competent on this topic. This time I deliberately wouldn’t discuss Hamas and Israeli politicians here, because this story is not about them — this story is about the way the LGBTQ community is treating their Jewish siblings right now.

There are not so many visible queer politicians among Netanyahu supporters, and they are not spending time in social media queer groups. 

Moreover, right-wing LGBTQ people with connections to the Israeli government don’t care much about LGBTQ communities in the US, the UK, or Russia. 

LGBTQ people who suffer from everyday antisemitism are the ones who need community the most. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many families don’t accept their LGBTQ children, and for many queer people, the LGBTQ community became the only family support they had. 

And now antisemitism is taking this support away.

Why political opposition toward the Israeli government turned into Middle Ages-style bigotry is a very good question that doesn’t have a simple answer. 

Double standards

For a person who is not deeply into political and social issues, this situation may seem quite typical. After all, people are often used to judging the whole nation based on what their government did, right? Actually, wrong.

As a person from Ukraine, I may say that I spoke a lot about the Russian-Ukrainian war with LGBTQ and progressive activists in the West, and most of them showed enormous levels of compassion to “ordinary Russians,” despite the fact that the vast majority of the Russian population supports the Russian-Ukrainian war. Moreover, even after Russia in 2022 deliberately bombed the Mariupol Theater with Ukrainian children inside, Russians en masse weren’t called “child killers” by the American and European LGBTQ communities, and Russian activists still welcomed at Prides.

So it is definitely not about bombing children.

Also, all LGBTQ organizations in the US, UK, and European Union known to me that now openly support Palestine and call themselves anti-Zionists have never openly spoken up against concentration camps, ethnic cleansing, and the genocide of Muslim Uyghur populations in East Turkestan, which is under Chinese occupation right now. 

But LGBTQ groups and activists have never called themselves anti-Chinese, didn’t create a “queer for Eastern Turkistan” movement, and didn’t push Chinese LGBTQ people on campus to condemn the actions of the Chinese government.

So, it is also not about fighting Islamophobia.

What is it about? I have been a refugee in three different countries, and I have been involved in LGBTQ activism in some way in Russia, Ukraine, the UK, and the US, and I may say that antisemitism in LGBTQ communities exists in all those countries in some way. 

And in different cultural contexts, antisemitism represents itself differently among LGBTQ people. 

Eastern European antisemitism 

Me and three other LGBTQ activists in 2018 held a small demonstration in the middle of St. Petersburg on Victory Day, a big state-promoted holiday when Russians celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazism. We were holding posters about the common threats between Nazi Germany and the modern Russian Federation, including the persecution of LGBTQ people.

Suddenly, a very respected-looking man came to us, blaming us for an anti-Russian Western conspiracy just because we criticized the Russian government, and then started to say that the Holocaust never happened. When I yelled back at this man, telling him that I’m partly Jewish and daring him to repeat his antisemitic accusation, the man announced that Jews “paid to live in Auschwitz, so later they would create their own state.”

Ayman Eckford participates in a protest against anti-Semitism in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Ayman Eckford)

No one said anything against this man, but Russians were angry with me for “spoiling a holiday.”

Holocaust denial and everyday antisemitism are extremely prominent in Eastern Europe, from Poland to Russia. It is especially strong in Russia.

Russian pride about “victory over Nazis” is not about fighting Nazi ideology, but rather about being proud of a Soviet legacy. Simplifying Nazis is bad only because they killed Russian Soviets.

Even in state Russian Orthodox Churches, you could buy the “Protocol of the Elders of Zion” Nazi propaganda book.

LGBTQ activists in Russia are generally less antisemitic than the majority of the population, but all the same, they were raised in this culture, so they allow themselves antisemitic jokes and sometimes share Russian supremacy ideas.

So, for them, anti-Zionism is just another, new, and more appropriate way to hate Jews, and they didn’t even try to hide antisemitic rhetoric, especially because many prominent Jewish LGBTQ people moved to Israel or to the US, so the community is mostly non-Jewish. 

Western European and American antisemitism

The situation is quite different in America and Western Europe.

“Why are you supporting Palestine in a way you have never supported people from other war zones, including any other Muslim lands?” I asked my friend and activist from Sheffield in the UK.

“Because there is a first time in modern history when a country committed such an attack against civilians!” They answered me. “Especially with our government’s support.”

I closed my eyes, suddenly remembering the Iraqi city of Mosul that was wiped out to the ground by US-led allies, killing not just ISIS fighters, but also peaceful townsfolk stuck under the occupation of the self-proclaimed “caliphate,” or the Syrian town of Baqhuz Fawqani, where families of ISIS fighters, including babies and pregnant women, were bombed together with Syrian civilians. 

And to mention, once again, Russian “clearing” operations and bombings in Chechnya and Ukraine, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crimes against his own people in Syria, crimes committed by ISIS, or the ongoing war in Mali. 

My friend has no idea how wrong they were. 

Modern wars are extremely brutal, and there is an ongoing problem of dehumanizing enemies and war crimes that need to be solved. It’s a much broader problem than just Israeli‘s actions, but like one of my Jewish nonbinary friends is saying, “no Jews, no news.” 

Anti-Israel graffiti on a building at the corner of 16th and Corcoran Streets, N.W., in Dupont Circle on Nov. 4, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Western antisemitism in the LGBTQ community, including the idea that all Jewish people are extremely privileged white oppressors, is based on a simple ignorance, no less than on prejudice. If in Russia I saw more activists who hate Jews and just want to be anti-Jewish in a modern way, in the UK and US LGBTQ community I saw more people who are generally caring about war crimes. But they refused to make their own analysis and refused to use the same standards for Jews that they use for other minorities — for example, not pushing them to condemn crimes they never committed.

The Palestinian rights movement has one of the biggest and more successful PR campaigns in modern history, while Jewish organizations failed to promote their agenda among non-Jewish populations.

“Most of them [LGBTQ activists and friends] don’t even know what Zionism is, to be really anti-Zionist,” my queer American friend noticed.

But, just like in Russia, some queer people are just bigots who now could show their hate publicly in a way that wouldn’t be condemned by their community.

Ayman Eckford is a freelance journalist, and an autistic ADHDer transgender person who understands that they are trans* since they were 3-years-old.

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LGBTQ Africans remember that Kamala Harris stood up for them

Vice president raised LGBTQ issues during 2023 trip to Ghana

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Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Accra, Ghana, on March 26, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Harris's Twitter page)

Although few Americans heard about it at the time, LGBTQ+ Africans remember that Kamala Harris stood up for them when she visited Africa as vice president in March 2023.  

On March 27, 2023, she appeared at a joint news conference in Accra, Ghana, with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. The final question came from Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times. Referring to the bill that would impose harsh jail terms on LGBTQ+ people, then being considered by the Ghanaian parliament, and citing the Biden administration’s commitment to” calling out any foreign government that advanced anti-gay legislation or violates human rights,” he asked her “what have you said to the president and plan to say to other leaders on this trip about the crackdown on human rights?”

Under the “Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill,” which was passed by the Ghanaian parliament on Feb. 28, 2024, people who engage in same-sex relations will be subject to up to three years imprisonment, anyone who promotes LGBTQ+ rights can be jailed for six to 10 years, and all LGBTQ+ organizations will be banned. The act is now being challenged in the country’s Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

As Nii-Quarterlai Quartner, professor at Pepperdine University, writes in his new book, “Kamala, the Motherland, and Me,” “even before he completed his inquiry, members of the Ghanaian cabinet made their disapproval apparent. You could see their faces get tight and hear the whispers. You could even hear some laughter. Was it nervous laughter? Was it belittling laughter? Was it somewhere in between? I don’t know. But the immediate shift in energy was palpable. Despite the angry stares and even some snickers from around the room, Vice President Harris never paused or hesitated in her response.”

Standing at Akufo-Addo’s side, Harris answered the question directly and at length. 

“I’ll start,” she said, “I have raised this issue, and let me be clear about where we stand. First of all, for the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the board, including as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community. And I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally. I will also say that this is an issue that we consider, and I consider to be a human rights issue, and that will not change.”

Former President Donald Trump’s policy, if he wins the election this coming November, would be quite different.  

According to the Project 2025 report, prepared under the direction of the Heritage Foundation by leading Trump advisors, in Trump’s second term, the United States will “stop promoting policies birthed in the American culture wars” and stop pressing African governments to respect the rule of law, human rights/LGBT+ rights, political and civil rights, democracy, and women’s rights, especially abortion rights. “African nations are particularly (and reasonably) non-receptive to the US social policies such as abortion and pro-LGBT initiatives being imposed on them,” by the United States, the report declares. Therefore, “the United States should focus on core security, economic, and human rights engagement with African partners and reject the promotion of divisive policies that hurt the deepening of shared goals between the US and its African partners.”

The fate of LGBTQ+ Africans may not matter much to most American voters, but the results of the US election matter to them. Their safety, freedom, and lives depend on it.

Daniel Volman is the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, D.C., and a specialist on US national security policy toward Africa and African security issues.

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Accountability to #ActForHumanity: Humanitarian power and LGBTIQ inclusion

Monday is World Humanitarian Day

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The U.S. Agency for International Development and other groups have placed hand washing stations on the Simón Bolívar International Bridge that spans the Táchira River, which marks the Colombia-Venezuela border. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

BY AMIE BISHOP and KENDRA HUGHBANKS | International humanitarian law is failing in its promise to protect aid workers and civilians alike in situations of armed conflict. Indeed, 2023 was the most fatal year for humanitarian workers ever recorded. Concurrently, thousands of civilians have lost their lives because they fell through protection gaps. On Aug. 19, World Humanitarian Day, Outright International joins the United Nations in calling for states to #ActForHumanity by ensuring accountability for armed actors’ wanton attacks, and for humanitarian actors to be boldly inclusive in how they prevent and protect against violations of international law. 

Among those who bear significant risks in conflicts and other humanitarian crises due to these protection gaps are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people. Internalized biases and discriminatory environments result in armed actors directly targeting LGBTIQ people, while humanitarian responses may actively overlook or passively exclude them. A recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar highlighted how LGBTIQ people’s gender identity or sexual orientation is “weaponized” by the military junta “to inflict hypersexualized forms of rape, torture, harassment, and other forms of sexual abuse” against them. The Special Rapporteur called on states to do more to ensure accountability for these crimes, and on UN agencies and other humanitarian actors to “ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the most vulnerable communities, including those that have historically faced discrimination and violence.” In Afghanistan, LGBTIQ people face harrowing violence at the hands of the Taliban, while the UN system itself appears to largely disregard their suffering. Meanwhile, LGBTIQ people are among the tens of thousands dead as a result of brazen bombardments by the Israeli Defense Forces on Gaza and mass killings of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces across Sudan. Survivors continue to be subjected to crimes against humanity such as gender persecution and mass forced displacement, which may disproportionately impact LGBTIQ people. From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti to Ukraine — where Outright International is managing a program aimed at improving LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian action — LGBTIQ people experience emergencies in unique ways that must be accounted for in humanitarian action.

Institutionalized and social discrimination do not relieve States of their obligations to uphold the rights of LGBTIQ people, even during armed conflict. Nor do such conditions diminish the responsibility or commitment of humanitarians, who must remain steadfast in their principles to alleviate suffering in a neutral and impartial way. Stakeholders in the humanitarian response must examine and maximize their power to improve recognition and inclusion of LGBTIQ people’s humanity. Working with and listening to LGBTIQ people — activists, organizations, and ordinary individuals — is vital to ensuring their protection and inclusion in humanitarian action.

Just one week ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross urged the world to renew its commitment to the Geneva Conventions on their 75th anniversary. The Geneva Conventions are the backbone of humanitarian law, ensuring the protection of civilians and humanitarians working in conflict settings. Despite this, LGBTIQ people are still not fully and equally protected during conflicts. Furthermore, since humanitarian law applies concurrently with human rights law, States must still respect, protect, and fulfill the right to nondiscrimination even in emergencies. When humanitarian agencies respond to crises, they must take a comprehensive approach to protecting and promoting people’s rights under both humanitarian and human rights law. This includes addressing the specific risks and vulnerabilities of LGBTIQ people while adhering to core humanitarian principles.

This year’s World Humanitarian Day theme recalls the fundamental nature of the humanitarian principle of humanity. Outright’s recent investigation into good and promising practices for LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian response highlights ways that humanitarian practitioners and donors can leverage their power to better account for the humanity of LGBTIQ crisis-affected people. This research provides an important launching point for humanitarian actors to revitalize the central role of inclusion in the way they #ActForHumanity. By leveraging their power and principles, humanitarian stakeholders can spark positive social change to create a protective environment with LGBTIQ crisis-affected people. By ensuring meaningful LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian response, humanitarian actors not only set a path toward guaranteeing that peace and justice processes are more accessible, substantively equal, and reflect the diversity of conflict-affected societies. They also, in a world that at times seems numbed to violence, provide a sorely needed affirmation of the core humanitarian principle that all human lives have value. 

Amie Bishop is director of humanitarian and global development programs for Outright International and Kendra Hughbanks is a guest writer for Outright International.

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The international community continues to ignore the plight of LGBTQ Afghans

The Taliban regained control of the country on Aug. 15, 2021

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Two men in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2021 (Photo courtesy of Dr. Ahmad Qais Munzahim)

Three years have passed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

The Taliban continues to arrest LGBTQ Afghans one after another, and punishes them in public in front of people and local Taliban authorities across the country. There is no news about their fate. And the severity of repression and increased violence against LGBTQ people by the Taliban has, unfortunately, been away from international attention and their situation is deliberately ignored.

The Supreme Court of the Taliban over the last three years has published several rulings regarding the punishment of LGBTQ people for “lawat,” a reference to sexual relations between two men in Sharia law, and most punishments of LGBTQ people has taken place in public in five provinces: Kabul, Parwan, Sarpul, Zabul, and Kandahar.

A court in the Saidkhel district of Parwan province on July 1 announced it had tried and punished four people for “lawat.”

The Supreme Court of the Taliban in a newsletter said the Seyed Kheli district’s primary court sentenced three defendants to a year in prison and 39 lashes. Another defendant received a 2-year sentence and 39 lashes.

The Taliban in June publicly punished dozens of LGBTQ people in Sarpul, Parwan, and Kabul provinces.

Some of the LGBTQ people who the Taliban freed from their prisons told the Rainbow Afghanistan Organization that they were subjected to sexual exploitation, gang rape, and all kinds of torture, including electric shocks, physical beatings, and fingernail removal that caused severe pain and suffering.

On the other hand, the spreading of hatred and the issuing of harsh punishments for LGBTQ people by the Taliban is not hidden from public view. The Taliban, for example, continues to execute LGBTQ people by toppling walls on top of them.

The Taliban in May 2023 published a declaration that emphasized the implementation of Sharia law in Afghanistan. The Taliban issued dozens of final verdicts of “Islamic retribution and ‘hudud’” (“hudud” are Islamic penal codes under Sharia law) and punishments that included stoning. Four people were reportedly executed when walls fell on to them.

Gul Rahim, a Taliban judge, told the German newspaper Bild in July 2021, just before Afghanistan fell, there are “two punishments for homosexuals: Either stoned, or they have to stand behind a wall that falls on their head. The height of the wall should be 2.5 to 3 meters.”

The Taliban used this method to punish LGBTQ people when they were in power between 1996-2001.

Taliban member Mohammad Khel said on Afghanistan International TV on March 28, 2024, that those who are of two sexes — and it is not clear whether they are male or female — should be killed immediately, should be killed tomorrow, and should have been killed yesterday. He continued the program host’s answer, and said he is a Muslim and the Quran has ordered him to kill. The Supreme Court of the Taliban two days before the interview ordered the flogging and punishment of an LGBTQ person in Khaf Sefid district in Farah province for “lawat.”

LGBTQ people have always been excluded from U.N. Security Council declarations and resolutions, despite the Taliban’s public punishment of LGBTQ people and the Taliban’s increased violence against them.

Each Security Council resolution — Resolution 2679, and Resolution 2721 — the U.N. Security Council adopted over the last three years has ignored LGBTQ Afghans.

We, the LGBTQ community of Afghanistan, see the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has adopted this wrong approach, which has completely excluded the experiences of LGBTIQ people in its human rights reports from 2021 until now. This omission in UAMA reports for the past three years shows gender-based violence that LGBTQ Afghans face is being ignored.

The U.N. has unfortunately not adopted any new, more inclusive approaches in the implementation of its resolutions, declarations and meetings for Afghanistan; despite Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International’s declarations and concerns to the U.N. and the international community regarding the unfortunate situation of LGBTQ people and women in Afghanistan and requests to pay more attention to it. The U.N. and the international community always excludes a vulnerable group — such as the LGBTQ community, which experiences the most violence in Afghanistan and has been sidelined and ignored for years from all resolutions and declarations — and deliberately ignores their situation.

The U.N., the U.N. Security Council, and UNAMA’s disregard for the unfortunate situation of LGBTQ Afghans is a slap in the face to the concept of human rights in Afghanistan.

LGBTQ Afghans today are bewildered that the same international community that championed free elections and LGBTQ rights is willing to compromise its own moral values to cave in to an extremist ideological group that represents an armed clerical regime that has established gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have succeeded in silencing the voices of LGBTQ people in Afghanistan by using repression, violence, torture, and punishment in public. The U.N. and others in the international community have given this opportunity to the Taliban and their supporters by ignoring the situation of LGBTQ people, by silencing the voice of the Afghan LGBTQ community outside of Afghanistan.

We, and Afghanistan’s LGBTQ community are deeply concerned about the Security Council and UNAMA’s neglect of these serious violations. We believe that what is happening in Afghanistan is a clear example of gender apartheid and human crime.

We condemn every U.N. meeting, declaration, and resolution on Afghanistan that excludes the LGBTQ community. We consider it a violation of the human rights charter.

Ali Tawakoli is an Afghan LGBTIQ rights activist and director and founder of the Rainbow Afghanistan Organization.

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NY Times report on GLAAD riddled with bad reporting, innuendo, lies

GLAAD, Ellis should stay the course — the world needs you now more than ever

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GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 25, 2022. (Photo by Reto Hamme/GLAAD)

BY ZEKE STOKES | Let me say up front that no one from GLAAD asked me to write this, and I did not run its content by them or coordinate in any way. These are my independent observations based on my experience as Vice President and Chief Programs Officer under the leadership of Sarah Kate Ellis for five years. I was there for much of what is detailed in the recent New York Times story, and I feel compelled to provide a counterpoint to the imbalanced — and perhaps libelous — story put forward by the Times. 

Before I get into the content of the piece, it’s incredibly relevant to point out that the writer of this piece, Emily Steel, signed an open letter last year criticizing GLAAD and more than 100 other organizations and leaders who spoke out against The New York Times’ coverage of transgender people. That alone should have disqualified her from investigating and writing this story. I won’t speculate about her motives or those of her editors, but the fact that she had taken a public position against GLAAD’s work speaks volumes. 

Beyond that, the piece is riddled with bad reporting, innuendo, lies, mistruths, facts out of context, and misinformation. I know because I was there — but no one at the New York Times bothered to call any of us (and there are many) who could have instantly debunked this nonsense. 

So let’s get into it — facts first. 

Sarah Kate Ellis’s salary is not $1 million per year. It’s not even close. It’s easily searchable and publicly available on GLAAD’s IRS 990 forms, which are filed annually. The most recent documents indicate a salary of roughly $575,000 and a bonus of about $27,000 — a lot of money, yes, but a far cry from $1 million and very much in line with the leadership of nonprofit organizations with similar budgets. 

Much has been made of GLAAD’s work at Davos, so let me offer some context there as well. The World Economic Forum meets in Davos each year and is composed of leaders from government, business and international organizations, civil society, academia, and media to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Until GLAAD entered the frame in 2017, LGBTQ issues were not on the agenda. Today, they are a centerpiece. 

While I did not attend any of GLAAD’s trips to Davos, I was privy to the strategy, logistics, and other details related to those activations. Here’s the truth. Those trips are funded by a donor who specifically designated those funds for that purpose in order to provide GLAAD an opportunity to have a seat at the table with world leaders, Fortune 100 CEOs, and global influencers in order to make progress on criminalization of LGBTQ identities, HIV medication access, and reform in the Catholic Church. You don’t do that with events and meetings at the local Hampton Inn. If you want to have a seat at the table with world leaders, you go where they are. 

GLAAD is not a direct services organization — it is an agent of culture change, and culture change is a long and expensive game. When you show up to Davos, Cannes Lions, the Emmys, Sundance, and other places of elite influence, you must show up as their equal in order to earn a place in the conversation and be trusted to co-create the change we are advocating for. And what is the change that has happened, exactly, from GLAAD’s presence in Davos? 

A simple Google search will produce a laundry list of impact for the LGBTQ community from GLAAD’s work there, especially critical at a time when DEI and other inclusive programs are under attack in the corporate world. It’s also worth noting that GLAAD’s fingerprints are all over many things that never are acknowledged publicly because to do so would damage the work and the end goal. 

Nonetheless, here are just a few headlines tell the tale: 

Washington Blade: GLAAD, HRC Presidents Attend World Economic Forum

Associated Press: Pope Approves Same-sex Blessings For Couples

Associated Press: Pope Says Homosexuality Not A Crime

World Economic Forum: What Davos Taught Me About Supporting My Transgender Child Partnership for Global LGBTQIA+ Equality: Davos Promenade Lights Up Rainbow 

New York Times: Vatican Says Transgender People Can Be Baptized and Become Godparents Here’s the bottom line. 

Sarah Kate Ellis has taken the organization from literal bankruptcy to the stages at Davos, the Emmys, Cannes Lions, the Super Bowl, and countless other places to represent our community and make change. She has made GLAAD a juggernaut with a place at the table at the world’s most influential cultural moments and among the globe’s leading decision makers and culture shapers. That’s why Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023 and why she commands the respect of the team she leads at GLAAD, the board of directors who hired her, and the leaders of the industries in which she is making change every day. On a personal level, she is one of the most honorable, visionary, judicious, and impactful leaders I have ever worked with. 

It’s a shame to see the New York Times stoop to petty vindictiveness and shoddy reporting for clicks and revenge. It’s not just an attack on Sarah Kate Ellis — it’s an attack on all of us who have been a part of turning GLAAD around and making it a leading global voice for equality and acceptance. My only demand of GLAAD’s leadership would be to go even bigger, even louder, even harder, and even faster. Stay the course. The world needs you now more than ever. 

Zeke Stokes is former Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at GLAAD and an executive producer of the award-winning documentary ‘TransMilitary.’

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Some women like Angela Carini are just embarrassments

Italian boxer ended bout with Imane Khelif after 46 seconds

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Imane Khelif, left, and Angela Carini, right. ("Today" show screenshot via YouTube)

The Los Angeles Blade has published Fallon Fox’s Facebook post with permission.

Yesterday was proof positive that some women are absolute chumps in combat sports. Olympic boxer Angela Carini flat out just gave up from a single punch to the face. No KO or injury, which would happen from an “extraordinary punch.” She just quit.

“I got into the ring to fight. I didn’t give up. But one punch hurt too much and so I said, ‘Enough.’ I’m going out with my head held high,” Carini said after literally quitting the match — that she didn’t “quit.” LOL 

Let’s break this down. First off, a real boxer, one that’s actually any good, isn’t going to quit because a punch stings. No. You’d get KO’d first. And let’s not forget that Olympic boxers wear headgear for crying out loud! I know most of you reading this have never boxed with padded headgear. But, it doesn’t “hurt” as much as one might think, no matter if it’s a far stronger opponent in your weight class or not. 

It’s less of a matter of how painful the punch is, and more about having your brain smack against the inside of your skull from the force of impact. Stopping a fight from a punch with headgear on? No, injuries. No concussion from punches, not even a bruise. Not a solitary scratch. Just, “it hurt bad” is the most pathetic excuse I’ve heard from a so called “seasoned fighter” ever. 

Some women like Angela Carini are just embarrassments. Instead of actually earning respect from being a tough athlete, they’d rather rely on the prospect of the audiences unwarranted sympathy for them to make their name when dominated. And you’ll never see these “Riley Gaines” type of women reaching the highest levels of their sport. Although you may hear some complaints from some top level athletes in women’s sports who have NEVER been bested by someone with an “unfair advantage.” 

We don’t even know what test the International Boxing Association gave the formerly disqualified women’s boxer. Was it a genetic test? If so, we don’t even know if she had intersex genetic characteristics, or some other non-XX chromosome characteristics. But, opponents of inclusion are calling her a trans woman, or woman with “male genetic characteristics.” Genetic differences may be true. But let’s not jump the gun. We don’t know. And she was assigned female at birth which makes her cisgender. 

And, if she were to be trans, or a woman with “male genetic characteristics,” only higher than average testosterone without reduction of said testosterone over a waiting period, would be the factor for disqualification. 

Angela Carini can cry harder. She’s nothing, and she’ll never be anything of any relevance outside of the fame received from crying like a baby over getting tagged in the face, and walking away without a scratch in the Goddamn Olympics for crying out loud. Some people just don’t belong in the ring.

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With legal defense, the 13.2K people in ICE detention would have a shot at freedom

Fairness to Freedom Act, SHIELD Act, would offer universal representation

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An American flag flies in front of a privately-run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Mississippi on July 31, 2020. (Washington Blade photo by Yariel Valdés González)

While the Biden administration announced positive policy shifts for some immigrants last month, he simultaneously nearly closed the door to asylum and set a new record for the number of immigrants in detention. Currently, there are over 13,200 people jailed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in the U.S. — a record for the Biden administration that has been steadily climbing. As a queer, Black migrant who fled persecution in Nigeria — where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison — this shameful and continuing record reminds me of my days in ICE detention and the right to due process I was denied.

In 2017, I fled my home in search of America’s promise of refuge and freedom, after being subjected to violent attacks due to rising LGBTQ+ persecution in Nigeria. Upon landing in Atlanta, without being able to consult a lawyer, I was shackled and caged in ICE detention for three months. I quickly learned that there is no right to a public defender for people navigating the U.S. immigration system who can’t afford to hire their own lawyers. I called countless organizations for help; one of the groups even told me they don’t assist queer refugees. 

Facing these realities alone in detention was devastating — as it is for thousands of others like me who have endured the indignities of detention and lack of legal counsel. It is nearly impossible to win an immigration case without a lawyer while in detention: Only six percent of people without representation in deportation proceedings initiated since 2001 have had successful case outcomes, compared to 45 percent of people with representation. Immigrants with attorneys are five times more likely — and detained immigrants with attorneys are 10.5 times more likely — to obtain relief from deportation than those without representation.

The stakes are even higher for Black and queer immigrants like myself, who are significantly more likely to be targeted for deportation, detention, and abuse. While only seven percent of non-citizens in the U.S. are Black, they make up a full 20 percent of those facing deportation. In a recent letter to the White House, my organization, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and other advocates condemned the Biden administration’s ballooning, punitive immigrant detention system, in which “LGBTQ individuals … suffer homophobic and transphobic harassment and abuse … [and] Black immigrants face unaffordable bonds and violence at disparately high rates.” 

To change these devastating outcomes, I joined a campaign advocating for universal legal representation through the Fairness to Freedom Act and its recently introduced companion bill, the SHIELD Act, which together would build the nationwide infrastructure needed to provide access to legal representation for every person facing deportation, whether or not they can afford an attorney. While I managed to eventually find an attorney to help secure my freedom and make my asylum case before a judge, others are not so fortunate. Fairness to Freedom would help provide attorneys for anyone facing deportation, regardless of circumstance, identity, nationality, or ability to pay.

Uchechukwu Onwa (Photo courtesy of Uchechukwu Onwa)

In the face of expanding immigrant detention and as people like myself continue to seek safety in the U.S., I urge federal lawmakers to take a stand against detention and for due process by establishing the right to legal representation for all people facing deportation. Everyone should have a fair shot at asylum or other forms of relief with a legal advocate by their side to help them make their case and secure their freedom. This is the promise of America I had imagined — the opportunity to thrive in safety, freedom, and dignity. 

Uchechukwu Onwa (he/him) is a Nigerian-born organizer, trainer, abolitionist, and movement strategist. As a high-impact voice for the LGBTQ+ community, he is a steering committee member of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) with over 10 years of experience working in community outreach, public health, and human rights. Before joining the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) team, he worked as the Co-Director/Organizing Director for the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP). Uche’s work has been featured in the Windy City Times, Shondaland, Plus Magazine, Buzzfeed, the Advocate, Vogue, PoliticsNY, AMNY, Pulitzer Center, the Washington Blade, and more. 

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JD Vance targeted ambassador appointees with anti-LGBTQ questionnaire

Leaked document reveals obsession with Pride flag

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U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Sen. JD Vance presented a “questionnaire” last year to career State Department nominees for ambassador to intimidate them — or thwart their nominations. It was recently leaked without comment from Vance. More than a neutral questionnaire, this was a loaded invitation to rumble on the far right of the Republican Party from a senator who does not serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Washington Post headline de-gayed the story, “Leaked memo shows JD Vance’s anti-woke ideology…”.  In fact, the questionnaire was focused solely on LGBTQ issues.

Professionally nurtured and funded with a $15 million donation by gay billionaire Peter Thiel, vice presidential candidate Vance is caught up in the contradiction between having a billionaire gay business and political mentor while launching a searing, anti-gay questionnaire targeting career State Department nominees for ambassadorial posts worldwide. A political contortionist, Sen. Vance became in the last year the single largest obstacle to confirming career ambassadors in the Senate. 

The Vance questionnaire is a stunning, obsessive document harkening back to the Eisenhower-era investigations of suspected homosexuals, State Department diplomats (“twisted twerps in pinstripes”) and “Fellow Travelers” of the Lavender Scare. It is written in the icy language of investigators —“Please provide a discreet response to each question.” Like FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s insistence that suspected “sex deviates” be reported to him using a “green pencil,” the Vance questionnaire obsesses over really small things like “gender neutral bathrooms” intended to stigmatize and inflame. But for this questionnaire it is “The Progress” flag, over and over. Will you fly “the Progress Flag?” When would that be “appropriate?” Should “the Progress Flag” be displayed? “If confirmed, on what basis would you determine when and where raising the Progress Flag….”, Vance, the questioner, presses. What the heck is the “Progress Flag?,” I wondered as a gay man in my 70s. Oh, right, it is the banner known worldwide as the rainbow Pride flag, itself something of a cliché, with some new stripes to include transgender people and people of color.

The questioner asks nominees, “how would you explain ‘human rights for LGBTQ people?” where they are neither respected nor exist, in states where imprisonment or execution may be possible. You can feel the questioner doing an eye-roll as though “human rights for LGBTQ people” is a crazy oxymoron. I am reminded of U.S. Civil Service Commission attorney John Steele’s memorandum in the early 1960s discussing why homosexual Americans can have no such rights. “Although there are dissenting voices, our society generally regards homosexuality as a form of immoral conduct … uniquely nasty,” he wrote in a document the Mattachine Society discovered in a file labeled “Suitability” at the National Archives.

It is surprising that recipients of Vance’s questionnaire, the folks whose appointments were put on hold by Vance, did not leak the document sooner. We do have gay ambassadors who have led the way, ably representing our country and its values, even in places like authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Hungary. U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman hosted in 2023 at the embassy in Budapest a Family Pride picnic attended by several hundred guests and their families, including Ambassador Pressman, his husband and their two children. 

In his remarks Ambassador Pressman said, “It has become abundantly clear that right now in Hungary — as leaders call for new laws to “protect children;” as books are wrapped in cellophane; and bookstores fined for displaying books; as rainbow benches are defaced — now is also the right time for the U.S. to celebrate you and your families by hosting what I am told is one of the largest LGBT family gatherings in Hungary’s history.” This is the great soft-power of American example, a force worldwide. During Ambassador Pressman’s confirmation hearing a rubber boat on the Danube River carried a sign that said, “Mr. Pressman, don’t colonize Hungary with your cult of death.” I understand a photo of that protest is proudly displayed behind Ambassador Pressman’s desk. 

LGBTQ historians and archive activists should be grateful to whomever leaked the questionnaire. First, because it so well reveals JD Vance’s character in hot pursuit of anything LGBTQ with the small-bore criticism of displaying the Pride flag during regional Pride celebrations. Most important, in the larger context of targeting State Department nominees, we owe remembrance to the LGBTQ Americans who came before us — those “twisted twerps” who were interrogated and left with stalled careers in ruins.

Charles Francis is president of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. and author of “Archive Activism: Memoir of a ‘Uniquely Nasty’ Journey.’

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Kamala Harris: The down-ticket savior we needed

Vice president’s POTUS campaign will provide a significant boost

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Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Joe Biden not seeking re-election isn’t just good for Democrats looking to stave off a second Donald Trump presidency, but it’s good news for all the other candidates on the ballot who were at serious risk of millions of Democratic voters sitting out November altogether.

This unexpected, but much needed, turn of events has generated a wave of reactions across the nation, but one thing is clear: Vice President Kamala Harris’s entry into the presidential race is going to provide a significant boost to down-ticket races for the Democratic Party.

Before Biden’s delayed departure from the election, the Democratic Party was doing an excellent job at ignoring the increasing number of voters of all ages who were not willing to compromise their morals or values in November for Biden to vote in the lesser of two evils — which to them is still evil. From the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas War, immigration, the economy, and more — these Democrats were okay with dealing with the consequences of Biden losing understanding that they will struggle under Republicans, they will struggle under Democrats. No matter who is in office, they will struggle. Why should their conscience be in conflict as well? And that was before Biden’s “Weekend at Bernie”’s debate performance.

Biden staying on the ticket wasn’t just going to hurt our chances to keep the White House and democracy alive in the U.S., but it was going to hurt all the local and state candidates and propositions that had the luck of being on the same ballot had Democratic voters sat this one out.

Now, I am not really under the illusion that his decision not to seek re-election had anything to do with the millions of Democratic voters who were set to watch the chips falls where they may. I am pretty sure it had to do more with hard to have conversations about the millions of dollars that were not going to go to the Democratic Party had Biden stayed the course. And now that Harris is in and will be the presumptive nominee, the spigots are on again and the money is flowing. I haven’t seen this much excitement for a candidate since a then-Senator Barack Obama earned the nomination of the Democratic Party back in 2008.

Whether you like her or not, for millions of Democrats, Kamala Harris represents a new era of leadership, one that is more inclusive and reflective of America’s diverse population. Within 24 hours, her candidacy has galvanized a broad coalition of voters, including women, people of color, and young people. This renewed enthusiasm at the top of the ticket is going to have a ripple effect, energizing the base and increasing voter turnout, which is crucial for down-ticket candidates.

For states like California and counties like Los Angeles, the largest in the U.S., this is a game changer.

Californians have 11 ballot propositions on their November ballot. Among them, a controversial ballot proposition to repeal parts of Proposition 47 (Prop 47) and increase drug crime and theft penalties and allow a new class of crime to be called treatment-mandated felony, which gives offenders the option to participate in drug and mental health treatment.

Prop 47 was a ballot measure passed by California voters on in 2014 that made some non-violent property crimes, where the value does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some simple drug possession offenses into misdemeanors and provided for past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under Prop 47, offenders qualified for a reduction from a felony to a misdemeanor for certain crimes including: certain forgeries, commercial burglary, petty theft with priors, bad check, grand theft crimes, possession of stolen property, and possession of a controlled substance.

Realistically, there is very little that could happen to keep California’s 54 electoral college votes from going to Harris — assuming she’s the nominee — a low voter turnout of Democrats would favor this conservative backed proposition.

Even though local races are “technically” nonpartisan in California, a similar fate was projected in the Los Angeles County’s district attorney race that sees progressive prosecutor Democrat George Gascón fighting to keep his job against former Republican turned No-Party-Preference Nathan Hochman. Hochman has been endorsed by at least six of the nine people (excluding Gascón) that he ran against during the primary. Setting the stage for a second showdown between Gascón and seemingly everyone else who was on the ballot during the primary and has now lined up behind Hochman.

Harris’s historic candidacy as the first Black and South Asian woman on a major party’s presidential ticket holds immense symbolic value. Her presence has already mobilized minority voters who feel underrepresented in the political arena. Increased turnout among these demographics can significantly impact races at all levels which is going to be especially key for progressive candidates like Gascón and criminal justice reform measures on the November ballot whom these voters are more likely favor.

President Biden’s decision to step aside has opened the door for Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket and give us a fighting chance to avoid another Trump presidency. The announcement of Harris as the potential nominee has raised more than $81 million in the 24-hour period since Biden’s announcement.

Facts. Harris’s candidacy has energized the base, already mobilized key voter demographics, and strengthened the party’s overall electoral chances. As we move towards the election, Harris is going to be a powerful catalyst for important down-ticket races. She was just the lifesaving move that had to happen in order to bring the Democratic Party back to life because all races on the ballot with Democrats were going to suffer had Biden stayed on the ticket. Now, on to November.

Jasmyne Cannick is a Democratic strategist and elected delegate to the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

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