There’s some exciting news when it comes to how many openly LGBTQ elected officials we have here in the United States. A new report from the Victory Institute (a pro-LGBTQ political action committee) concludes that we have a lot more openly LGBTQ elected officials in 2019 than we did in 2018. While that doesn’t mean representation is entirely equal (especially when considering other lenses, like LGBTQ people of color, or LGBTQ people with disabilities), it’s still worth celebrating.
The biggest takeaway is also the simplest. According to the institute, in 2018 we had a total of 559 openly LGBTQ elected officials across the country. Now, for 2019, we have 698. To put this finding another way, that’s an increase of almost 25%. In terms of position, this breaks down to 147 state legislators, 10 Congress members, two governors, 34 mayors, and nearly 400 people on the local level.
What’s probably not a shocker is that 81% of openly LGBTQ elected officials are Democrats. Also 2.7% are Republicans, and 14% identify with “other” affiliations. The final 2.3% are “independent” affiliations.
Broken down by identity, the highest increase is with the bisexual population. The number of openly bisexual officials increased from 15 to 34, which, put another way, is 126% compared to the last year. For transgender officials, we see a 53.8% increase, going from 13 to 20 elected officials.
Elected LGBTQ officials who are Latinx increased from 58 individuals to 74. Similarly, the number of LGBTQ elected officials who are black, African American, and/or Afro-Caribbean also increased from 30 to 43.
And 55% of the 698 people identify as gay, 33% as lesbian, 4.9% as bisexual, 3.4% as queer, and 1% as pansexual.
All of this is, of course, the bright side. Victory Institute President and CEO Annise Parker talked about why she believes the data is shifting in an interview with NBC News. “Some of it is that more out people are running, some of it is that more out people are getting elected, and then more people who are in office are coming out,” Parker, who is also the former mayor of Houston, told NBC News. “So it’s becoming much more acceptable, so the numbers are going up every day.”
That’s great! But is this all enough? According to the report, not quite. "LGBTQ people hold just 0.13 percent of elected positions," the official report reads, "despite the most conservative estimates showing LGBTQ people as 4.5 percent of the U.S. population."
What do we need? More representation—and more accessible opportunities for people to run for office, or at least, become involved in their local politics. We also need more diversity among LGBTQ officials. This could look like, for example, more trans women of color, more AAPI representation, or more openly non-binary officials.
The organization does recognize this, which is a step in the right direction. “Although great strides were made in the past year,” the report reads, “LGBTQ people of color, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and LGBTQ cisgender women are still severely underrepresented among LGBTQ elected officials. Diversifying the pipeline of upcoming LGBTQ leaders must remain a priority in the effort to elect the 22,688 LGBTQ people necessary to achieve equitable representation for the community as a whole.”
Do you think electing more openly LGBTQ people into office is a priority?