Vulnerable Republicans are fighting to hold onto power by attacking LGBTQ rights.

Across the country, GOP incumbents in what were once solid Republican districts are becoming more vulnerable to the Democratic challengers running in their districts. These incumbents have made it their goals to establish second-class citizenship for members of the LGBTQ community in states like Arizona, Florida and Texas. Rather than working to create an environment where all of their constituents can feel welcome, they have chosen to traffick in the politics of division and exclusion.

Residents of their districts are already showing that they are tired of this kind of politics. Voters are tired of being told that they should be afraid of their neighbors, and they’re tired of leaders that treat their fellow community members like second-class citizens. It’s time to vote these officials out and replace them with true champions for equality.

Arizona

Arizona legislators Sen. Sylvia Allen (LD6), Rep. Anthony Kern (LD20), and Rep. Shawnna Bolick (LD20), have all made it clear that their top priorities include making life harder for their LGBTQ constituents. All three lawmakers declared in a 2018 Center for Arizona Policy Survey that they opposed protecting their constituents from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sen. Sylvia Allen currently serves as Chair of the Senate Education Committee. She has used that position to kill legislation that would portray members of the LGBTQ community as human beings, including one that would have required public school textbooks to include respectful representations of the LGBTQ community. She also thwarted efforts to repeal an existing law that banned sex education classes from positively portraying homosexuality and teaching safe homosexual sex.

  • Allen voted in 2012 to allow licenced professionals to discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community, and sponsored a 2020 bill to ban sex education teachers from discussing homosexuality.
  • In 2018, Allen was reelected to the State Senate by a mere 1.8% margin in a competitive bid against current challenger Felicia French.

Rep. Anthony Kern (LD-20), who is being challenged by Sister District candidate Judy Schwiebert, serves as Chair of the Arizona House Rules Committee. He has used that position to kill bills aimed at protecting members of the Arizona LGBTQ community from gay conversion therapy and discrimination in employment, healthcare, and housing.

Rep. Shawnna Bolick, who is also running against Sister District candidate Judy Schwiebert, co-sponsored a bill this February that would  ban transgender students from competing in school sports that match their gender identity. That bill was also co-sponsored by Rep Walter Blackman, who is running against Sister District candidate Mayor Coral Evans. 

Texas

The Texas lawmakers running against our Sister District-endorsed candidates have worked just as hard as these Arizona legislators to institutionalize discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community. Like most Republicans, Reps. Matt Shaheen, Morgan Meyer, and Steve Allison are purportedly committed to small government, yet they have each voted multiple times to reduce the power of local governments to protect the rights of LGBTQ community members.

Shaheen and Meyer have also voted to allow adoption agencies to deny adoption rights to LGBTQ families.

Rep. Matt Shaheen (HD-66)  is a hard right religious conservative who has spent his 5 years in the Texas State House authoring more than 12 anti-LGBTQ bills, including those banning schools from offering gender neutral bathrooms, stopping local governments from establishing inclusive bathroom policies, and repealing local anti-discrimination laws.

  • Shaheen has also co-sponsored a bill  that aimed to make it more difficult for LGBTQ couples to get married by stripping county clerks of the ability to issue marriage licences, and giving the Secretary of State the power to deny marriage licenses to LGBTQ couples. He co-sponsored a 2015 bill that would have taken away salaries from government employees that issue marriage licenses to LGBTQ couples.
  • Speaking on a radio show in 2018, he described LGBTQ organizations as “a traveling roadshow.” Shaheen, who won his 2018 reelection bid by only 319 votes, is now running against Sister District candidate Sharon Hirsch.

Rep. Morgan Meyer (HD108), who is being challenged by Sister District candidate Joanna Cattanach, has worked to institutionalize bigotry against the LGBTQ community. He voted in favor of banning transgender students from using restrooms that match their gender identity and allowing adoption agencies to deny adoptions LGBTQ couples.

  • Morgan has also voted to allow county clerks to refuse to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples, and co-sponsored a bill to overturn local laws that banned discrimation against LGBTQ Texans.

Rep. Steve Allison (HD121), who is running against Sister District candidate Celina Montoya, has stated that he does not believe  “that people should be allowed to use public restrooms, showers, and changing rooms based on ‘gender identity.’” He has only served in the Texas State House for 1 year, yet he sponsoring a bill to stop local governments from banning discriminatory businesses.

Florida

Like these Texas Republicans, Republicans in Florida have shown that they are only committed to small government when that worldview benefits corporations and special interests. Florida Republican Reps Anthony Rodriguez (HD118) and Vance Aloupis (HD115) have voted to prevent cities and counties around the state from implementing anti-discrimination laws. Both legislators have also voted to allow schools to out LGBTQ students to their parents, a practice that could potentially endanger some LGBTQ children.

Rodriguez and Aloupis are being challenged in this year’s general election by Sister District candidates Ricky Junquera and Franccesca Cesti-Browne, respectively.

These lawmakers’ stances on LGBTQ rights are abhorrent and antiquated.

That’s why Sister District is working hard to elect the amazing candidates who have stepped up to challenge them. These Democratic candidates are fighting end discrimination and instead create a more equitable future for everyone they represent.

A 2019 PRRI study found that 7 in 10 Americans support protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people. Americans, including voters in Arizona, Texas and Florida, are clearly ready to move towards equality. It’s time they elect representatives who will help them do so.