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The Community - GLBTQ Student Blog
The Rainbow Ceiling
posted February 2, 2009 01:02 PM by bretth4
tagged under: barney frank, iceland, johanna sigurdardottir, politics, gay
My fellow Americans, lets play a little game. Look up the mayor of the nearest big city, your state's Governor, your Senators and your Congressman. Now count how many of them are gay or lesbian. Unless you live in Portland, Oregon or the 4th district of Massachusetts, that number is almost certainly zero.

The United States has a shameful lack of openly gay men and women in high political office. In the house of representatives, a body with more than 400 members, there are only three openly gay or lesbian members. Barney Frank (D, MA) has been an outspoken voice for gay rights and a powerful member of the banking committee since 1981, Tammy Baldwin (D, WI) was the first lesbian ever elected to congress in 1999 and Jared Polis (D, CO) In 2008, Sam Adams was the first and only openly gay man to be elected as mayor of a major American city when he won an election in Portland.

So that's it. We have one mayor and three members of congress. Not one senator or governor. Even Barack Obama, arguably the most gay-friendly president in history, failed to nominate a single gay or lesbian for a high-level position in his administration. It goes without saying that this is a major problem for the LGBT community; without gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in government we are forced to rely on unreliable advocates who are likely to compromise any promised support for us as soon as it becomes politically convenient for them. The problem is endemic in our political system here in the United States, but it is not global.

Our friends in Europe have a much better record on electing LGBT candidates. The Mayors of Paris and Hamburg are openly gay as is Klaus Wowereit, the mayor of Berlin, who has a pretty decent shot at becoming the next Chancellor of Germany. And just today, Johanna Sigurdardottir became the Prime Minister of Iceland, making her the first openly gay head of government anywhere in the modern world.

We may not have many gay politicians here in America, but we have enough to show that it is possible for openly gay candidates to be elected. What we need now is more gays and lesbians who are willing to step forward and accept the mantle of responsibility that comes with seeking higher office. We as a community need a more representative congress, we need more political sway at the state level and we need more positive examples in public office. Only when we have more representatives from within our community who share our hopes, dreams, and experiences will we truly come closer to achieving equality. Only when we all stand up and make our voices heard will we be one step closer to making all people free.

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bretth4 said:
That really is the million dollar question, how we create a better atmosphere. But i dont blame our current politicians, i blame the American people for making it near impossible for a gay candidate to be elected to office
posted February 8, 2009 07:49 PM
Neko150 said:
I'm sure there are a fair amount of closeted congressman at both the state and federal level (10% if we believe common statistics?) - in addition to asking more gay and lesbian politicians to come out of the closet, there needs to be a way to get the majority of our non-queer congressmen and women to show an environment of acceptance, where these people will know that they will not be ridiculed. Diversity in our governments should be celebrated, if it were, I feel we would have quite a bit more out politicians.

Problem is, I'm not sure how we go about creating such an environment.
posted February 6, 2009 02:35 PM

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