By Maddie Estergaard
The 2018 midterm elections have produced record numbers of candidates from the LGBTQ+ community, according to the Victory Fund.
More than 430 LGBTQ candidates ran for office at every level of government in the primaries. Of those, about 240 candidates are on the ballots in the general election. Twenty-one openly LGBTQ candidates won Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate or U.S. House in 2018, a 24 percent increase compared to 2016, according to the Victory Fund. The number of LGBTQ women-identified major party Congressional nominees went up 160 percent since 2016.
Dr. Jay Irwin is an LGBTQ candidate running for the Omaha Board of Education. Irwin, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, teaches Introduction to LGBTQ Studies. He also serves as an adviser for the LGBTQ/Sexuality Studies minor.
“By having representation for the LGBTQ community, it allows for policies to be written correctly and to the fullest capacity to support people in the community and is a crucial piece for success in their everyday lives,” Irwin said.
He said often times people in the community are unintentionally, and sometimes intentionally, excluded from policy.
“Politics can either constrain you or enable you to succeed,” Irwin said. “Currently, in Nebraska, too many folks are being constrained by the policies, or lack of policies in place.”
Irwin said it is extremely important for people in the LGBTQ community to vote.
“The bulk of politics for the midterms directly influences the lives of people in the LGBTQ community,” Irwin said.
Issues such as bathroom rights for people who are transgender, sports teams in schools and inclusive sexual education in schools are all rights Irwin said need to be protected in the LGBTQ community.
Currently, the city of Omaha has protection for gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. However, Nebraska does not protect these liberties, Irwin said.
In addition, Irwin said sexual education in Nebraska is not inclusive to the LGBTQ community. He said a common language should be in place in order for people to be properly educated.
Irwin also said health care in Nebraska is a hot topic that also affects the LGBTQ community, primarily people who are transgender. He said the Medicaid expansion plan needs to include transgendered people and medical operations that support them.
Irwin said when people vote for LGBTQ candidates, they educate the rest of the population to respect and understand the community.
Peyton Wells, director of the Queer and Trans Services Students Agency, said UNO promotes voting in the LGBTQ community by using posters and discussing voting in the various support groups on campus. These support groups include Lez Bi Real Queer, TRANScend and Melanated Queeration.
Wells also said she would like to see more support for LGBTQ people in the work place.
She said people should be comfortable living their lives and working in their jobs. LGBTQ representatives would enact change needed for Nebraska.
This is the first time in U.S. history an LGBTQ candidate has run for office in every state, according to the Victory Fund.
