15
The 2006 Midterm Elections:
Are we celebrating too
soon?
by Scott Kaplan
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The Democrats have won both houses! Finally! Many
members of the LGBTIQ community probably jumped for
joy when hearing this news. But are we celebrating too soon?
Many new Democratic candidates were able to beat
their incumbent opponents by showing that they were moder
ately conservative. While the Democrats focused primarily on
Iraq, many socially liberal issues were kept under the radar. For
example, Heath Shuler of North
Carolina, a moderate Democrat,
beat out Republican incumbent
Charles Taylor for the 11th con
gressional district. He was the
first Democrat to represent the
district in 15 years. Nevertheless,
many of his opinions are socially
conservative and Republicans
tried to recruit him before he
announced he was running as a
Democrat. Other Democratic
Congressmen who are new to
their offices, such as Brad Ells
worth and Baron Hill from In
diana, follow a similar pattern.
Eight states also had
same-sex marriage bans as initia
tives on the ballot. Seven of the
states - Colorado, Idaho, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Ten
nessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin
■ were able to pass these initia
tives into state law. Most passed
quite easily and Virginias ini
tiative on the state ballot was
only passed to solidify the gay marriage ban already in place.
However, Arizona became the first state to reject an
amendment banning domestic partnerships. The amend-
nient, had it succeeded, would have taken away dome-
sic partnership benefits that are currently being offered in
places such as Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, and Tempe. The
situation in Colorado was unique. Their ballot included an
amendment to outlaw gay marriage as well as a law to allow
domestic partnerships. Colorado narrowly passed the gay
marriage ban (55%) and rejected the partnership law (53%).
These narrow margins illustrate the confusion and mixed
feelings many Americans have about same-sex marriage.
Nevertheless, the controversy remains over wheth
er the midterm elections were, overall, beneficial for the
LGBTIQ community or not. While some see Arizona’s
failed marriage ban - the first out of
twenty-one such bans to fail on a state
ballot — as a huge success, suggesting a
change in the air, others see it as just a
small lull in a very long, arduous battle
for equal rights for LGBTIQ people.
As of now, 45 states have amend
ments or laws against same-sex mar
riage. Vermont, Connecticut, and most
recently New Jersey have instituted civil
unions, while domestic partnerships are
available in California, Maine, Hawaii,
and the District of Columbia. So wheth
er the results are bleak or not, many are
optimistic and believe that equal rights
for LGBTIQ people are gaining sup
port around the country. There were
many more campaigners working for
LGBTIQ-friendly candidates during the
midterm election than ever before. De-
val Patrick of Massachusetts and Eliot
Spitzer of New York are also the first can
didates publicly in favor of gay marriage
to have won an election in any state.
So what lies ahead? Issues expected
to be raised by the next Congress are the
inclusion of sexual orientation and gender expression in hate-
crime legislation and the repeal of the ban on openly LGB mili
tary recruits. The 2006 midterm election may give more hope
to the Democrats as they try to take the White House in 2008.
Nevertheless, it is still impossible to say whether same-sex mar
riage will become an important issue in the 2008 presidential
election for Democratic candidates or if the subject will be
avoided in order to give candidates a better chance at success.