Sprout Dickerson

Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0)

After a long day of covering the 2024 election, I could barely bring myself to sleep. I watched the outlined map of our country slowly turn from gray — with exception of the occasional blue spot — to red.

I forced myself to close my eyes around 1 a.m. and I would wake up shortly after with an unpleasant tension in my stomach. My roommate and I made eye contact as she saw a news notification pop up on her phone screen. 

“This is really bad news,” was one of the first things she said to me as I stared straight up at the ceiling. 

The AP has made a call on most races: Donald Trump won the presidential election with 312 electoral votes; Republicans now hold Senate majority with 53 seats; Democratic or Republican majority in the House of Representatives remains in the air but is projected to be close. 

Ohio’s election results may be mainly red, but don’t seem to present imminent threat

Bernie Moreno is the Senate-elect in Ohio, defeating incumbent Sherrod Brown. 

Brown, Democratic Senator since 2007, believes in equal rights and opportunities and released a statement: “No one should be denied a fair shot because of their race, who they love, or their gender.”

Many LGBTQ+ Ohioans are upset by Moreno’s victory due to the use of the queer and transgender community, especially children, as political pawns in ads run by his campaign and supporting Super PACs.

One of the ads, paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, implies that Brown has been influenced into non-representative, liberal radicalism since his time in office. The ads reference Brown’s vote against an amendment that would strip school funding if transgender athletes were allowed to participate in sports, and his political philosophy that healthcare choices should not be in the hands of politicians.

Moreno says that his run for Senate was inspired by his perceived flaws in American political priorities. Some of his political priorities include parental power in education, enacting term limits in Congress and ending “wokeness and cancel culture.”

Additionally, despite one of Moreno’s sons being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, he has said that LGBTQ+ rights movements now support too “radical” of an agenda. Moreno has since been endorsed by Ohio Value Voters which is an organization that aims to “protect faith, family, freedom and the sanctity of life,” which includes opposing LGBTQ+ protections like marriage rights.

Issue 1, which aimed to end gerrymandering–an act where political district maps are drawn to favor one political party resulting in non-competitive and non-representative elections–failed 53.8% to 46.2%. Despite its failure, there still may be a chance for reform. 

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine told Dayton Daily News that no matter the outcome of the issue, he would be asking the legislatures to change the districting plans so that map drawers could not use voter data and only refer to data from the census.  

Ohio’s House Representatives now consist of nine Republicans and four Democrats. One race is yet to be called, in Ohio’s ninth district, but is projected to go to Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur. 

After comparing all elects’ key issues, I found that Ohio’s Democrats seem to prioritize healthcare, jobs and the economy, education and veterans issues. Top issues for Ohio’s Republican representatives are immigration, jobs and the economy, energy reform, agricultural affairs, veterans services, healthcare and social security. 

In terms of state legislature, Republicans hold majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

Bills and Acts LGBTQ+ community members should be wary of include the Save Women’s Sports Act (HB6); The Parents’ Bill Of Rights (HB8); The senate concurrent resolution 11 which urges exclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in Title IX protections; and the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act (HB68) which limits healthcare for transgender minors. 

There are also varying positive pieces of legislation for LGBTQ+ individuals to follow. There is currently a proposed act that would prohibit certain conversion therapies for minors (HB220), and two bills which regard rewriting Ohio’s revised code to support marriage inclusion (HB332 and HB636). 

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not #over

Many Democrats and members of marginalized groups are worried about attacks from Trump and Vice Presidential elect JD Vance due to their potential involvement with Project 2025.

Project 2025 is a conservative political movement that Trump attempted to distance himself from during his campaign despite the fact that many of its authors have direct connections to his previous administration. Now that he has won, many wonder if the plan will come to fruition. 

According to Rolling Stone, Trump has not made claims about it, but many of his allies and advisers celebrate the “open road” to the project’s enrollment. 

The project’s propositions are vast, but aim to take “the reins of government.”

The introduction of the project discusses the federal bureaucracy — the agencies and cabinet departments within the executive administration — and how it has “a mind of its own” and diverts from the minds of the American people. 

The project says it aims to adhere to the Constitution and that “the next Administration must not cede such authority to non-partisan ‘experts,’ who pursue their own ends.”

The biggest changes that would be made if the project were to go into effect would be the elimination of the department of education, re-establishing a “warfighting focus” in the department of defense, modifications to the department of health and human services to protect life and preserve “bodily integrity.”

In addition to this, the project considers “families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society.”

One of its writers Roger Severino criticizes President Joe Biden’s loose motions towards LGBTQ+ equity and says that LGBTQ+ protections supported by Biden have weakened roles of father-figures, induced single-motherhood and are a danger to marriages. He writes that the United States government should repeal these policies and replace them with policies “that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.”

But we are not without voice.

Although there is a lot of fear surrounding potential threats for members of marginalized groups including the LGBTQ+ community, there is no direct confirmation for implementing Project 2025. 

Inside of the “red mirage,” queer and transgender politicians have broken barriers this election, winning seats in national legislatures, some for the very first time. And even though I can be a pessimist with a gut wrenching sense of impending doom, I don’t want to spread a false narrative that says everything is over, because it’s not. These smaller wins cannot go ignored. 

Sarah McBride is the first out transgender person elected to Congress; Emily Randall is the first openly LGBTQ+ Latina to be elected to Congress; and Julie Johnson is the first openly queer person to represent the south in Congress. 

There are also wins on state and local levels. Keturah Herron became the first out LGBTQ+ person to win election in the Kentucky state senate; Rashaun Kemp is an openly gay black man elected to Georgia state legislature; Gabby Salinas will become the first out Latine LGBTQ+ person in Tennessee’s state legislature; Molly Cook is the first elected LGBTQ+ person in Texas state senate; Aime Wichtendahl is the first transgender person in Iowa’s state legislature; Wick Thomas is the first out non-binary Missouri state legislator; and Kristin Alfheim will be the first openly LGBTQ+ woman in Wisconsin’s state senate.

Emma Curtis, councilwoman, becomes the second transgender woman to hold office in Kentucky and Precious Brady-Davis, commissioner, is the first black transgender woman elected to office in her county in Illinois.

Although a conservative majority exists currently, these politicians represent a small chance for change and offer hope for the community. 

This election is a challenge for democracy and diverse communities, but it is also a clear cue for unity. In unity there is strength — it brought us everything that we have, and right now it seems even more necessary to keep it.

It might also be helpful to turn restless thoughts or anger into activism and advocate for those around you. 

Practice mindfulness: remember that even though you can’t control everything, there are still things in your hands. 

—
Ari Collins (she/they) is a first-year journalism student at Kent State with a special interest in politics and the power of young voices. She has previously written Op-Ed and editorial content regarding Ohio LGBTQ+ issues and wants to continue this effort to give perspective and encourage young voters to use their political power.