LGBTQ+ ELECTION

1,023 WORDS

Chelsey Johnstone 

 LGBTQ+ Youth Awaits Presidential Election Results

Cori Jennie of San Diego, C.A.    Photo by: Chelsey Johnstone 

As the 2020 presidential election comes to a close call, anxieties amongst all

communities are at an all-time high. For young LGBTQ+ voters, who have endured

numerous policy changes regarding sexuality in America over the last four years, the

2020 presidential election has high stakes.

“We just got the right, not that long ago, to be able to get married and we don't

know if that's going to be taken away anytime soon,” said 21-year-old Cori Jennie of

San Diego, California. “I have a fear of losing my rights to marry the woman that I love.”

As a bisexual woman, Jennie feels as though President Trump’s policies threaten

not only her right to marry another woman, but her right to live her life comfortably.

“[President Trump] put bans on the military, he's the one who introduced the bill of
allowing adoption agencies to discriminate against queer couples, he's the one who now

has been passing a bill that can discriminate hospitals from treating queer people,” said

Jennie. “So, it's really terrifying and it's really frustrating.”

While votes continue to be counted across the country, areas in San Diego

where Jennie lives have been buckling-down on security measures. According to

Jennie, store shelves are being stripped and windows and doors are being boarded up

with heavy plywood sheets. “It just kind of looks like you're in a construction site

because the buildings are just completely now full of wood,” she said.

Although California is predominantly a “blue” democratic state, which aligns with

Jennie’s political views, she still fears protests will lead to destruction as the country

gets closer to announcing its presidential elect. However, not all LGBTQ+ members

across the nation are as worried as Jennie.

Stormy Grimes of Princeton, N.C.    Photo by Chelsey Johnstone

Stormy Grimes, a 20-year-old self-identifying lesbian from Princeton, North

Carolina, claims she is used to the controversy over her political views. “I’m in between
democratic and liberal views and I also support some Republican views like gun rights

and things like that, but that's also because I want to be a police officer, and some

people don't agree with that,” said Grimes. “I just feel like a lot of views are pushed onto

people, especially in the south, and with me being gay and wanting to go into law

enforcement, it gives me a lot of reason to be picked on in my little field I'm jumping in

to.”

With views that lean both left and right on the political spectrum in a swing state,

Grimes often feels as though she never fits in. “I'm not going to lie, it's kind of hard and

sometimes I feel like I'm kind of lying to myself, but then again, I know my own views,”

she said. “I know what I support and I know what I don't support.”

Brandon Cisneros of Princeton, N.C.      Photo provided by Brandon Cisneros 

For fellow North Carolinian, 21-year-old Brandon Cisneros, he also feels

outcasted as a bisexual man the state. “I often feel attacked because in this election I’m

voting blue, but I quickly am able to brush it off,” he said.

 With similar views to Jennie of California, Cisneros feels as though President

Trump and his cabinet are against his sexuality. “When my rights as a bisexual cis-male

are at risk, it plays a huge role in voting,” he said. “Years and years of violence and

negative ideologies amongst our community becomes personal real quick.”

Mady Keton of Burlington, N.J.  Photo provided by Mady Keton 

Not all LGBTQ+ young adults, however, are taking a personal approach to this

years’ 2020 election. For Mady Keton, a 22-year-old pansexual woman from Burlington,

New Jersey, sexuality is not the biggest worry during the election.

“My biggest issue with voting doesn’t actually have to do with my gender or

sexuality, it’s the environment,” said Keton. “Nothing else is going to matter if we make

this planet unlivable.”

Although Keton also feels as though President Trump is against her self

identification as a pansexual woman, she does not believe that that should be at the

forefront of conversation as we move forward in this election process. She said, “We
need to be less prejudice and unite if our species is going to survive and help the

environment.”

Bella Wagner of Lawrenceville, N.J.         Photo by Chelsey Johnstone

For Bella Wagner, a 21-year-old queer, non-binary person of Lawrenceville, New

Jersey, it is difficult to remove themselves and their sexuality and identification from the

voting process, despite what others may see.

“As someone who's a member of the LGBT community, I think a lot of people

looking at me, they wouldn't really expect it because I look like a girl and I'm in a

heteronormative relationship,” said Wagner. “So, [people are] like, ‘oh, it doesn't affect

you.’ but I'm like, ‘Yes, this does.’”

For Wagner, President Trump has been a concern ever since his election in

2016. “The morning that he was elected, my best friend ran through hallways, and I

remember she grabbed me by the hand and she had like a fear in her eyes,” said

Wagner. “I remember this like it was yesterday.”

 They continued, “She had fear in her eyes and she said, ‘You are in danger.’

That’s the first thing she said to me that morning, and she was kind of right.”

For Wagner, President Trump makes them feel unsafe as a non-binary person.

As the election votes continue to be counted, they hope the record number of young,

first-time voters who have mailed in their ballot this year reflect similar views. They said,

“There’s some extremely large number of new voters and I don’t know, but I feel like it’s

just because people were so desperate to get Trump out of the White House.”

Whether LGBTQ+ voters lean left or right or fall somewhere in the middle of the

political spectrum, the majority of these young, Americans are hoping to see unity over

the next four years. Wagner said, “Sure money runs the world and politics are really

important and all this stuff, but I think it’s time to make politics and leadership more

human.”

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TWEET: LGBTQ+ community weighs in on this years’ presidential election