What now? (A Post-Election Note from Equality Florida's Nadine Smith)

"Quis hic locus?, quae regio?, quae mundi plaga?"
"What world is this? What kingdom? What shores of what world?"

We awoke this morning in an America that has given in to its worst instincts: fear of difference, racist scapegoating and a cruel hatred of women.

This was a clash of tribes, one that believes they've "put things right again" and the other that sees the promise of America shattered to smithereens.

And so we find ourselves in this strange world where swagger and smears are the currency. How do we navigate when overnight the world has become even more dangerous?

The loss is not simply of a preferred candidate. It is as Shakespeare wrote: "like another fall of man", a deep and burning betrayal executed literally by our neighbors.

The awful familiarity of that last sentence has oddly given me some hope this morning. It reminded me of walking around my city in 2008 after the anti-gay marriage ban was placed in Florida's constitution. I looked at my neighbors' houses realizing 6 out of 10 of my fellow Floridians had thrown me to the wolves. They had ratified something mean, hateful, dangerous and dehumanizing.

But that loss became a turning point. It focused us and we began to sift through the rubble to build a resistance that led us to victories, first in a handful of state ballot measures and then steadily through the courts. In some ways, the attack on our families was evidence of our progress, of how close we had come to that tipping point.

There remain millions more voters who did not support Trump. And millions more still who did not vote at all. As community organizers we have nourished civil rights movements on fewer crumbs than that.

And there were, as there always are, hopeful victories among the devastating defeats yesterday.

In North Carolina, Governor McCrory, who staked his political career on the nation's most notorious anti-lgbt law, appears to be the only Republican in the South to lose a statewide election. His defeat is a clear repudiation of his bigoted targeting of transgender people.

Here in Florida, we elected EQFL staff member, Carlos Guillermo Smith as the first LGBT Latino state legislature, and Democrats broke a Republican supermajority in the state house of representatives. Democrats also picked up a seat in the state senate where a record four Republican senators have pledged to join them in pushing for a statewide ban on anti-lgbt discrimination. Together they are now just two co-sponsors shy of a majority. Overall, 50 of Equality Florida Action Pac's 68 endorsed candidates won (results below).

The struggle continues and we must seek each other in the rubble today. As LGBT activists we have traveled hostile and dangerous terrain before and we have learned to find our friends in unexpected places.

The hard math of this election is not the final equation. They may slow us down but they will never turn us back.

In solidarity, 

Nadine Smith
 

Equality Florida Action PAC Endorsed Candidates:
50 Wins - 18 Losses

CANDIDATE FLORIDA SENATE DISTRICT WON
Rod Smith Florida Senate District 8 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Linda Stewart Florida Senate District 13 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Victor Torres, Jr. Florida Senate District 15 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Darryl Rouson Florida Senate District 19 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Frank Alcock III Florida Senate District 23 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Bobby Powell Florida Senate District 30 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Jeff Clemens Florida Senate District 31
Gary Farmer Florida Senate District 34
Dwight Bullard Florida Senate District 40
CANDIDATE FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT WON
Lorrane Ausley Florida House District 9
Amanda Murphy Florida House District 36
John Cortes Florida House District 43
Beth Tuura (LGBT) Florida House District 47 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Amy Mercado Florida House District 48 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Carlos Guillermo Smith (LGBT) Florida House District 49 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Rena Frazier Florida House District 59
David Singer Florida House District 60
Lisa Montelione Florida House District 63
Ben Diamond Florida House District 68
Jennifer Webb (LGBT) Florida House District 69
Wengay Newton Florida House District 70 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Edward James Florida House District 72 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Robert Simeone Florida House District 85
Matt Willhite Florida House District 86
Lori Berman Florida House District 90
Ken Keechl (LGBT) Florida House District 93
Ivette Gonzales Petkovich Florida House District 103
Richard Stark Florida House District 104
David Richardson (LGBT) Florida House District 113 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Daisy Baez Florida House District 114
Robert Asencio Florida House District 118
Holly Raschein Florida House District 120 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
CANDIDATE LOCAL RACES WON
Mike Byerly Alachua County Commission District 1 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Robert Hutchinson Alachua County Commission District 3 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Michael Udine Broward County Commission District 3 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Steve Geller Broward County Commission District 5 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Cathy James (LGBT) Hillsborough School Board 7 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Pat Kemp Hillsborough County Commission District 6 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Eleanor Sobel Mayor, City of Hollywood Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Jose Alvarez Mayor, Kissimmee Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Angela Eady Kissimmee City Commission, District 3 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Frank Mann Lee County Commission District 5 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Richard Chervony North Bay Island Commissioner, North Bay Village Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Andreana Jackson Treasure Island Commissioner, North Bay Village Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
David Hasilif Okeechobee County Commission District 1 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Peggy Choudry Osceola County Commission District 1 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Brandon Arrington Osceola County Commission District 3 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Daniel Wall-Desousa Palm Bay City Council Seat Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Dave Kerner Palm Beach County Commission District 3 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Mary Lou Berger Palm Beach County Commission District 5 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Charlie Justice Pinellas County Commission District 3 At-Large Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Ken Welch Pinellas County Commission District 7, Single Member Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Dr. Matt Stewart (LGBT) Pinellas County School Board 1 Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Gary Resnick (LGBT) Mayor, Wilton Manors Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.20 AM.png
Tom Green (LGBT) City Commission, Wilton Manors Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png
Julie Carson (LGBT) City Commission, Wilton Manors Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 11.08.01 AM.png


 

 

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