Ohio experienced a rainbow wave back in November when 25 of 31 out LGBTQ+ candidates were elected to office across the state, everywhere from the Toledo School Board to the Gulf Manor City Council to the Clinton Township Fiscal Officer.
But where there are some out representatives, there could always be more. Fortunately, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute is here to help.
The Buckeye Flame spoke with Victory Institute’s executive director, Elliott Imse, and their director of training, Itay Balely, to learn more about the upcoming Columbus LGBTQ+ Public Leadership Summit on March 23 to help support more out LGBTQ+ candidates in Ohio. To listen, click play directly below or read our (edited) conversation beneath the audio link.
Elliot, let’s start with the bird’s eye view. Why is this LGBTQ+ representation in politics important?
Elliot Imse (EI): So we know that when LGBTQ+ elected officials are in the halls of power, they change the hearts and minds of their constituents and their colleagues. They change the legislative debates and that leads to more inclusive policies and legislation.
We know that when LGBTQ+ people are in the room, they’re on the front lines defending us against anti-LGBTQ legislation, and hopefully also able to push forward positive legislation for our community.
We are still very heavily underrepresented in public office, and that has a dramatic effect on equality in America.
Right now, LGBTQ+ elected officials only make up 0.25% of elected positions in the United States, despite us being 7.1% of the U. S. population. So we need to elect 38,000 more LGBTQ+ people to achieve equal representation. We have a long way to go.
But we’ve made enormous progress. We’ve tripled the number of LGBTQ+ elected officials just in the last 6 or 7 years. In Ohio, we have 41 LGBTQ+ elected officials right now. And only one in the state legislature: the wonderful Nickie Antonio.
So there’s a lot of room for improvement here in Ohio.
EI: Absolutely. And especially in the state legislature. Really, it’s been Nickie Antonio holding on for a long time to make sure that we’re represented, but it’s time to get her some backup.
I think a lot of us were a little bit surprised that [LGBTQ+ rights champion] Jim Obergefell didn’t fare better in his Ohio election. There’s hardly anybody who has more name recognition, so it really begs the question: how can we support people on that statewide level to really get into office?
EI: So, Jim is incredible and he was a great candidate in a tough district. We always tell people that most of the time on your first run, you do not win. It’s really your second time that you end up winning elected office, statistically speaking. So, I really hope he runs again.
That said, what we can all do together is really get out and support LGBTQ+ candidates who are running, try to provide them with financial support, visibility and make sure that voters know who those candidates are.
But really what we need more than anything else is more LGBTQ+ people to run. And those people need to be out in their communities, working on behalf of their communities and building relationships years before they decide to take that leap. So it’s really about knowing your community, knowing their needs, being able to speak to their needs and then getting more folks to run.
Itay, he teed you up quite nicely. What is coming up on Saturday, March 23rd?
Itay Balely (IB): We are so excited that in our mission to grow the number LGBTQ+ candidates who are running, we want to make sure that we also give them skills, tools and a roadmap to succeed.
So we’re coming to Columbus on Saturday, March 23rd, to do what we call our Public Leadership Summit. It’s an opportunity for any LGBTQ+ leader, activist, elected official and really anyone who cares about representation in Ohio area to come and have a conversation about how we can increase representation.
We’re going to have a panel of local elected officials to talk about their experiences, both running and serving, and also just talk about what considerations LGBTQ+ people need to start doing right now and need to start thinking about to make them successful candidates in the future. And we’re going to end it all with an opportunity to network, get to know one another and really continue to build community in the LGBTQ+ Columbus area.
We’ve had some cases here in the past month or so with trans candidates being challenged and one of them even being disqualified for not running under their dead name even though there was no place on the form to even list their dead name. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of fortitude it takes to run?
IB: If it was easy, everyone would do it. And I think that that’s partly why we believe so strongly in what our training programs can do for folks. We bring folks in to talk about not just what the difficulties of being LGBTQ+ on the campaign trail are like, but also why it’s so important and why that perseverance is really worth it.
We know that [anti-LGBTQ+] attacks are going to constantly evolve. If something kind of works, they’re going to keep running with it. It’s the folks on the campaign trail who are changing hearts and minds. It’s much harder to attack an LGBTQ+ person who you’re staring in the face. So the more that we’re able to get out there, the more training and resources and really just skills we’re able to build with our candidates, the more that they’re able to succeed.
Running is winning, but also winning is winning. So we want to get folks the opportunities to not just get out there and run, but also succeed in their wins. We commend every LGBTQ+ person who ends up getting out there. It is a lot of emotional work.
Elliot, I’ll give you the last word. How do we get someone from that pre-contemplation space where maybe they’re thinking about running to actually taking that next step?
EI: Well, that’s what our Public Leadership Summit is all about: getting to meet the local leaders who will hopefully inspire them to take that next step.
Victory Fund and Victory Institute actually have three board members that are either from Columbus or are in Columbus or have very close ties to Columbus. There is a great bench of people there who are ready to support those who are willing to run.
And we hope that on March 23rd we’ll get folks who are thinking about it. 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- The Columbus LGBTQ+ Public Leadership Summit will be held on Saturday, March 23 from 1-4pm, with a reception for attendees from 4pm-5:30pm. Register for FREE online here.
- For more information, visit the Columbus LGBTQ+ Public Leadership Summit website or email training@victoryinstitute.org.
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