A Pride flag reads “Abide No Hatred” is hung at the entrance of Castaways, venue for the third annual SWLA Pride Fest weekend, June 10-12, in Big Lake. (Photo courtesy of Pride of SWLA)

To the Democrats of Louisiana:

I publicly acknowledge my failure as an elected official to effectively defend my own community – the LGBTQ+ community – and, in doing so, I have also failed to uphold equality for all.

This past Saturday in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Democratic Party LGBTQ+ Caucus introduced a resolution at the DSCC meeting. The resolution called on the state party to align with the national Democratic platform in protecting LGBTQ+ rights and to commit “to not endorsing or supporting Democratic candidates or officeholders who use their votes or their public platform to deny fundamental rights and protections to LGBTQI+ citizens.”

Ultimately, the majority of those present voted for an amended version that removed this key line. In other words, our party deliberately chose to weaken a resolution meant to hold accountable legislators and candidates who actively harm the LGBTQ+ community.

I understand that some who voted for the amendment did so out of fear that the resolution might not pass in its original form. However, the end result remains the same: the Louisiana Democratic Party opted to strip language that simply sought to uphold fundamental equality.

By removing this line, we have implicitly stated the inverse – that we are open to “endorsing or supporting Democratic candidates or officeholders who use their votes or their public platform to deny fundamental rights and protections to LGBTQI+ citizens.”

As Democrats, would we allow this for any other marginalized group? Would we tolerate party support for candidates who attack Black and brown people, immigrants, women, or those with disabilities? Defending and uplifting marginalized communities is a core tenet of our party – yet in this moment, we have failed to uphold it.

This failure is not hypothetical. Here in Louisiana, the only state that has never had an openly LGBTQ+ legislator, some of our own Democratic legislators have publicly supported and even sponsored legislation that strips away LGBTQ+ rights. Meanwhile, The Guardian reported last week that “Republican lawmakers in Montana voted en masse to help defeat two extreme anti-trans bills in an unprecedented move on Thursday, after powerful speeches from two trans representatives imploring them to reject the latest intent to criminalize gender nonconformity.” 

The contrast is stark, and it forces us to ask: what kind of Democratic Party do we want to be?

The willingness to abandon marginalized communities is not limited to Louisiana. Nationally, some factions of the Democratic Party are veering away from progressive values in favor of donor and consultant-class interests. As Sam Rosenthal wrote in Common Dreams on March 5, 2024, “The party is very much at a crossroads: It can embrace progressivism and forge a new, compelling identity or it can take cues from the donor and consultant class and embrace the very policies that precipitated our current political crisis.”

The LGBTQ+ community is under relentless attack across the country. States including our own, have passed laws restricting gender-affirming care, banning transgender athletes from sports, and criminalizing discussions of LGBTQ+ topics in schools. There are efforts to redefine sex discrimination laws, weaken workplace and health care protections, and enable religious exemptions that justify discrimination. 

Book bans, drag performance restrictions and inflammatory rhetoric fuel hostility, putting lives at risk. Already this year, legislators in nine states are working to overturn same-sex marriage. Last week, Texas introduced legislation that would criminalize simply being transgender, labeling it as “gender identity fraud.”

What is happening to transgender and queer people is the writing on the wall, and I am begging you to read it. We must demand more from our party. If we cannot hold our own to the most basic standard of equality, then what do we stand for?

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