Sex and the Election

What a week. The results were ultimately not close, but the pandemic forced many to vote by mail and meant we waited six excruciating days before a winner in the presidential election was announced. Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. And congratulations to all of us who voted to rescue our democracy from the endless corruption and emerging threat of autocracy. This was not necessarily the landslide some of us had hoped for and, with control of the Senate still in question, the Biden Administration may face the same obstructionism that got in President Obama’s way. It will also be operating with a new conservative balance on the Supreme Court and a federal court system jammed with Trump appointees. But there are still many things that Biden can do to put the federal government back on the right side of sexual health and reproductive justice. He and his appointees can: wrest control of the Title X family planning program from people who don’t believe in birth control and remove the administrative rules that have gutted it; bring back protections for trans students and reverse the transgender military ban; recommit to protecting victims of sexual assault on college campuses; restore the Office of Adolescent Health and its focus on evidence-based sexual health programs; and get rid of the global gag rule. Elections matter. This issue explores other results from the 2020 election season that impact sexual health and reproductive rights.

What Voters Said About Sex Ed, Abortion,
& Marriage Equality

Most elections are about the naming people we want to represent us in government but ballot initiatives ask voters to weigh in on issues directly. In New Jersey we decided to legalize recreational marijuana use (and we can now light up with voters from Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota who also said yes to weed); voters in Mississippi approved a state flag that traded the confederate symbol for a magnolia; and Virginia voters agreed to an independent commission to redraw the state’s legislative map. A number of other ballot initiatives decided around the country will have a direct impact on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Sex Education
As I mentioned a few weeks back, a bill mandating that all school districts in Washington state provide sexuality education to students in grades K-12 was passed earlier this year and signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee (who just won a rare third term). A group opposed to the law argued that it took away local and parental control, and got enough signatures to put Proposition 90 on the ballot. Last week, voters gave their support to sex ed by a margin of 56% to 41% at last count. The sex ed law is set to take effect next year, but opponents—some of whom threatened to take their kids out of public school—do not seem to be giving up. They have said they will seek new legislation or even another public referendum. Just as a reminder, the law includes a provision that allows a parent to opt their child out of the sex education program without penalty. This prolonged fight is not really about their parental rights being impeded, it’s about making sure nobody’s kid gets sex ed.

Abortion
The results on abortion were mixed. Colorado remains one of seven states that allows abortion at any point in a pregnancy now that voters there have rejected a measure to ban abortions after 22 weeks. Louisiana voters, on the other hand, showcased anti-abortion views by voting 62% to 38% to add language to the state’s constitution making it clear that abortion is not a right. This is largely a symbolic move for now, but many states are preparing for a post-Roe v. Wade country and amendments like this can make it easier for lawmakers to pass additional abortion restrictions if that precedent is overturned by the Supreme Court. Louisiana is more than ready to make abortion illegal. In 2006, it passed a “trigger law”—a prohibition on abortion designed to go into effect as soon as Roe is overturned—that does not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Marriage Equality
Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban dates back almost two decades, but like the 30 others on the books, it has been inactive since 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that all state laws banning same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. This week, voters in Nevada agreed that it was important to strike the language from their constitution anyhow. The state is now poised to protect all marriages regardless of sex or gender should the Supreme Court overturn its marriage equality decisions.

Sexts, Threats, and Extra-Marital Affairs; Candidates Behaving Badly

At least two races decided on Tuesday were marred by sex-related scandals. Cal Cunningham’s boring but well-documented affair may have cost the Democrats control of the U.S. Senate while Aaron Coleman, also a Democrat, secured a seat in the Kansas state legislature despite making what some perceived as online threats to the governor of his state and admitting to a history of revenge porn.

There were pundits who argued that the era of career-ending sex scandals was behind us when it became clear that our thrice-married president had left a postpartum wife at home to sleep with a porn star whom he then paid to keep quiet and nobody seemed to care. In fact, when the details of Cal Cunningham’s affair became public, many suggested he’d win anyhow and polls seemed to concur. But the results tell a different story as just yesterday, Republican incumbent Thom Tillis was declared the winner of the tight race.

Cunningham, a former North Carolina state senator vying for a national seat, was way ahead in the polls when news broke in October that he’d engaged in a relationship with a public relations specialist from California. The texts came out first though it would be a stretch to call the messages sexts. He called her “historically sexy.” She said she wanted to kiss him. He replied, “And I kiss back. A lot.” It was a far cry from the days of Carlos Danger, but the two, both of whom are married, confirmed they did have sex during the campaign. This went against the wholesome image that Cunningham, an army reservist, was trying to portray leaving him open to Republican attacks about his character and what else he was trying to hide.

Sex outside of marriage does not alarm me as long as it is consensual and non-exploitative, but when politicians have affairs it often highlights hypocrisy (the anti-abortion legislator who asks his mistress to terminate her pregnancy) or gets in the way of them doing their job (the governor who no one could find for a few days after his affair became public). In this case, the affair seems to have gotten in the way of him getting the job. Democrats across the country were counting on him but he couldn’t keep it in his pants for just a few months which shows a stunning lack of judgment.

Aaron Coleman’s behavior is even more problematic because it was exploitative and non-consensual. The 20-year-old Kansan, who was just elected to the state house of representatives, challenged a seven-term incumbent in the Democratic primaries and won by 14 votes. He said he entered the race as a way to discuss progressive issues such as legalizing marijuana, defunding the police, and making college tuition affordable and never thought he would win the nomination.

His candidacy became controversial when he admitted to a history of online bullying. In middle school he called a female classmate fat on social media and suggested that she kill herself. Around the same time, he told a 13-year-old girl that he would release a naked photo of her if she didn’t send him more nudes. When she did not comply, he followed through with the threat which many are calling revenge porn. Coleman apologized for the incidents saying he was a “sick and troubled” teenager and promising he has changed.

Of course, we don’t want all lapses in judgement teenagers make to follow them into their adult lives, but these were not victimless crimes. And, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings certainly taught us that patterns of behavior that emerge in teenage years often continue. This appears to be the case with Coleman who continues to be a bully on social media. During the campaign, he tweeted that Democratic Governor Lauren Kelly would face an “extremely bloody” primary race in two years adding, “I’m not playing around. People will realize one day when I call a hit out on you it’s real.”

Coleman said his comments were misinterpreted, but Kansas Democrats do not believe he is fit for office and have vowed to do “everything in their power” to make sure he is not seated in the legislature.  

Representation Matters and the LGBTQ Community Got More of It After this Election

As a biracial woman elected to the Vice Presidency, Kamala Harris made history this week and promised the next generation of young women of color that she was the first but would not be the last. LGBTQ young people also got glimpses of a hopeful future this week as a number of candidates won their state and local races.

New York is sending two new LGBTQ lawmakers of color, Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, to the U.S. House of Representatives. Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly trans person to be elected to any state senate. In Florida, Shevrin Jones became the first LGBTQ person elected to the state senate and Michelle Rayner—a self-described "unapologetic" queer woman—became the first Black LGBTQ woman elected to its house of representatives. Georgia also has its first openly LGBTQ state senator, Kim Jackson, while both Vermont and Kansas elected their first trans state legislators, Taylor Small and Stefanie Byers. Meanwhile, San Diego has its first openly gay mayor, Todd Gloria, and Hamilton County, Ohio, elected Charmaine McGuffey as its new sheriff making her the first woman and first member of the LGBTQ community to hold the post.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. At least 1,006 members of the LGBTQ community ran for office this year. We should congratulate each of them—those who won and those who didn’t—for taking a step toward better representation.