This story was reported and written by our media partner Capital News Service.
Virginia’s PrideFest in mid-September was highlighted by rainbow shirts, balloons and a festive mood. In addition to music performances, vendors sold items from handmade shirts to spicy pickles. Groups were on hand to share voting information with the tens of thousands of attendees throughout the day — along with a gubernatorial candidate canvassing for the upcoming 2025 contest.
Amid the celebration at Midtown Green in Richmond, site of the old Washington Commanders training group, many PrideFest attendees voiced concern over the upcoming election.
The stakes going into this election are high, given some campaign rhetoric and an increase in sexual orientation-based hate crimes, say LGBTQ+ individuals and allies.
Virginia Pride, an apolitical nonprofit organization, hosts the annual event. Many LGBTQ+ people are worried the election outcome could roll back progress, said James Millner, director of Virginia Pride.
Pride events allow people to come together and feel safe, according to Millner.
“Every day, it seems like we are fighting new battles and that new falsehoods are being put out into the environment around what LGBTQ people are,” Millner said.
ANTI-LGBT SENTIMENT GROWS AROUND U.S.
Under a Democratic governor and statehouse in 2020-21, Virginia became the first Southern state to include anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The definition of a hate crime was expanded to include those things. Lawmakers also banned conversion therapy, outlawed the “gay/trans panic defense” and offered a non-binary gender identity option for identification.
The past two years have been a mixed bag, according to advocates. Although this year the governor signed a marriage equality measure, advocates point to a rollback of school policies intended to protect transgender and non-binary students and removal of health resources for LGBTQ+ youth from the Virginia Department of Health website.
The number of proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bills has increased in the past few years, according to Equality Virginia. State legislatures across the country mirror this trend, with 411 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced from 2018 to 2023. Fifty-one of those have since been enacted, according to FiveThirtyEight analysis.
At the federal level, 53 bills were introduced in 2023 that target transgender individuals, according to Trans Legislation Tracker.
Sexual orientation-based hate crimes increased from 24 to 48 over the last two years, according to Virginia State Police annual crime reports. The number increased by over 269% when scaled out over the past decade, from 13 to 48.
Before voting, Millner recommends people see if candidates have “a record to back up the rhetoric.”
An ally is someone who supports the LGBTQ+ community. Their votes can help advance protective legislation and the rights of the queer community, according to Millner. He feels civil rights should be prioritized along with issues like inflation or gas prices.
“The harm that can be done to our community is so significant and all of those other issues can be resolved,” Millner said.
LGBTQ+ representation has increased in state and federal governments. Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, became the first openly transgender state representative in the U.S. when first elected to a House seat in 2017.
“We have the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that good governance still exists,” Roem said in an interview about the upcoming election. “That the United States of America keeps its promises that we make on the world stage, that we are an imperfect union that strives to be a more perfect union.”
District 7 U.S. House Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a gubernatorial candidate, attended PrideFest and shook hands, took pictures and spoke with attendees about the current Democratic candidates.
“Everything’s on the ballot — access to health care, access to mental health services, making sure that kids in schools are not getting bullied or singled out because of who they are,” Spanberger said.
She encouraged young people to vote because legislation enacted now will affect their lives for longer. Spanberger listed multiple potential issues on voter minds, including same-sex marriage, reproductive health care, climate change and the education system.
“Vote for the person who will make it better, and don’t get frustrated,” Spanberger said. “Damage can happen quickly; fixing it takes so much longer.”
VOICES OF PRIDE
Alaya Armon, a Richmond drag queen, said Virginia is for all lovers. She said Vice President Kamala Harris is her pick over former President Donald Trump and explained why as music thumped loudly in the background.
“There’s a man who wants to destroy all of us,” Armon said. “And basically looks at us as trash.”
Harris has supported the queer community, Armon said. “Save the queers, vote for Kamala.”
Nikki Karnes, a local speech pathologist, attended PrideFest to give out “Free Mom Hugs” because “everybody deserves to be unconditionally loved,” she said.
Her identity as an ally influenced her choice to vote for Harris.
“We don’t want to go back, and so I would rather go forward and keep going,” Karnes said.
Christine George, a University of Virginia graduate student who identifies as queer, plans to vote but doesn’t think either candidate is ideal. This election is still important, even if voting feels “arbitrary,” and requires one to “pick the lesser of two evils,” George said.
George is concerned about access to abortion, “being able to exist,” and Project 2025, they said.
Project 2025 is a proposed presidential transition initiative from the conservative Heritage Foundation. It includes a policy guide for the next administration and states “married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure,” according to CBS News.
Richmond native Alyssa Shaw, who identifies as a lesbian, was at her sixth Pride event. As she perused the vendors with her partner, she said “pretty much everything” is at stake for the queer community in this election.
She plans to vote for Harris because she worries about a second Trump presidency.
“I don’t think we would see another Pride if he was elected,” Shaw said.
Shaw says her identity within the queer community doesn’t impact her voting decisions.
“I feel like it’s just about how I would be affected as just a person, and how my neighbor might be affected and everyone else,” Shaw said.
The Richmond Office of Elections hosted a table at PrideFest to answer questions and provided attendees with a QR code to register online. The office focuses on voter engagement and tries to meet people in their respective spaces, general registrar Keith Balmer stated in an email.
“Our mission is to ensure every eligible voter in Richmond knows that their voice matters and that we are here to support them through the entire voting process,” Balmer stated.
Early voting, in-person or by mail, started on Sept. 20 and will continue until Nov. 2. Voters have until Oct. 15 to register, and Election Day is on Nov. 5. Learn more here.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
