It has been an exhausting and long year, especially for LGBTQ people of color and the trans community, but our community has endured and will continue to endure. LGBTQ people have always been part of our country and our history, and regardless of the outcome of the election, we will not put ourselves or our history back in the closet.

We will not know the outcome of the election until every vote is counted. Every eligible vote must be counted. In the meantime, we can celebrate the historic election of LGBTQ people, including: Sarah McBride, the first transgender state senator in American history; Mauree Turner, one of the first non-binary state lawmakers in America and the first Muslim to serve in Oklahoma's state legislature; David Ortiz, the first openly bisexual person elected to the Colorado General Assembly; Stephanie Byers, the first trans Native American state legislator in the Kansas House of Representatives; and Taylor Small, Vermont's first transgender state legislator.

Be kind to yourself this week, take care of yourself and others, and please reach out to one of these resources compiled by PFLAG if you feel you need support.

In the cause,
Joan Ilacqua
Executive Director