User:Sylvierichards/Rainbow wave
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The "Rainbow Wave" was a phrase coined during the 2018 U.S. midterm elections,[1] describing the unparalleled number of openly LGBTQ+ candidates running for political office in the United States that year.[2][3] The Rainbow Wave began during the 2018 midterms when over 400 LGBTQ+ candidates ran for office and a record-breaking 244 were elected.[1][4]
The following year, in the 2019 United States elections, 382 openly LGBTQ+ candidates ran for public office and 200 ended up on the ballot,[5] of which 170 won.[6] In the 2020 United States elections, over 1,000 LGBTQ+ people ran for office and 734 LGBTQ+ candidates were on the ballot in the general election, of which 334 won.[7][8] The 2021 United States elections had the largest number of LGBTQ+ candidates in any U.S. odd-numbered election with 430 LGBTQ+ candidates, of which 184 won.[9] The 2022 United States elections represented the biggest rainbow wave in U.S. history, as 1,065 LGBTQ+ candidates ran and 436 were elected.[10][11] The 2020 U.S. elections was also the first time that LGBTQ+ candidates were on the ballot across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.[12]
LGBT issues have been specially considered in United States elections since 1974, when the first two openly gay politicians were elected,Kathy Kozachenko and Elaine Noble,[13][14] and the first-anti homosexual measure was on the ballot in Colorado.[15] During the 1970s through 2010s, LGBTQ+ political considerations and advances shifted and expanded, with a focus on gay marriage in the late 1990s through the 2000s and a focus on transgender rights and discrimination today.[16][17][15]
Currently, there are 1,175 openly-LGBTQ+ elected officials in the United States, more than ever before.[18] Although there is little research on voter attitudes towards LGBTQ+ candidates, a political science study found that voters significantly penalize lesbian, gay, and transgender candidates, with transgender candidates facing a significantly higher penalty than their lesbian and gay counterparts. The level of voter scrutiny against these candidates varied by partisanship, political ideology, religion, and voters' relationships with LGBT people, or lack thereof. The study attributes these biases against lesbian, gay, and transgender candidates most significantly to the worry of their "electability," along with outright prejudice and the worry that they are too liberal.[19]
LGBTQ+ representation in political office has been found to correlate strongly with the proposal and passage of pro-LGBTQ and equal rights legislation. It has also been found to positively influence societal perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community and their equal rights at large.[20][21][22]