YOU’VE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE. >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >>> THE LAST DECADE’S BEEN FULL
OF LGBTQ MILESTONES FROM GAY
MARRIAGE TO TRANS RIGHTS TO A
RAINBOW WAVE ACROSS STATE AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. BROOKE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF
NBC OUT, IS WITH ME NOW, AND,
BROOKE, I MEAN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT
THE DECADE AND ALL OF THE THINGS
THAT HAVE HAPPENED, IT’S JUST
UNBELIEVABLE.
UNBELIEVABLE. LET’S START WITH THE SUPREME
COURT’S RULINGS ON GAY MARRIAGE
IN 2015.
IN 2015. A HUGE ONE THERE.
>> SO I THINK IN ORDER TO
UNDERSTAND THE MASSIVE IMPACT
THAT THE 2015 LANDMARK RULING
HAD, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
WHERE WE WERE AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE DECADE.
ON JANUARY 1st, 2010, ONLY 5
STATES HAVE LEGALIZED SAME-SEX
MARRIAGE.
MARRIAGE. >> WOW.
>> WOW. >> AND MORE THAN TWO DOZEN HAD
EXPLICIT BANS ON GAY MARRIAGE.
>> WOW.
>> WOW. >> SO THEN FIVE YEARS LATER, YOU
KNOW, WE’VE HAD IN BETWEEN THAT
TIME WE’VE HAD A NUMBER OF
STATES RULE TO LEGALIZE SAME-SEX
MARRIAGE AND THEN JUNE 26th,
2015, WE HAD THE LANDMARK
RULING.
RULING. BUT BY THAT TIME YOU ONLY HAD 13
STATES LEFT THAT DIDN’T HAVE
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. SO IT WAS -- I WOULD SAY THAT
WOULD DEFINITELY BE THE BIGGEST
MILESTONE OF THE DECADE.
>> UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF CHANGE
IN SUCH A SHORT TIME.
HARD TO THINK THAT BACK IN 2010
THINGS WERE SO, SO DIFFERENT.
ALL RIGHT.
ALL RIGHT. SINCE 2015 THERE HAVE BEEN
SEVERAL POLITICAL MILESTONES SAT
BY THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY INCLUDING
THE ARRIVAL OF PETE BUTTIGIEG AS
A TOP 2020 CANDIDATE.
WHAT DOES IT SIGNAL ABOUT THE
TIMES WE’RE LIVING IN, WOULD YOU
SAY?
SAY? >> SO I THINK THE PACE IN WHICH
WE’VE SEEN POLITICAL LGBTQ
REPRESENTATION HAS BEEN, I MEAN,
THE PAST TEN YEARS, HAS BEEN
PROBABLY MORE SO THAN WE’VE HAD
R
R FOR THE PREVIOUS FIVE DECADES.
I WOULD SAY THE BIG FIRST
MILESTONE OF THE DECADE, WE HAD
TAMMY BALDWIN OF WISCONSIN
BECOME THE FIRST EVER OUT LGBTQ
U.S. SENATOR.
U.S. SENATOR. THAT WAS IN 2012.
THEN WE HAD KATE BROWN OF OREGON
BECOME THE FIRST OPENLY LGBTQ
ELECTED GOVERNOR.
ELECTED GOVERNOR. THEN WE HAD DANICA RHOMES, FIRST
TRANS REPRESENTATIVE AT THE
STATE LEVEL IN 2017.
2018 WE SAW THE SO-CALLED
RAINBOW WAVE WHERE OVER 150
LGBTQ ELECTED OFFICIALS WON
THEIR RACES IN NOVEMBER 2018.
AND THAT INCLUDED, YOU KNOW,
SOME SMALL LOCAL RACES BUT ALSO
SOME BIG RACES.
ONE BECOME BING COLORADO’S
GOVERNOR, FIRST OUT GAY MAN EVER
ELECTED GOVERNOR OF THE U.S.
STATE.
STATE. WE HAD CHARICE DAVIDS, AN OUT
LESBIAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN
WOMAN MAKE HISTORY IN KANSAS.
SO THAT, I WOULD SAY, WAS, YOU
KNOW, THE RAINBOW WAVE, THE
PINNACLE.
PINNACLE. WE HAD A LITTLE RAINBOW WAVE IN
2019.
2019. NOW WITH PETE BUTTIGIEG, AN OUT
GAY MAN, BEING A SERIOUS
CONTENDER FOR PRESIDENT, FIRST
GAY PERSON ON A MAJOR PARTY
DEBATE STAGE FOR PRESIDENT, I
THINK ALL THOSE WINS WE SAW
PREVIOUSLY IN THE DECADE HAVE
REALLY LED UP TO THIS, A SERIOUS
OUT CONTENDER.
OUT CONTENDER. >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. WE KNOW THE LAST TEN YEARS THE
TRANS COMMUNITY HAS SEEN
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS BUT THERE’S
BEEN A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, I GUESS
IT SORT OF COMES OFTENTIMES WITH
VISIBILITY, A LOT OF BACKLASH AS
WELL.
WELL. CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THAT
OVER THE LAST DECADE?
>> SURE.
>> SURE. SO WE’VE SEEN A REALLY
IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF TRANS
VISIBILITY OVER THE PAST DECADE.
YOU KNOW, WE THINK OF THE FAMOUS
LAVERNE COX "TIME" MAGAZINE
COVER IN 2014.
CAITLYN JENNER ON THE COVER OF
"VANITY FAIR" IN 2015.
WE SAW SARAH McBRIDE AT THE
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
IN 2016.
IN 2016. SO YOU’VE SEEN A COMMUNITY THAT
HAD SO LITTLE VISIBILITY PRIOR
TO 2010 GETTING THIS INCRSED
VISIBILITY, INCREASED PLATFORM.
WE HAVE THE TRANSGENDER MILITARY
DECISION IN 2016 WHERE YOU WERE
ABLE TO HAVE OPENLY TRANS
MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS BUT
WITH THAT KIND OF VISIBILITY,
WITH THAT KIND OF PROGRESS, CAME
A BACKLASH AND I THINK NOW OVER
THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS WE’VE
NOTICED THAT PROGRESS FOR THE
LGBTQ COMMUNITY MORE BROADLY BUT
PARTICULARLY FOR THE TRANS
COMMUNITY IS NOT GOING TO BE
LINEAR.
LINEAR. I THINK PROBABLY THE BIGGEST
EXAMPLE OF THAT WAS PRESIDENT
DONALD TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT VIA
TWITTER IN 2017 THAT HE WAS
GOING TO RE-INSTITUTE THE TRANS
MILITARY BAN.
MILITARY BAN. WE’VE ALSO SEEN THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION ARGUE IN A NUMBER
OF DIFFERENT FORMS INCLUDING IN
FRONT OF THE SUPREME COURT THAT
SEX DISCRIMINATION IS NOT
INCLUSIVE OF DISCRIMINATION
BASED ON GENDER IDENTITY AND
SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION. SO, YOU KNOW, THAT HAS BEEN
INTERPRETED.
INTERPRETED. THAT WAS INTERPRETED UNDER THE
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. THAT SEX DISCRIMINATION WAS
INCLUSIVE OF THE LGBTQ PEOPLE
AND NOW WE’RE SEEING THAT, AN
ATTEMPT TO CHIP AWAY AT THAT,
TOO.
TOO. SO PROGRESS IS NOT LINEAR, BUT,
YOU KNOW, WITH INCREASED
VISIBILITY COMES THIS BACKLASH.
>> BROOKE, WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF
PROGRESS.
PROGRESS. I KNOW WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY
TO GO.