Who run the world? Girls.
I have a confession to make. Sometimes I feel a little isolated by the current state of politics and it’s almost easier to turn off my breaking news alerts and binge watch Gilmore Girls for the 700th time, than to face what’s happening in my country.
This seems to be a common theme for queer women that I’ve spoken to. We’re not just concerned about LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights (although that’s obviously high on our agenda), but about the direction that our country is heading in. And we’ve tried to change it by signing petitions, attending marches, even speaking directly to our local politicians.
Occasionally, it feels like we’re in the passenger seat of a car headed towards a cliff and we’ve begged the driver to take the exit ramp, but they don’t see the warning signs.
But you should know that there is hope and that hope is us. Queer women need to run for political office at the next election (May 18!).
Why should queer women run for office?
Simply because we need more diversity in politics. The average politician is a straight, white man and that’s not exactly representative of the electorate is it?
According to a recent campaign by Lush Cosmetics in the US – in collaboration with She Should Run – only 1 in 4 candidates are female, with that number shrinking considerably for queer women. Lush recognized that this was a huge problem, which is why they ran a campaign to inspire a new generation of female leaders.
Now, I know that LGBTQ+ women won’t always agree on politics, even if we do skew a little more liberal than the population as a whole. As with the rest on the country, we’re divided on immigration, climate change, and even LGBTQ+ rights… but the point is that the people making our laws should be more diverse and women (especially queer women) should help to shape our country.
I’ve had enough of straight men making decisions about my sex life, my love life, or my life in general. Queer women have our differences, but there’s a lot more to unite us than to divide us. That’s why I want queer women in the highest positions of government.
But shouldn’t it be about the most qualified candidate?
Source: Rob Walsh
Who’s to say that the queer woman isn’t the most qualified candidate? But I do get your point and I’m not advocating that we just put any queer woman in office… Although, could we try it?
I believe that the queer women reading this who want to make a change in the world are just as qualified as any other candidate to run for public office. Join a political party, go along to your local meetings, and put your name forward when they ask for candidates to stand at the next election. Repeat until you get chosen to run.
Well, why don’t you run for office then?
Source: Instagram
I actually ran for a seat on my city council in May. I didn’t win, but this wasn’t a shock – I was a newcomer running on a third-party ticket against a conservative incumbent.
But I’m glad I ran and I plan to run again. First of all, I actually did pretty well for my area and this gave the other parties a bit of a shock. But also, I was the only woman and, as far as I can tell, the only queer person running on that ticket. My area needs more diversity and if no one else will do it, then I will.
I can’t change the world from the city council, but I can change my local area. And maybe that’s the lesson we should learn from this. When the world seems terrifying, the least we can do is channel out inner Diane Lockhart and improve our little part of the world.
Source: Magical Quote
All that’s left for me to say is if you’d like to register as a candidate, click here . Now it’s time to turn over to you. What do you think about more LGBTQ+ women running for office? Are you planning to run in the next elections? Let me know all that and more in the comments below.