Midterm Election Results In a Number of "Firsts"

Sharice Davids became the first lesbian Native American woman elected to congress and one of the first Native American women elected, Debra Haaland, a Native American woman, was also elected to the House. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib became the first muslim women elected to Congress. Ayanna Pressley is the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress and Jahana Hayes is the first black woman to represent Connecticut in congress. Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia are Texas's first Latinas to serve in the House. Alexandria Ocassio-Cortez is the youngest woman elected to congress, and she is a working class democratic socialist. All of these women of color bring their lived experiences to politics and fight for rights and laws for marginalized people that would be overlooked and violated by people who don't have those lived experiences. It also allows young women of color to see themselves in positions of political power, empowering them to go into politics if they so choose (self-efficacy).

More open LGBTQ people were elected on Tuesday than any election in US history. When the Trump administration is trying to do away with laws that protect transgender people and prohibit gender and sexuality discrimination, it is really important that we have LGBTQ people in congress protecting those rights.

And yet, we still hear blatant racism and homo/transphobia from politicians such as the Kansas GOP official who said that Davids was a "radical socialist kickboxing lesbian" who should be "sent back packing to the reservation." Amelia Marquez, a candidate for Montana State legislature who is trans, was misgendered purposefully by a Republican opponent and was referred to by her birth name. Will we see substantial, systemic changes with these "firsts" or will those in power always be in power and always controlling the narrative?