Why I Vote: Championing Equality and Justice in the 2024 Election
Community voices: Michigan LGBTQ+ leaders weigh in
Ahead of the 2024 general election, Pride Source asked community leaders to weigh in on the important issues facing the Michigan LGBTQ+ community. Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for ACLU Michigan's LGBTQ+ Project, writes about what voting means to him and why the 2024 election is so consequential. Find other community perspectives here.
I vote because my vote is my voice. I have been exercising this most cherished right in more than four decades of elections, and I have never believed an election to be as consequential as this one in November 2024.
From who we vote for president to whom we elect to our school board, we are deciding the future of democracy as we know it and how we want our world to be. I’m voting because I want a president who respects our constitution, supports the civil rights of marginalized communities and the protection of reproductive choice and voting rights.
I’m voting because I want both state and federal legislative majorities that support both dignity and equality for LGBTQ+ people reflected in both law and public policy. I want to see judges on both state and federal courts who reflect the diversity of our country and who respect the diversity of the people who enter their courtrooms — judges who view the constitution as a living, breathing document that can both protect and expand the rights of people.
I want to see school board members who recognize the duty of schools to provide safe and supportive learning environments for all students, including transgender students, and who do not deny the existence of LGBTQ+ people or the fact that our country has a history of racism.
Sometimes it can feel so disheartening and frightening listening to the rhetoric of certain politicians and their minions who use cruelty and hate to fuel their policy positions and their view of what government should be. But my vote is my both my vision and aspiration for our country’s future. It is my chance to be both seen and heard.
Voting has never been more accessible in Michigan as it now. Participation in this election has never been more needed by everybody who is eligible to vote. Make your voice heard!
Visit vote411.org and michiganvoting.org to learn about the candidates and issues on your ballot and to make a voting plan.
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