Young Queer Michigan Voters Experience a Tumultuous Election on Michigan State’s Campus
From jubilance to disbelief, how some of Michigan’s youngest voting block fought, and lost, together
Young voters have the power to decide elections. So, on the days leading up to the general election, Pride Source spoke to voters on Michigan State University’s campus to feel out what was on the minds of this large voting block.
Two days before election day
48 hours before election day, Kamala Harris was giving a rally on Michigan State University’s campus. Long lines wound around steel barricades as students swiftly filed into Jenison Field House.
As landscape architecture fifth year student Aaron Carten-Crandell made his way toward the building, he took in the energy of the smiling students and their cheers.
This was Carten-Crandell’s first rally and he said he came out because the issues on the ballot were close to his heart. “The biggest [issue] I would say is, again, abortion as well as IVF,” he said. “I grew up in a same-sex household, both my parents are lesbians and I was actually an IVF child. This is something very important and dear to my heart — that was the biggest decision of why I voted, and I've gone with Harris.”
As a student looking at the end of his time at college, Carten-Crandell said Harris’ stance on the economy was another key takeaway from the rally. “As someone who is about to start finding housing in Grand Rapids for my new job, new housing there, that's my top priority as well,” he said. “Having inflation, living on my own and it's now starting to become a big deal for me.”
Harris famously campaigned on her “opportunity economy” which included a comprehensive housing plan with downpayment assistance for new homeowners.
Election eve
Twenty-four hours before election day, MSU was buzzing with anticipation. Politically engaged students dotted every corner, handing out “Spartans for Harris” or “Kamala is brat” signs — campus canvassers were made up of mainly blue on-campus organizations or were paid by the Michigan Democrats; there was a notable lack of Republican canvassing.
At the Communication Arts and Sciences building, where early voting was taking place at the studio of WKAR Radio, a steady stream of students fulfilled their civic duty. The most contentious issue for most? MSU was out of the Michigan werewolf “I voted” sticker.
Election day
On the morning of election day, out bisexual Japanese freshman Emma Newman-Bale said that through the platform of equity Harris ran on, Americans, in terms of queer rights, abortion and healthcare especially, would “still have the ability to be who they want to be without the country telling them they can't be that way."
They added that they knew from the beginning that they were going to vote for Kamala. “You don't normally call a candidate by their first name, but with Kamala, I've seen clips of her encouraging other people to call her Kamala because it puts her on the same level as us as a human being,” Newman-Bale said. “Hearing stories of how she had to work hard, to get to where she’s at, it's really comforting."
In the afternoon, out queer sophomore Sophia Catella agreed that Harris had put in clear work to connect with young LGBTQ+ voters. “I’ve seen a lot of TikToks and memes posted up around campus,” she said. “I see a lot of Democratic volunteers, college students specifically, which I think is really cool. I haven't really seen a lot of that from the Trump campaign and I'm not actually sure if there's been anything going around on like reaching younger voters.”
In the days after the election it would become clear that young white men were a key Demographic in swinging the vote to Trump in Michigan and across the nation.
Catella added that you didn’t have to agree with every aspect of Harris’ campaign to vote for her, if it provides a safer space to make change within. “No matter what other third-party candidate you vote for, they're inevitably not going to win,” she said. “It feels kind of counterproductive to me to make that choice instead of choosing someone you don't fully agree with, but would probably feel safer protesting under the presidential rule of.”
And as the evening humidity gave way to rain, you could still find MSU students canvassing. Out queer and trans psychology junior Asterius Lenz was one of them.
Lenz said that “rights are on the chopping block,” especially when it comes to abortion, IVF and trans healthcare, and that’s what motivated him to canvas with For Michigan.
He also noted that Democratic leaders had been more open to having dialogues with young LGBTQ+ voters on the issues important to them. “This is what they're doing; they're not being big and bad and scary,” he said. “They are coming to us, they're meeting us where we are and they're being kind and friendly and understanding of where we come from. [They’re] hearing our issues and not directly canceling us out.”
The Republican and Democratic parties run with two different sets of tactics, Lenz said.
“Democrats tend to actually organize events where Republicans tend to fear monger,” he said.
“That is something that we have seen a lot even just today, on Election Day. I have not seen any Republican tables; I have not heard about them. But there are at least 10 to 15 Democratic tables out.”
Lenz described seeing this differentiation in the canvassing process. “We had people yelling at us through the door when we were door knocking, or from their trucks and different vehicles on the street,” he said. “We had one person call Kamala a slur. They feel comfortable doing this and this is their way to show who they represent. I think it really shows the difference between what these parties are like and what we stand for.”
The MSU Dems’ election night watch party was densely packed with students, which was only fitting for the nation’s largest college Democrats chapter. Even State Rep. Julie Brixie made an appearance. However, as the night dragged on, a murmur began to spread through the crowd — the mood was uneasy. At that point in the night, states had begun to swing red, but without all votes counted, there was still hope that it may have only been a red mirage.
“It's nerve-racking no matter what, you know, but I think our girl is gonna pull through,” said Jade Holloway, an openly gay comparative cultures and politics sophomore and MSU Dems communications director.
Holloway noted that Harris had shown more of an effort to be a strong ally than other leading Democrats. “The Harris campaign has been more open in their acceptance when it comes to the youth queer vote,” he said. “I feel like that's kind of something that comes with a Democratic campaign… [but] they've made it very abundantly clear that while it's kind of expected, in a sense, they still need to earn it. And I feel like they've definitely put in the work to earn that vote.”
He specifically cited Harris’ action taken as a San Francisco district attorney in performing some of the first same-sex marriages in California, in what was called the "San Francisco Winter of Love."
MSU Dems president and openly gay political theory senior Liam Richichi added that the campaign’s emphasis on uplifting queer icons, such as Charli XCX and Troye Sivan, was also key in turning out youth voters.
Overall, the feelings on Election Day from youth LGBTQ+ voters were:
“Both scared and excited,” Newman-Bale said.
“It's scary to think of the possibility of the future in which I have less rights than my grandmother did,” Catella said.
“I'm scared for the future of this nation because we could go back in history,” Lenz said. “History tends to repeat itself and we are seeing a repeat in history that I did not want to see again.”
The aftermath
In the early morning of Nov. 6, Trump won re-election, dashing the hopes of many queer voters everywhere. But for young voters who may have turned out for the first time this election, it was difficult to wrap their heads around the results.
A campus that was bustling just one day before — overflowing with political action organizations on every corner — became eerily quiet. Some professors canceled classes, others abandoned lesson plans and had sitdown conversations with students.
There was a hushed feeling of defeat and hopelessness that washed over the campus — one only made more sharp by the carefree nature of some of the young men on campus whose grins said more than words.
But in the face of this loss, leading LGBTQ+ community leaders laid out how young queer voters can move forward.
Staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBT Project Jay Kaplan said things can change and that this is a time for conversation.
“In any civil rights movement, you experience setbacks and I can only tell [young voters] that when we first started our project back in 2001, there was no marriage equality, you had these sodomy laws on the books that were enforceable and used to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, we had very few local ordinances that provided for civil rights for protection — things can change and things can get better,” he said. “My advice is we have to come together, we need to sit down and we need to have a very open, frank and productive conversation about where we go from here.”
Equality Michigan Executive Director Erin Knott mirrored Kaplan’s sentiments.
“My advice is to not give up,” Knott said. “There are going to be setbacks — this is what a democracy looks like; we might not be happy with the outcome.”
She added, “We need to organize. We need to come together as a community, continue to come together as a community. We need to identify ways in which we can continue having conversations with folks.”
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