Gay Democrat makes bid for anti-LGBT Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat
A gay Democrat is making a bid for the seat vacated by Trump’s anti-LGBT Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Sessions, who had served as a US Senator from Alabama, is one of the strongest anti-LGBT voices within the Trump administration.
The Attorney General was reportedly behind the recent decision to scrap discrimination protections for transgender students, while his department has also shelved federal resistance to state-level anti-LGBT laws.
A gay Democrat is now hoping to capture the seat that Sessions vacated when he joined the White House.
Michael Hansen, who heads an environmental group, announced his “long shot” bid ahead of the election in December.
He said: “This week I plan to file paperwork to run in Alabama’s special election for U.S. Senate.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a long shot — I’m 35, gay, and a Democrat — but it’s one we have to take.”
He added: “We’re sick and tired of systems that aren’t working. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals are exhausted from a society that discriminates against them.
“Christians are jaded by that same culture which automatically assumes they’re homophobic.”
The political hopeful added: “There are numerous reasons things have gotten to this point, but finger pointing won’t do us any good. What matters is that we come together and solve our problems.
“If we’re going to move forward, we’re going to have to get real with each other. We need a revival of spirit and a return to authenticity.
“We need to reckon with the fact that we’re all in this together, and that prosperity must not be seen as a zero-sum game. Our fates are tied together—black and white, gay and straight, Christian and Muslim, young and old.
“I am running for Senate because I truly believe that we’re better than our disagreements and troubles suggest. I believe we have more in common than silly labels allow us to see.
“I believe in Alabama and Alabamians. We have the opportunity to give Alabama a fresh start. We will never get the change we need by electing the same old politicians and elite insiders over and over again and expecting different results.”
He added: “My pledge to you is that I will run a campaign based on empathy, love, and kindness. I know what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck. I know what it’s like to have to choose between prescriptions and groceries. I know how it feels to lose a loved one to the opioid crisis.
“I have felt the sting of discrimination. I know your pain because I too have lived it.”
In the Senate, Sessions co-sponsored the so-called ‘First Amendment Defence Act’, which would legalise anti-LGBT discrimination on the grounds of religion. As Attorney General, it was announced this month that he would head Trump’s ‘religious liberty’ review.
The Special Election will take place in December.
