REPUDIATED! VOTERS NATIONWIDE REJECT TRUMP-PENCE POLITICS OF HATE, ELECT WAVE OF OPENLY LGBTQ PUBLIC OFFICIALS & EQUALITY ALLIES: HRC is celebrating the outcome of races coast to coast yesterday, with voters soundly rejecting Trump-Pence politics of bigotry and hate by electing equality allies -- and a huge number of out LGBTQ candidates to offices ranging from township and school boards, to mayors’ offices and state legislatures. In Virginia, HRC-endorsed candidates Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, Mark Herring and Danica Roem all claimed decisive victories. Said HRC President Chad Griffin, “By electing Ralph Northam for governor, Justin Fairfax for lieutenant governor, Mark Herring for attorney general, and Danica Roem for the House of Delegates, Virginia voters have resoundingly rejected Donald Trump’s and Mike Pence’s politics of hate and fear. HRC was proud to endorse these pro-equality candidates who are committed to moving Virginia forward as a welcoming and inclusive place. We congratulate Northam, Fairfax, Herring and Roem on their important victories and look forward to working closely with them to advance LGBTQ equality in the commonwealth.” Read more about the historic Election Day at HRC and CNN.

• And we’re not done yet: HRC has endorsed Doug Jones in the special U.S. Senate race in Alabama, where he faces vehemently anti-LGBTQ former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. They face off on December 12.

ROEM MAKES HISTORY AS VA’S FIRST OUT TRANS PUBLIC OFFICIAL, CRUSHING VIRGINIA’S SELF-PROCLAIMED “CHIEF HOMOPHOBE”: Said HRC President Chad Griffin: “Danica Roem’s historic victory is a clear warning to anti-equality lawmakers across the country that the days of attacking LGBTQ people to scare up votes are over. HRC was proud to mobilize voters to support Danica Roem’s trailblazing candidacy, and we look forward to working with her to help continue moving equality forward in Virginia.” Roem, who defeated anti-LGBTQ Delegate Bob Marshall, will represent Virginia’s 13th District, making her also the nation’s only out transgender state representative. Read more at HRC and The Washington Post.

Danica Roem's win in Virginia last night is a victory for all transgender Americans. https://t.co/9ggC9kWKa7 pic.twitter.com/f0nD0oGc61

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 8, 2017

• Andrea Jenkins won her race for the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first openly transgender Black person elected to a council seat in a major U.S. city. Read more about Jenkins at HRC and The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
• HRC-endorsed Jenny Durkan will become the first openly lesbian mayor of Seattle, becoming just one of two current major city mayors who are lesbian. She became the first out LGBTQ U.S. Attorney when appointed the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. More from HRC and The Seattle Times.
• Tyler Titus was elected to the Erie School Board, making him the first openly transgender person elected official in Pennsylvania. More from Penn Live.
• The Victory Fund has a roundup of 61 races nationwide in which LGBTQ candidates competed, and is updating results here.

In other races:

• HRC-endorsed Phil Murphy, who has made advancing LGBTQ equality a key part of his vision for the future of New Jersey, won that state’s gubernatorial race. “His commitment to equality makes him a model for elected officials nationwide,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. More from HRC.
• HRC-endorsed Vi Lyles won the mayor’s race in Charlotte, N.C., and HRC-endorsed pro-equality candidates swept their council races. Said HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse: “Vi Lyles has the vision and experience needed to move equality forward in the Queen City, and we look forward to working with her in her new role as mayor.” More from HRC.
• HRC-endorsed Manka Dhingra won her special election to the Washington State Senate, flipping the Washington State Senate to Democratic control. More from HuffPost.

HAPPENING TOMORROW -- HRC TO RELEASE REPORT MEASURING LGBTQ INCLUSION AT FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES AND TOP LAW FIRMS: The 2018 edition of the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index highlights a record number of businesses with LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies. The CEI underscores the historic support for LGBTQ equality among the nation’s top employers -- even as sustained attacks by the Trump-Pence Administration on LGBTQ people continue. Check out last year’s CEI here.

WHAT WE’RE READING (& LISTENING TO) WEDNESDAY: In a piece for NPR, All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro (@arishapiro) profiles Sandeep Nanwani, a 26-year-old doctor in Indonesia working to provide medical care to the community of waria, which loosely translates as “transwomen”. As Shapiro reports, Nanwani provides more than medical care -- he is also a friend to and advocate for the community. Read and listen to the full piece from NPR.

Feeling exhausted by the news? Take a break w/ this beautiful story about family & love by @arishapiro & @Matt_Ozug https://t.co/jcDH7MTnpO

— JolieMyers (@joliemyers) November 3, 2017

INSIDE A SMALL SOUTHERN TOWN’S BIG FIGHT FOR LGBTQ NON-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS: The Atlantic’s Caroline Kitchener (@CAKitchener) writes about Magnolia, Miss., where in March the Board of Aldermen unanimously enacted city-wide non-discrimination protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. The ordinance also includes a LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes provision. Magnolia, with a population of just over 2,400, is the second city in Mississippi to pass a fully-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, joining Jackson, which passed a similar measure in June of last year. More from The Atlantic.

TODAY -- HRC & OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF EGYPTIAN LGBTQ COMMUNITY: Over the last two months, Egyptian authorities have been rounding up and arresting LGBTQ people as part of a wider crackdown on human rights in the country. HRC, Human Rights First, Amnesty International and Egyptian LGBTQ advocates will be gathering to show solidarity with the Egyptian LGBTQ community, call on the Egyptian government to stop the crackdown, and urge the international community to condemn these human rights abuses. For more information on this event, please contact press@hrc.org.

HORRIFYING -- TRANSGENDER WOMAN ASSAULTED IN A PENNSYLVANIA JAIL SUES ALLEGHENY COUNTY: Paula Reed Ward (@PaulaReedWard) of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Jules Williams was assaulted after being placed with male inmates in an Allegheny County jail. Williams is suing the county for damages -- and to compel the jail to follow official intake policy for transgender people. She and her lawyers are arguing those policies were ignored, and that the facility “has a policy custom or practice of intentionally housing transgender women with male inmates regardless of the female detainee's gender identity, gender expression or sex listed on her birth certificates or other official documents.” Read more from TribLive and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

MICHIGAN SCHOOL BOARD PASSES POLICIES TO PROTECT TRANS STUDENTS: The Williamston, Mich., School Board took action to protect transgender students, and adopted a policy that reaffirms the privacy rights of all students. More from WLNS.

NOPE NOPE NOPE -- KIM DAVIS RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION: In case you need a refresher, Davis was held in contempt of court and jailed after refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order directing her to issue marriage licenses in accordance with the law, and after she was denied stays on that order at all levels -- including at the Supreme Court of the United States. More from CBS.

PAID LEAVE IS AN LGBTQ ISSUE: In a piece for HRC, Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training writes about the importance of paid leave as an LGBTQ issue, highlighting new research from the Center for American Progress: “Not only are we more likely to take time off work, but we’re more vulnerable to the lack of paid leave,” Maxwell writes. “As organizations like the HRC continue to push for more inclusive leave policies, it’s important for LGBTQ people to recognize the myriad ways in which we’re impacted by this country’s lack of paid leave -- and to demand better.” Read the full post from HRC.

SAN DIEGO LGBT CENTER TO HONOR LGBTQ VETERANS AT WALL OF HONOR: Tomorrow, the Center will announce and welcome the 2017 inductees to The Benjamin F. Dillingham, III & Bridget Wilson LGBT Veterans Wall of Honor. Read more from LGBT Weekly.

THIS GAY CANCER SURVIVOR IS MAKING A MOVIE ABOUT HIS CONVERSION FROM MORMONISM TO JUDAISM: H. Alan Scott never felt comfortable with any religion until he found Judaism. The film about his life and conversion, called “Latter Day Jew,” will culminate with his bar mitzvah -- at age 35 -- later in November. Read more from Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

DIANE RODRÍGUEZ BECOMES FIRST OPENLY TRANS WOMAN ELECTED TO ECUADOR’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: More from NBC.

READING RAINBOW

Outsports interviews an out athlete featured in a new series about LGBTQ Midwesterners; City Weekend dives into Shanghai’s LGBTQ culture;

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