NEW YORK CITY – FEBRUARY 6 2016: Mayor Bill de Blasio and members of the NYC city council marched in Sunnyside’s annual St. Pat’s For All parade
Facing a financial deficit and a shortage of dues owed by local chapters, the National Stonewall Democratic Federation, founded by retired out Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) in 1998 to unite Stonewall Democratic clubs across the U.S., closed the doors at its Washington office in 2013 to go on an indefinite “hiatus.” They never reopened.
Now, in the face of an openly anti-LGBTQ+ second Trump administration, the group has been revived under a new banner, the National Federation of Stonewall Democrats.
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“The challenges facing LGBTQ+ Americans today underscore the need for a bold and unapologetically progressive action, especially given the uncertainty we face with the incoming Trump administration,” said President Jeremy Comeau in an announcement of the new group’s formation on Friday, just days before Trump’s inauguration. “We are united in our mission and we are unapologetically committed to that work.”
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The new federation “aims to amplify the voices of the 19 million LGBTQ+ Americans and drive progress within the Democratic Party and across the nation,” the statement read.
Founding organizations include local Stonewall Democratic clubs and LGBTQ+ Democratic Party caucuses from 21 states. Out members of Congress Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Sarah McBride (D-DE) praised the group’s mission.
“Together, we’re going to build on our work to create a Democracy big enough for all of us,” said McBride.
Comeau told Politico the federation’s priority will be holding Democratic electeds and candidates accountable for their votes and advocacy for LGBTQ+ people.
“Our job is to continue to push for the Democrats who are elected to make sure that they’re speaking up,” said Comeau, a Democratic activist from Massachusetts. “If they just let the Republicans steamroll these issues through the Congress without providing the words of support for the community … we’re doomed.”
Democrats face a Republican trifecta in the White House and Congress that’s outwardly hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. After a Republican campaign that spent $215 million attacking transgender people, Trump reiterated his commitment to undermining those rights in a speech in December.
“With the stroke of my pen on Day One, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump told an audience of MAGA faithful in Phoenix. “And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military, and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools.”
Trump also claimed he would make it “the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders — male and female” through executive orders.
Keeping Democrats united in the face of those challenges includes addressing those who have blamed the party’s losses in November on its support for LGBTQ+ rights, among them Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Moulton said after Democrats lost control of the White House and Congress. The rep said he didn’t want his own daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
“The congressman is absolutely out of his mind if he thinks that that’s the reason why we lost the election,” said Comeau.
The new group will “call out Democrats when they are using our community as a reason that we lose elections,” he added.
One way they’ll do that is by taking a page from the MAGA playbook, primarying candidates they believe are backsliding on LGBTQ+ rights. The group has formed an independent political action committee dedicated to recruiting and raising money to field a new generation of out Democratic leaders.
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