LGBTQ+ groups 'heartbroken' by passage of anti-trans measures amid blue wave

"Check on your trans friends," wrote a woman on Facebook Wednesday morning, sending a melancholy message on the same day most social media posts were hailing "the blue wave," the "blunami," and the "the rainbow wave". It's all in reference to the overwhelming number of Democrats who scored victories Tuesday night in the 2026 midterm elections, many of them part of the LGBTQ+ community.

But to Maia Monet, a writer, a photographer and a popular YouTube personality based in Central Florida, some of that election euphoria was actually the reason she decided to call out sick, writing that election night "was terrible for trans people nationwide," in stark contrast to what The Advocate and other outlets reported about the outcome.

As The 19th reported, at least six transgender and nonbinary candidates made history by winning races in states that have never elected a trans person before. The ACLU was just one of the national organizations sharing in the online celebration, calling it "a monumental victory" in a post on LinkedIn. "Voters passed ballot measures protecting reproductive rights, marriage equality, voting rights, and more."

Related: Nebraska voters enshrine trans sports discrimination in state constitution

However the ACLU's list left something out, noted Monet. She is the transgender resource manager at the LGBTQ+ Center Orlando, runs a trans and nonbinary support group, and is herself an out trans woman. Comments on Monet's post show she is not alone in feeling that all the celebrations across the country ignored their plight.

"We didn’t get to join the party at almost any level," Monet wrote, referencing anti-transgender ballot amendments in Arizona, Nebraska, Washington and Colorado that have either passed or are expected to, as well as the ways some of the Democratic candidates who won their races did so by resorting to transphobic talking points. Just a sampling:

• “I do not support boys playing in girls’ sports," said Ohio Governor-elect Amy Acton, a Democrat, last month.
• "I don’t support ‘biological men’ playing women’s sports," declared Senator-elect Annie Andrews, the Democrat pediatrician in South Carolina. "And I don’t support and haven’t ever performed gender surgery for minors.”
• Even Senator-elect James Talarico, the first Democrat to win a statewide race n Texas since 1994, backtracked on the campaign trail, telling Fox News he “would oppose trans athletes playing in girls sports if it endangers safety or fairness.”

For more perspective on this unusual juxtaposition of losing ground while seeing LGBTQ+ and ally candidates notching significant victories, The Advocate reached out to leaders in the movement and civil rights organizations for analysis, and asked what message they're sending to trans folks feeling lost while others celebrate wins.

The Trevor Project

To Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of The Trevor Project and a longtime transgender rights activist, "It's a paradox," with widespread losses by Republicans who "focused on the culture wars," as even Democratic-led states pass anti-trans measures.

"I think the way that you can understand these kinds of seeming contradictions is that most Americans don't have hatred in their heart for trans people, but they still have to get to know us," he said.

ACLU

“Our hearts are heavy as we acknowledge difficult losses around the country that will deny transgender youth and their families the rights they deserve," said Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer at the ACLU. "Despite these setbacks, the ACLU remains undeterred in our fight for the freedom and dignity of all people. We know we have a ways to go as a movement and as a country to help our communities and our elected leaders understand the stakes for all of us when the basic equality of a few are put up for debate.”

The Task Force

"We were very, very cognizant and very impacted by the fact that these ballot initiatives" presented a challenge to advocates, said Cathy Renna, the communications director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Renna said it's understood that Tuesday's wins don't erase the pain of knowing girls in Washington and Colorado may be required to undergo genital checks and that the gender-affirming bottom surgery will be off limits to trans youth in those states until they're 18. She's well aware that trans kids in Arizona and Nebraska are now barred from playing sports on teams that match their gender identity.

"This was a mixed result, in some ways, and we recognize that as much as a lot of other organizations did," she said. "This is not the end. This is the beginning. And it is going to take a very long time to educate our society and our culture about trans people."

Renna and Heng-Lehtinen both cited a survey that said 71 percent of Americans believe they've never met a trans person. "When you don't feel like you personally know somebody in a community, then it's easier to fall for myths and think that they're real. And that's what we saw with trans healthcare and trans sports being on the ballot. Those are issues where hundreds of millions of dollars was spent to put these lies and misinformation in front of everyday Americans," said Heng-Lehtinen.

Human Rights Campaign

“In the face of $400 million of anti-trans ads built on misinformation and lies, HRC and our allies fought back," said Jay Brown, executive vice president and chief of staff at the Human Rights Campaign. "There were tough losses in Nebraska and Arizona, and we await results in Colorado and Washington. [Editor's Note: The results are in for Washington, and the ban on trans girls in school sports passed 57 to 43 percent.] But our opponents thought their hateful politics would win in a landslide, and the exact opposite happened."

Both Brown and Trevor's Heng-Lehtinen remarked that there is a lesson to be learned from the fight for marriage equality more than a decade ago. "Fifteen years ago, we were losing, losing, losing, losing, losing, losing, losing. And now we think winning is obvious," said the Trevor Project leader. "When you are young, like the LGBTQ+ young people that Trevor serves, 15 years is maybe your entire lifetime. So, that feels forever. But the older you get, the more you realize 15 years is a drop in the bucket."

"We lost 32 of 36 ballots on marriage before we won," Brown added. "To trans youth across the country facing government interference in their lives – the future looks brighter today, and we will never stop fighting for full equality.” He noted that voters in Virginia on Tuesday overwhelmingly reaffirmed that "love is love," approving a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing marriage equality, as the Advocate reported.

"We know we still have more work to do to share the stories of our community and build support," said Brown. "That work is not going to stop."

"What gives me encouragement is that when voters did have the opportunity to get to know a trans person, they were supportive," said Heng-Lehtinen. "So, there were openly trans candidates, like individual trans people who were running for office who won their elections in states that you normally wouldn't expect, like Alabama." Democrat Allison Montgomery won the race there to become that state's first out transgender legislator, as the Advocate reported.

While Montgomery was not the sole success story, all but two of the anti-trans ballot initiatives proved to be unwinnable. Vermont voters enshrined LGBTQ+ rights against discrimination into their state constitution Tuesday.

"Missouri is the only [other] one that was successful," added Renna, referring to the efforts to convince voters to reject an amendment that combined a ban on gender-affirming care with restrictions on reproductive rights, as the Advocate reported.

GLAAD

"This is huge and we have to recognize it and say so," said a spokesperson for GLAAD, referring to the defeat of the Missouri ballot initiative. "Our collective movements killed a strategy that could have easily resurfaced elsewhere. Solidarity is key."

"Fear-mongering about transgender people is a losing strategy," echoed Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD in a social media post. "Election 2026 must go down in history as the last campaign to try it."

"Voters rejected anti-trans campaigning, rejected billionaires trying to buy elections, rejected an entire administration and its feckless enablers in the now lame-duck Congress for focusing so much energy and resource targeting vulnerable people rather than solving problems they were hired to fix," said that GLAAD spokesperson in a statement to The Advocate. "The anti-trans ballot measures are lifted from this same playbook: billionaires are picking the pockets of taxpayers by manufacturing fear and disinformation, and subverting the democratic process to subject people’s humanity, dignity, and safety to a popular vote."

Charlotte Clymer

"Yes, I am heartbroken by the anti-trans ballot initiatives that passed in several states, but there is no way anyone can tell me that trans equality did not see enormous progress," said celebrated activist, Army veteran and award-winning writer Charlotte Clymer, in a statement to the Advocate.

Clymer noted Republicans suffered "a generational wipeout" on Tuesday that delivered "rock solid Democratic majorities in the House and Senate [that] will ensure that no anti-trans federal legislation will be passed for years to come," she said.

"There is so much work to be done, but let's also celebrate what was accomplished. We earned it."

Looking Ahead

How will organizations address the challenges Monet outlined? "[By] helping people understand that they're not alone, that there are allies, that we are in this for the long haul, that we know that this is not going to be easy," said Renna. "It's going to take resources and education and support and collaboration across organizations and movements and, and helping create safe spaces for those in our community who are trans or nonbinary and that they're impacted by these ballot initiatives and the attention behind them, whether they are successful or not."

"I hear you," Heng-Lehtine said, when asked to respond directly to Monet and those like her in despair. "It is devastating to feel like your neighbors voted against your human rights. I have been there myself and it makes you feel really unsafe. I would also say trans people have been through this before and we know how to do this. We are still able to make progress despite this because of the bravery and determination of the trans people like her, who keep providing the service, who keep the door open, who keep fighting.It does not make the pain of today go away, but it can make things better for trans people, including ourselves and the ones who come after us, 10 years down the road."

Related: Missouri voters roundly reject trans fearmongering, vote down abortion ban

Renna and Heng-Lethine were asked if it's really going to take that long for trans and nonbinary Americans to be treated equally.

"I don't mean to sugarcoat the devastation of, let's say, that 10-year time horizon I just invoked," he added. "But this is what trans people do. We fight and we keep making progress so that the next generation doesn't have to worry about what we're worried about today. So, I understand the pain. The pain is real.We all need to take a beat to sort of process it and then keep doing this work because we can win over the long term."

"This is going to take a while," conceded Renna. "This is a long haul, but we're here with you and we're not going anywhere."