GOP candidates prove they aren’t interested in representing all of us

Over the past two weeks, this editorial board sat down with numerous Nevada candidates for federal legislative and statewide executive offices to discuss their vision for the state and their policy proposals for fulfilling those visions.

While there have been clear differences between various candidates, especially those across the partisan political aisle, they have all uttered some version of a commitment to serve and represent all Nevadans, even those whom they may disagree with.

We question that commitment, especially with regard to Republican candidates and Latino Nevadans. While claiming the mantle of serving all Nevadans, almost all Republican candidates attempted to link immigrant populations to crime and social disruption. Their policies would effectively cut services, voting and educational opportunities to Latino communities that are a part of the fabric of Nevada’s history, culture and economy.

We also questioned the commitment “to all Nevadans” with regard to Republican candidates and Indigenous Nevadans. The elimination of mail-in ballots would almost certainly hit Indigenous people the hardest, as tribal communities tend to be more geographically distant from urban centers and face additional barriers to requesting and staffing polling locations.

There is little evidence nationally that today’s GOP cares about all Americans. However, if anyone harbors doubts on that score, this weekend settled the issue with respect to the current crop of GOP candidates in Nevada.

This weekend marked the celebration of the Las Vegas LGBTQ+ Pride parade and festival. An annual event since 1983, Pride events attract more than 10,000 Nevadans from across the region to downtown Las Vegas each year and infuses millions of dollars into the local economy.

Beyond its economic impact, however, the Pride events are also a celebration of values that many Nevadans, including Republicans, claim to hold dear: freedom from governmental and societal suppression; liberty to live a life that is true to their beliefs, values and identities; safety from violence and oppression; and a shared sense of obligation to take care of and protect our communities and respect all people.

More than any other state in the country, the Silver State has embodied the ideal of letting people be free and live free so long as they aren’t hurting others.

Maybe that’s why, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, Nevada has the third highest per-capita population of LGBTQ+ people in the United States, with only the District of Columbia and Oregon having more per capita. That’s right, there is a higher percentage of LGBTQ+ people here than in California or New York. A full 5.5% of Nevadans openly identify as LGBTQ+. That’s more than 165,000 people. And, according to the Williams Institute, nearly a quarter of them (22%) are raising children who are Nevadans too.

Given these statistics, and the upcoming election now less than 30 days away, you’d think candidates who proclaim to represent all Nevadans would have taken the opportunity to participate in the largest LGBTQ+ Pride parade and festival in the state. Many candidates did.

Gov. Steve Sisolak was there. As were Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen; Congress members Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee; and Attorney General Aaron Ford, among other elected officials. But conspicuously absent were any Republican candidates for state or federal office.

We reached out to the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, which organizes the annual event, and it confirmed that not a single Republican candidate registered to march in the parade or have a booth at the festival.

We’re not actually surprised. Republicans have spent the better part of the past 40 years scapegoating LGBTQ+ people for everything from HIV/AIDS to gang violence (seriously, according to Fox News, lesbian gangs pose a grave threat to American safety). Republicans have also repeatedly attacked the civil and human rights of LGBTQ+ people, threatening everything from inheritance and hospital visitation rights, to free speech rights to choose their own name and speak freely or write books about their identity.

But we are disappointed. Especially in a state like Nevada, which takes such pride in our freedom and independence.

Their absence speaks volumes. Even the British Counsel General recorded a statement on Youtube recognizing the Las Vegas event. And yet no Republicans running for federal or statewide office could be roused to show support for LGBTQ+ Nevadans.

It doesn’t matter if the candidate’s personal faith, beliefs or values don’t affirm LGBTQ+ identity. Gay and lesbian people are still Nevadans who must be represented by elected officials. They are part of the “all” that the Republican candidates told us they would represent. And yet when given the chance, they failed.

No one banned them from marching or prevented them from sending a letter. They made a choice to actively ignore more than 5% of the state’s population. Now it’s up to us to hold them accountable and show them the consequences of that choice.

Latino voters should pay close attention to this: Republican candidates say they want to represent all Nevadans but prove they don’t intend to do so. So should Black voters. And Indigenous voters. And Asian voters. The message the GOP candidates just delivered to the LGBTQ+ community is a loud and clear: One party in the coming election wants your vote and wants the power but doesn’t care about your interests.

It doesn’t matter if the candidate’s personal faith, beliefs or values don’t affirm LGBTQ+ identity. Gay and lesbian people are still Nevadans who must be represented by elected officials.