Campaign posters outside a polling place in Dupont Circle on Nov. 3, 2026. LGBTQ elected officials and activists around the world have welcomed the U.S. midterm election results. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
LGBTQ elected officials around the world have welcomed the U.S. midterm election results.
New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas on Nov. 3 became the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. He will join U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who in 2012 became the first openly lesbian elected to the U.S. Senate, in the chamber once he takes office in January.
New York Congresswoman-elect Cait Conley, Michigan Congressman-elect Jeremy Moss, California Congresswoman Marni von Wilpert, and Indiana Congressman-elect J.D. Ford are among the 17 LGBTQ candidates who ran for federal office this year who won their races. Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, who is the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress, won re-election.
“The U.S. election results remind us of a beautiful truth about democracy: power is borrowed, never owned — and voters occasionally demand it back with interest,” said Pornchai Witayalerdpan, who in 2024 became the first openly gay man elected to the Thai Senate. “Beyond the political shifts, I hope this signals a renewed commitment to accountability, decency, and common sense.”
Witayalerdpan described Pappas’s victory as “particularly heartening.”
“Becoming the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate is historic, but the greater triumph is that his identity is no longer a barrier to his ambition,” said Witayalerdpan. “Another glass ceiling has shattered, and the world is a little brighter for it.”
“I sincerely hope Senator-elect Pappas will champion a bold new chapter of LGBTQ+ equality, help reverse the setbacks of Trump’s second administration, and turn the promise of equal rights into lasting protections for all,” he added.
Alex Greenwich, a gay member of the New South Wales Parliament in Australia, echoed Witayalerdpan.
“The U.S. midterms have filled progressives in Australia with hope,” Greenwich told the Washington Blade. “We are experiencing a rise in the far right ahead of our election season, but the message from the U.S. is clear: if you put forward policies and plans that matter to people, and the reject culture war games, hope will prevail.”
Paolo Rondelli in 2022 became the world’s first openly gay head of state when he became Captain Regent of San Marino. He was his country’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2007-2016.
Rondelli on Thursday told the Blade the elections “mark a major achievement for the queer community and for queer politics — a trend that runs counter to the actions taken over the last two years regarding LGBTQAI+ rights.”
“Queer candidates have shown that it is possible to be effective politicians and to consistently demonstrate one’s own merit,” he said. “Now is not the time to take a single step back; rather, we must show — even more clearly and effectively — what we are capable of achieving to ensure greater rights and well-being for everyone.”
Tamara Adrián in 2015 became the first openly trans person elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly.
She described the election results as “an excellent triumph of diversity and its best form.” Adrián added they are “proof that Americans are not sectarians and exclusionary as the Trump administration has sought to portray.”
Tamara Adrián, the first openly transgender woman elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly, speaks at the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. on Dec. 3, 2022. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in 2017 became his country’s first openly gay head of government.
He stepped down in 2020 after his center-right party, Fine Gael, lost parliamentary seats in that year’s general election. Varadkar was once again Ireland’s prime minister from 2022-2024.
Varadkar on Thursday said reaction to the U.S. election results in Europe “has been broadly positive.”
“It’s clear to us that most Americans do not support many of President Trump’s policies whether it’s the war in Iran which has driven up prices here too, trade tariffs, unconditional support for Israel or how far he has gone on immigration particularly the brutality of ICE,” he told the Blade. “There would be a concern that he might now double-down on foreign policy though given his party has lost control of Congress and not in a good way, more conflict than genuine peace initiatives.”
“It’s also been heartening to see a rainbow wave of gay, lesbian, and trans lawmakers getting elected and an understanding that with Democrats in charge of Congress and so many states, the roll back on rights will stall,” added Varadkar.
Former San Marino Captain Regent Paolo Rondelli speaks at the World Pride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam in Aug. 7, 2026. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement since the Trump-Vance administration took office in January 2025 has lost more than an estimated $50 million in funding because of foreign aid cuts, the dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other actions.
The Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down. A report that Outright International released in September notes 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since the Trump-Vance administration entered the White House.
“Outright International works in more than 80 countries, and governments and movements around the world are watching what the United States does next,” Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin told the Blade on Thursday. “Renewed U.S. engagement with the United Nations and a foreign policy that puts human rights into practice would make a difference far beyond U.S. borders. One early test will be whether Congress helps restore funding for HIV prevention and treatment, including for trans people, gay and bisexual men, and others who already face barriers to care.”
Gui Molhallem is the executive director of VoteLGBT (Institute for Full Citizenship), a group that seeks to increase LGBTQ and intersex representation in Brazilian politics.
They pointed out to the Blade that Congresswoman-elect Thabatta Pimenta, a trans woman from Rio Grande do Norte state in northeastern Brazil, is among the 35 LGBTQ candidates who won their respective races in their country’s Oct. 4 election. Incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election that took place on Oct. 25.
Molhallem said the U.S. election results for Brazilians “are a powerful reminder that the far right is not invincible, and that attacking LGBTQ+ people is not necessarily a winning electoral strategy.”
“Just weeks ago, Brazil elected a record 35 LGBTQ+ lawmakers,” they said. “Now, the U.S. has elected a record number of LGBTQ+ members of Congress. Across the Americas, we’re seeing something remarkable: our identities, once seen as political liabilities, are increasingly becoming electoral assets.”
“These victories also show that LGBTQ+ leaders can be unapologetically proud of who they are while building broad political coalitions around issues that affect everyone’s lives,” added Molhallem.
All Out Programs Director Mathias Wasik noted groups based in the U.S. for years “have exported anti-LGBT+ laws and talking points to Africa, Eastern Europe and beyond, selling the idea that America had turned against its LGBT+ citizens.”
“These (election) results tell a different story,” Wasik told the Blade. “American voters sent openly LGBT+ people to Congress, including the first openly gay man elected to the Senate. That matters to activists in Ghana, Uganda or Türkiye who are told that hostility toward LGBT+ people is the American way.”
Shadi Amin is the executive director of 6Rang | Iranian LGBT+ Network, an NGO that is incorporated in England and Wales. She told the Blade the U.S. election results are “truly historic.”
“Not only will the balance of power between political parties change, but the people representing Americans are also becoming much more diverse in terms of their backgrounds, sexual orientations, identities, and beliefs,” said Amin. “I think that’s incredibly important.”
Amin specifically celebrated Pappas’s election to the Senate, while adding she “would have loved to see a lesbian elected to such a position too.” (Baldwin has been in the U.S. Senate since 2013.)
“At the end of the day, as an Iranian, what matters most to me is that Americans can see the positive impact of their votes in their everyday lives and feel that their lives are getting better. We’re living through incredibly difficult times, and as an Iranian, I feel that very deeply,” said Amin. “But I also believe that now, more than ever, we need solidarity across borders and nationalities. We need a world where peace and security make it possible for people everywhere to live happy, fulfilling lives.”
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
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