Good News: Some States Passed Protections for Abortion Access, Marriage Equality, and More

— Them's news and politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Hot take: All hope is not yet lost.

Progressive causes suffered major setbacks in the 2024 U.S. elections, embodied in the victory of President-elect Donald Trump to a second term in the White House. But amid what pundits are calling a "red wave" for the GOP, there were also plenty of electoral victories for LGBTQ+ issues, rejections of far-right policies, and historic moments for representation in government. While the future may still look grim, here are some highlights from Tuesday night that demonstrate none of these fights are over yet.

Abortion protections pass in seven states

Two years after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturned Roe v Wade, ballot initiatives in 10 states sought to enshrine access to abortion through constitutional amendments. Voters approved those amendments in seven states on Tuesday night, providing bulwarks against legislative restrictions in the future (although those new amendments could still be overruled by a federal ban ).

Under the new amendments, abortion is legal until "fetal viability" — usually around 24 weeks — in Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York; that was already the case in Maryland, but voters chose to enshrine the current abortion law into the state constitution. Another amendment in Colorado also revoked a statewide ban on public funding for abortion care, and declared that the state "shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against" any person's absolute right to an abortion.

Though majority of voters in Florida also approved a pro-abortion ballot initiative, they did not meet the 60% vote threshold required to amend the state constitution. "The reality is because of Florida's constitution a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted," Yes on 4 campaign director Lauren Brenzel told the AP Tuesday night. "The reality is a majority of Floridians just voted to end Florida's abortion ban."

New York passes Equal Rights Amendment

In New York, the ballot initiative to protect abortion access will have much larger ramifications as well. The new amendment expands anti-discrimination protections to include ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, "including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy." While that language was controversial leading up to the election for lack of clarity and absence of the word "abortion," the amendment's passage — with a comfortable 62% of the vote — will also legally protect LGBTQ+ New Yorkers from discrimination by businesses or the state. As the New York State Bar Association noted earlier this year, the state constitution previously only carried such protections based on race and religion.

"This vote is a rejection of a regressive national movement to roll back our hard-won freedoms that has gained in other states," New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement Tuesday night. "New Yorkers resoundingly said 'hell no, not here' to abortion bans and attacks on immigrants and trans people."

Historic LGBTQ+ representation in legislatures at the state and federal level

Not every LGBTQ+ elected official is going to offer good representation — looking at you, George Santos — but to stand up to bigoted legislation, more is definitely better. LGBTQ+ candidates won several impactful races across the U.S. this week, increasing marginalized communities' ability to push back against harmful policies and bills. On the national level, Julie Johnson of Texas will be the first out LGBTQ+ person from the South to hold a seat in the Congress, Emily Randall of Washington will be the first out Latina woman in Congress, and Delaware's Sarah McBride will become Congress' first out trans member.

Several state legislatures will also reconvene with an LGBTQ+ member for the first time: Molly Cook won her race for the Texas Senate, while Aime Wichtendahl will be the first trans person to serve in the Iowa House of Representatives. In Georgia, Rashaun Kemp will be the first out gay Black man to serve in the legislature, and Keturah Herron was elected to the Kentucky state Senate, becoming the first out LGBTQ+ woman to do so. Gabby Salinas, who ran unopposed following her primary victory earlier this year, will also be both the first out LGBTQ+ woman and the first out Latinx person to serve in the Tennessee legislature.

Marriage equality protections pass easily in three states

Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii all approved ballot measures to enshrine marriage rights for same-sex partners this week, aiming to reinforce such protections in case the Supreme Court should overturn Obergefell v. Hodges . All three measures passed with over 60% of the vote .

Colorado's constitution will be amended to strike language limiting marriage to "only a union of one man and one woman," easing some fears for LGBTQ+ residents — some of whom have looked to the state as a refuge, particularly amid waves of anti-trans laws elsewhere. Hawaii's measure also reverses a ban on same-sex marriage, and California's will finally repeal the infamous "Prop 8" marriage ban, which was declared unconstitutional over a decade ago but still exists in state law as "zombie text" advocates feared would have been triggered by a repeal of Obergefell. (The Campaign for Children and Families, the conservative group that originally pushed for Prop 8, spent over $35,000 on propaganda ads claiming that this year's amendment would "functionally legalize child brides," "incestuous marriages," "polygamy," and "bigamy," per reporting by CalMatters .)

These LGBTQ\+ Candidates Made History on Election Night 2024

In both blue and red states, queer and trans candidates set new precedents for political representation.

Florida voters push back against the DeSantis agenda

On this year's Florida ballots, voters failed to approve a measure that would have made school board elections partisan by requiring candidates to disclose their party affiliation. The measure was widely endorsed by Republican officials and the state GOP, as Florida Today noted, with opposition from a range of advocacy groups including the Florida Education Association (FEA), the Florida NAACP, and others. The measure needed a supermajority of 60% or higher to pass, but only 54% of voters approved.

"By rejecting Amendment 1, voters sent a clear message to politicians who want to infuse politics into our classrooms — students should always be our number one focus," said FEA president Andrew Spar in a statement this week. Spar also lauded numerous local votes in favor of increased school funding and victories for board candidates who support public education.

The Florida electorate also reinstated Monique Worrell as Orlando state attorney, a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed her from office in what Worrell called a "political hit job." Worrell captured 57% of the vote against opponent Andrew Bain, a member of the right-wing Federalist Society appointed to office by DeSantis. However, voters did not reelect Andrew Warren as state attorney in Tampa, who DeSantis also removed from office in 2022. A federal judge ruled last year that DeSantis improperly removed Warren from office, but that the court did not have the authority to reinstate him. Whether DeSantis will try the same stunt with Worrell twice remains to be seen.

Get the best of what's queer. 's weekly newsletter here.