Hello, and welcome to episode 38 of The Spectrum. This was recorded on March 27, 2026. Today we’re going to be talking about the possible Virginia redistricting and how it impacts the LGBTQ community, not just in Virginia but nationally.

Early voting is happening now and the polls close on April 21, 2026. I’ve already voted and I voted “yes”. If you watched episode 22 you are aware of how I think gerrymandering is evil and that I’m not a fan of political parties. Yet, I voted “yes” for a purely partisan gerrymander. Am I a hypocrite? Have I deluded myself into doing something that goes against my principles? I think the answer to both of those questions is “no” and this episode is going to look into my reasoning. If you hold views similar to mine, this might be helpful in deciding what is right for you. And, if you think voting “no” is the right answer, then maybe this will give you some food for thought. I’m not here to tell you how to vote but only to present my thought process. I hope it’s helpful.

First, let me be very clear: gerrymandering is not good. The Supreme Court says that partisan gerrymandering is fine but other types of gerrymandering like on the basis of race aren’t. I think they are wrong. Both seek to disenfranchise voters and that’s a bad thing and I think it’s an unconstitutional thing but they are the ones that interpret the constitution and so these are the rules we are using until saner heads prevail.

Given that this is the world we live in and given that one political party is perfectly content to go ahead and try to make a power grab through gerrymandering and given that I think this party is bad for the country and especially bad for people like me who are part of the LGBTQ community, then it doesn’t take much of a leap to rail against their gerrymandering. But, I can yell about it until I’m blue in the face. When the Supreme Court says it’s fine, all that will happen is the Republican Party will gain seats and I’ll get laryngitis.

In 2025, Donald Trump called for Republican controlled states to do an out-of-cycle redistricting to try to gain seats in the House. He did this because he knows the party in power tends to lose seats in the midterms and he knows his policies are unpopular. It is a blatant attempt to hold on to power to which the Republican Party is not entitled. There is no doubt as to his motivation for this as he said it directly. He thinks the Republican Party is entitled to extra seats.

How can one fight this when the Supreme Court says it’s ok? The only method I know that works on the near term is to fight fire with fire. And it’s the near term that matters because if the Republicans succeed in the near term there may not be another chance, not for a long time, if they can rig the districts to all but ensure they remain in power. And, gerrymandering can be extremely effective.

And, so Virginia and other a few other states controlled by Democratic officials are trying to fight back to offset what Republicans in Texas and North Carolina and others are doing. Yes, it makes it much harder for a Republican to get elected to the House in Virginia but it helps to ensure that non-MAGA voters throughout the country get some representation.. 

This is not an ideal situation and maybe it will wake the country up to the need to eliminate gerrymandering and to the problems with our political system where politicians are more responsive to their party leaders than their constituents . I didn’t gleefully vote for this change. I held my nose and did it because it had to be done.

The difference between Virginia and places like Texas is that voters are being given the choice. The Texas legislature forced it on Texas voters and the same is true for other places. But, here in Virginia like in California, voters are being given a choice and my choice to try to offset politicians putting their thumbs on the scale with another thumb on the other side of the scale. It is making the best of a bad situation but it is necessary.

So, if you are reading or listening to people telling you this is wrong and that Virginia should “take the high road” on gerrymandering, ask who they are representing. Ask them where they were when Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida politicians redrew their maps to try to pick up seats? I know exactly where they were. They were sitting on their hands and saying, “yep, sounds good to me”. It is only when a Democratically controlled state tries to fight back that they say, “Gerrymandering is bad. Don’t do it!”. These are the real hypocrites. I’m being completely up front about why I voted the way I did and why I felt I had to vote against my own principles. It stinks but it was necessary because I didn’t see another option.

Some have said that Republican voters in Virginia will no longer have any representation except in the far southwest corner of the state. But, let’s face reality. My current congressman, Ben Cline isn’t representing anyone now. He won’t hold a town hall because he’s afraid to face the people he’s supposed to be working for and this is an area with a majority of Republican voters. Who is he representing? So far as I can tel, he’s only representing Trump. 

Ultimately, even though this is a vote that Virginians must make, it is a national issue and money is pouring into advertising from all over the country here. The question is can Virginia help to offset the power grab being made in four other states? I hope it can because the stakes for the LGBTQ community are even higher than the already high stakes for the rest of the population.

The Trump administration has made transgender people a primary target along with immigrants. Their goal is to make it impossible for society to even admit that transgender people are real. They’ve made real progress on this goal. Ask any transgender person that has needed to apply for a passport. Many Republican controlled states have made life much more difficult for trans people. If the Trump gerrymander succeeds, this will only get worse at the Federal level because there will be fewer in Congress that oppose them.

This is just the tip of the Project 2025 anti-LGBTQ spear. Marriage equality is still under attack and a larger Republican majority in the House will only feed those efforts.

So, yeah, it’s in my own self interest to vote “yes” on redistricting. But, it’s also in your interest even if you aren’t a member of the LGBTQ community or care about someone who is. If you care about about reproductive autonomy, it’s in your self interest to vote yes. If you care about putting a check on politicians who won’t stand up to a president who starts a war to distract people from his deep association with a convicted pedophile, then it’s in your self interest to vote “yes”. If you care about a President who campaigns on $2 a gallon gas and then starts a war that raises the price to $4 a gallon and doesn’t care about how that will affect people then voting “yes” makes sense. If you care about healthcare costs and watched your premiums skyrocket this year because a Republican controlled Congress didn’t care who they hurt so long as they could undo something done by a Democrat then it makes sense to vote “yes”.

That’s why I voted “yes” for a gerrymander. The Supreme Court says it’s ok and while I may disagree, it’s the best tool we have to prevent unchecked power from ruining our lives. I’d love to read your thoughts in the YouTube comments. What do you think is the right thing for Virginians to do?

Thanks for taking the time to listen to this and I hope it helps you make up your own mind. 

This podcast is focused on trying to humanize the live of LGBTQ people for the wider community and that takes us into a variety of subjects and that makes it harder for YouTube to know who to show it to. You can help YouTube figure out who the audience is by liking and subscribing. I hate to be that person on YouTube but it really does make a difference.

Until next time, take care.