Dear John,

Vote ([link removed]) and then help someone else vote ([link removed]) .

The Williams Institute is strictly non-partisan. In this election, based squarely on our institutional mission, we are urging you to vote.

For the next five days, we will be participating in the UCLA Law Public Service Challenge, which includes suspending our regular workday on November 3 so that we can vote and engage in public service work. We encourage you to join us by voting and considering pursuing one of the many opportunities on the challenge website ([link removed]) .
* Vote because the LGBTQ vote ([link removed]) matters: there are 9 million LGBT voters in the United States.

* Vote because some in our community may not be able to. States across the country have laws that create barriers to voting for transgender people ([link removed]) . Of the nearly 1 million transgender people who are eligible vote, over 40% do not have IDs that match their correct name or gender.

* Voter suppression efforts ([link removed]) also disproportionately impact LGBTQ people who are People of Color, disabled, low income, young, and old. Over one-third of LGBTQ voters ([link removed]) are Black or Latinx.

* Vote because the Williams Institute is premised on having democratically elected representatives who will be responsive to research. Bipartisan state legislatures have relied on our research to pass laws to end the gay and trans panic defense, ([link removed]) ban conversion therapy ([link removed]) , and decriminalize HIV ([link removed]) . Congress relied upon Williams Institute research ([link removed]) in its bipartisan decision to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. ([link removed])

* Vote because the Williams Institute is premised on having judges who will be responsive to facts. Our work depends on judges like Justice Kennedy who wrote in Lawrence v. Texas ([link removed]) that the “Court's obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate its own moral code,” and who also cited Williams Institute research ([link removed]) when recognizing that denying marriage to same-sex couples harmed tens of thousands of children:

As all parties agree, many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted. And hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples. See Brief for Gary J. Gates as Amicus Curiae 4.
The Williams Institute has always been and remains strictly non-partisan. Our mission is to do rigorous research that has a real-world impact. Our mission is not possible when decision-makers ignore facts, but attack research and researchers, science and scientists, academic freedom, and responsible journalism.

LGBTQ equality should not be a partisan issue. That day will only arrive in a functioning democracy where LGBTQ people and our allies vote.

As election day nears, we urge you to get out and vote.

Thank you,
Brad Sears
Interim Executive Director

Chuck Williams
Founder of the Williams Institute

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