Running for office while LGBTQ+ increasingly means preparing for violence

Harassment, intimidation, and political violence have become defining features of LGBTQ+ campaigns across the United States. Threats reach candidates through direct messages, voicemails, comment sections, and emails, and sometimes extend to following candidates home. Many candidates report being photographed, stalked online, shoved during canvassing, or subjected to threats of sexual violence against children. A national survey of 215 LGBTQ+ candidates running between 2023 and 2025 across 42 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. found widespread fear of harassment and physical violence. Nearly two-thirds reported in-person harassment, almost eight in 10 reported online abuse, and one in three reported online death threats.

"Those fears were often realized. Nearly two-thirds of respondents experienced in-person harassment during campaigns. Almost eight in 10 encountered online abuse. One in three candidates reported receiving online death threats. Political violence has increasingly become a feature of American public life, touching judges, lawmakers, elec"

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