
Record homelessness, LGBTQ progress, BIPOC exclusion
Homelessness hits record high nationwide
• The lack of affordable housing is the biggest reason why homelessness increased by a record 18.1 percent from January 2023 to January 2024, says a new report.
• Housing costs grew 18 percent from 2020 to 2024, noted the report (National Alliance to End Homelessness). The country is more than 7 million units short of meeting affordable housing need.
• More than 31 percent of people experiencing homelessness are Black.
• In Illinois, homelessness grew by 116 percent, with the city of Chicago accounting for almost all of that increase (Fox 32 Chicago).
• In Iowa, homelessness decreased by less than 1 percent, according to the report.
LGBTQ progress during Biden/Harris, in Congress, and for veterans
• A list of 13 achievements on behalf of LGBTQ people listed by the Biden/Harris White House last week includes federal protection for marriage equality, ending a ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men, and creating a position that helped explain to the public the damage of book bans. The release touts the Biden/Harris administration’s tenure from 2021 to 2025 as “the most pro-equality Administration in American history.”
• This year is a record-setter for LGBTQ+ representation in Congress, with the greatest number of openly LGBTQ+ Representatives ever (13), reports WJBD. The newly elected representatives include the first-ever openly transgender member of Congress (Delaware’s Sarah McBride), the first-ever LGBTQ+ representative from a southern state (Texas’s Julie Johnson), and the first LGBTQ Latina in Congress (Washington state’s Emily Randall).
• More than 35,000 gay and lesbian veterans are likely to finally have a chance to clean their records of “dishonorable” or “less than honorable” discharges they received because of their sexuality during the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” era (CBS News). A simple streamlined process will now be provided by the Pentagon. Prior to the settlement, only about 1,375 LGBTQ veterans discharged because of their sexuality had a record correction.
People of color in Congress less visible in Congress, excluded from voter rolls, overlooked when missing
• Fewer members of Congress (116) are people of color this year than last (120), reports AOL. Last year was also a record-setting year for BIPOC representation in Congress.
• An estimated 25 million voters of color nationwide are likely excluded from voter lists often used to engage and educate voters (MSN). Often, those voters have moved and did not receive notices to register anew to vote in their new locations. They are then removed from lists that political campaigns use for mailings and to encourage voter turnout.
• The Gabby Pettito Foundation is named after a white woman, but is devoted to the cause of better publicizing the relatively higher percentage of missing people that are brown or Black. CNN says the foundation, formed by the father of a young white woman whose disappearance and eventual death in 2022 captivated the nation, is working closely with the Black and Missing Foundation. More than one-third of people reported missing are Black, says the FBI — more than twice the percentage of the general population that is Black. In addition, white people account for more than half of missing person reports.

Competing Iowa poll results / Overdose deaths among Blacks, Native Americans / Cannabis legalization / Election night expectations
Two Iowa poll results give the state to Harris, Trump
One political poll says Harris will win Iowa for president 47 percent to Trump’s 44. Another says Trump is likely to take Iowa, 44 percent to 34 for Harris. What gives, and why does it matter?
• It’s the Selzer poll that shocked the political world over the weekend with data showing Harris is likely to win the state’s electoral college votes. Pollster Ann Selzer is known for, among other things, accurately predicting Barack Obama’s victory over Hillary Cinton in the state’s 2008 Democratic presidential caucuses.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at a Glendale, Az., rally in August. (photo courtesy Gage Skidmore through Wikimedia Commons)
• The Emerson College Poll, by contrast, is calling Iowa 44-34 for Trump thus far.
• How are these two polls different, or the same? Here’s just a peek: Both polled about the same number of Iowans (Selzer polled 808 Iowans, and Emerson polled 800). Selzer’s poll took place Oct. 28-31; Emerson’s poll happened Nov. 1-2.
• Iowa is significant not because of its six electoral college votes, but because its generally attentive and active electorate and sizable independent voter bloc is considered a “bellwether” for similar voters nationwide.
• In related Harris/Trump news: Harris’s surprise cameo on Saturday Night Live melted the hearts of supporters, but also led to NBC providing Donald Trump equivalent on-air time the next day. NBC filed a notice of “equal time” required under national election laws, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) leader noted on social media that Harris’s SNL appearance may have violated the FCC’s equal time requirement
Millions of people have yet to vote on Election Day
Despite a big year of early voting thus far, with more than 79 million already casting their ballots as of Monday, almost half of the country’s likely voters will cast their ballots on Election Day.
• Altogether, more than 220 million Americans are registered to vote, and about 160 million of them (66 percent) are expected to participate in the election.
• This year’s early vote totals will not surpass 2020’s total of 120 million but will surpass 2012’s total of about 46 million and 2016’s early vote total of about 58 million.

Donald Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr., and J.D. Vance at this year’s 9-11 Remembrance Ceremony in New York City. (photo courtesy DHS.gov through Wikimedia Commons)
What to expect Election Night: Trump will appear to lead early on
Only after early voting ballots are counted in battle ground states including Pennsylvania will the winner be fully known. That is likely to be one to five days after Election Day, reports CBS News.
• The earliest polls to close, at around 7 p.m. CST, are red states. blue California with is 79 electoral votes certain to go to Harris will close at around 10 p.m. CST. It’s unlikely all categories of voting — early voting, absentee/by mail and in-person — will be fully counted by the time Tuesday ends.
• A call on who has won the election is not anticipated until days later. Key “battleground” states to watch — those too close to call — include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
• CNN.com offers an hour-by-hour walk-through here of which states close their polls when, with how many electoral votes, and which way they lean.
Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, Republican-controlled House may switch Tuesday
One Congressional race in Illinois, and two in Iowa, may help determine whether the federal House and Senate trade off partisan dominance.
• The U.S. Senate, currently 51-49 in favor of Democrats, is largely expected to flip over to Republicans.
• A key race to watch involves Quad Cities native and notoriously pro-Trump Republican Kari Lake, facing off against Democratic Ruben Gallegos in Arizona.

Cong. Eric Sorensen, D-17th District, faces a strong challenge from Republican Joe McGraw in a district that spans from the Quad Cities to Rockford. (Photo courtesy U.S. House of Representatives, Wikimedia Commons)
• The House, or Congress, may possibly go to Democratic control after just two years of 220-212 Republican dominance. One race to watch: Eric Sorensen (D) versus Joe McGraw (R) in the 17th Congressional District that includes the Quad Cities to Rockford.
• Two other Congressional races to watch: Democrat Christine Bohannon strives to unseat Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks in eastern Iowa, and Lalon Baccam challenges Republican Zach Nunn in central Iowa.
Cannabis legalization on ballot in four states
Of the four states where citizens will vote on cannabis legalization, three are near Iowa.
• South Dakota and North Dakota, both of which already allow medical marijuana, will vote whether to allow recreational cannabis.
• Nebraska, to Iowa’s southwest, will vote whether to allow medical marijuana.
• Florida is the fourth state where marijuana is on the ballot, with a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.
Overdose rates rising among Blacks, Native Americans despite dropping among whites
Blacks and Native Americans experienced a spike in overdose deaths during the same years that overdose deaths among whites dropped significantly, says a new study by Stateline.org.
• Almost 5,000 more people of color died from overdoses in 2023 than in 2021. During the same time period, deaths among whites dropped by 6,000.
• The overall death rate for whites dropped below 25.9, while the rate for Blacks rose to almost 50 out of 100,000, and the rate for Native Americans rose to almost 40 per 100,000.
• Experts say People of Color in general have less access to substance use treatment than white people.
• Among Blacks, men over 55 are hardest hit by drug overdose deaths, largely because of economic hardship and lack of safety nets during the pandemic.
• Native American deaths are likely undercounted because Native Americans are more often misidentified on death certificates.
• Overdose death rates are also increasing among Hispanics and Asians, though not as steeply.

HIV and the military / Police use of force / AME and gay marriage / cannabis and presidential candidates
The military and HIV
The military can no longer reject enrollees who have HIV, a federal judge ruled this week. (Infectious Disease Advisor).
- The same federal judge in 2022 ended the military’s ban on HIV-positive people deploying abroad.
- U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema called the ban “irrational, arbitrary, and capricious.” (Military Times)
- The ruling was in a case brought by Isaiah Wilkins, a Georgia enlisted officer who sued the military in 2022 for reinstatement, after being kicked out because of his HIV diagnosis.
- The judge’s ruling states that people who are HIV-positive can fully serve in the military as long as their viral load is undetectable.
Police use of force
Even since the summer of 2020, when worldwide protests erupted over the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, police use of force has continued to increase nationwide. (Guardian)
- Half of the 634 agencies featured in the report showed increased police use of force since 2020.
- The report by Mapping Police Violence involves use-of-force data from 2,800 agencies that serve about 60% of the population, with only 634 agencies providing data for all of 2017 to 2022.
- Thus far in 2024, police have killed a total of 902 people — 57 more people this year than last year at this time.
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and Blacks, are three times or more likely to be killed by police than whites.
- The number of people shot to death by police has increased every year since 2017. (Statista)
AME still against gay marriage
In a vote last week, the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) denomination voted against a new rule that would end its 20-year ban on gay marriage.
- The vote was close, with 896 delegates voting to delete an amendment that would have ended the gay marriage ban, and 772 voting against deletion of the amendment. (Christian Post)
- The AME church’s guidelines say that “unions of any kind between persons of the same sex or gender are contrary to the will of God.”
- The ban dates back to 2004, when the AME explicitly forbade its ordained ministers from blessing same-sex unions.
- A study by Pew Research Center indicates just over half of AME members polled are strongly against gay marriage.
- Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, thanked the A.M.E. for its endorsement on the same day of its vote to retain its gay marriage ban.
Both presidential candidates now support legalization
Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are now on record in support of cannabis legalization.
- Trump announced last weekend he planned to vote in support of recreational cannabis this November in his home state of Florida. (Reason Magazine)
- Though Harris used to oppose legalization while California attorney general, she announced her support for legalization in 2020 while a U.S. senator. (USA Today)
- Related: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced last week that a hearing on rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 drug won’t happen until Dec. 2.
- Related: cannabis stocks dropped by up to 13 percent last week upon word of the delay.
National and World Briefs is a periodic summary of pivotal news, curated by The Real Mainstream based on our mission of improving the quality of discourse about and among marginalized identities. Email suggested news briefs, with links, to reachus@therealmainstream.com.

Encouraging signs about abortion access // How labels affect LGBTQ people
Is it all bad news about abortion access? No. Also, learn about how labels are affecting LGBTQ people at the doctor’s office, in church, and through artificial intelligence.
Encouraging signs about abortion access

Sen. Elizabeth Warren leads a protest against the April 2023 Texas court ruling that sought to limit access to mifepristone.
- With the U.S. Supreme Court set to decide soon if it should restrict the mailing of abortion medication like Plan B, about half of Americans say “no.”
- So far, comments from seven of the nine Supreme Court justices – including three conservative ones – indicate they’re leaning away from stopping mifeprestone from being mailed to patients.
- Even in Florida, where the state supreme court just allowed a six-week ban, there’s a bit of good news: that same court said voters will be able to vote in November on whether abortion is a constitutional right.
How LGBTQ people are affected by labels, and other news
- For two meetings in a row, the Iowa City City Council in eastern Iowa has heard from a group asking for the highly liberal city of 65,000 to declare itself a “sanctuary city” for transgender people, where the state’s laws regarding transgender people would no longer be enforced. Sacramento, Calif., became one last week.
- The group says they’re asking for protection from laws like the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday. The One Iowa activist group has led a campaign to label the law, which restricts governments from infringing on religious rights, as “anti-LGBTQ.”

President Bill Clinton is surrounded by a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers as he signs the original Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993.
- Speaking of labeling …. Almost half of those who have left churches say it’s because of their church’s negative teachings about LGBTQ people.
- Speaking more about labelling: the way doctors label LGBTQ people might be leading to a more difficult experience during medical visits. More than 40 percent of LGBTQ people feel their doctors make assumptions about them.
- One more note on labelling: it’s affecting artificial intelligence, no surprise. A group called Queer in AI has found artificial intelligence portrays LGBTQ people through stereotypes like stern lesbians, tight-muscled gay men, sexualized transgender women, suit-and-tie-wearing transgender men, and purple-haired nonbinary people.