From left Don Laikowski is seated next to his sister, Tracy Brown, and her friend, Chris, who didn’t give his last name, at the Garage, a gay bar in central Las Vegas, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 | 2 a.m.
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She sipped a Bud Light. He nursed a Stella Artois.
She voted for Hillary Clinton. He voted for Donald Trump.
She’s gay. He’s straight.
They’re also siblings, divided by politics but bonded by blood. And so after a dramatic Donald Trump victory, Tracy Brown and Don Laikowski sat elbow to elbow Wednesday afternoon inside The Garage, a gay bar in central Las Vegas, where they mused and often bantered about the nation’s future.
“This is why I came here — because Trump is president,” Brown, 44, said. “I needed to drink.”
The urge to grab a cold brew started after one of Brown’s evangelical relatives instructed her to review the definition of marriage, insinuating in not-so-subtle terms that it should be between a man and woman only. The comment felt like salt in the wound to Brown, who was already worried what a Trump presidency might mean for LGBT rights.
After all, Trump earlier this year said that he would “strongly consider” pursuing remedies to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage. He then appeared to soften regarding LGBT rights toward the end of his campaign, smiling broadly and hoisting a rainbow flag at a Colorado rally. But his chosen vice president, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has passionately opposed legislation granting equal rights to the LGBT community
Policy ramifications aside, will Trump and Pence’s views have a trickle-down effect, numbing any societal progress the LGBT movement has made in recent years?
Brown said yes: “I think Trump gave racist groups power to discriminate more. They’ll feel more comfortable calling me a (gay slur) or something.”
Her brother shook his head no: “I’d hate to see that because that’s just not us.”
Their emotionally strained conversation exposed, on a small level, the competing interests that have divided the nation over the course of this election cycle. In their case, it’s social rights versus the status quo.
“I’m just tired of the crap,” Laikowski, 49, said. “I’m tired of Washington.”
A registered Republican but also an LGBT ally, Laikowski said he voted for the candidate he thought could improve job creation, secure the nation and improve education.
His sister, who came out to her family years ago and yearns to one day marry, struggled to understand her brother’s Trump vote.
“It’s not him against us,” Laikowski told her. “He works for us.”
It wasn’t enough to soothe Brown’s nerves. “The Republicans have control of the White House. Now they’re going to have control of the Supreme Court,” she said.
Her roommate and friend, Chris, who declined to give his last name because his employer doesn’t know he’s gay, called the election results disturbing. Chris also voted for Clinton. But he left open the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the Trump-Pence administration won’t be as apocalyptic for social issues like LGBT rights as some have suggested.
“I’m hopeful,” he said. “I’m not against change. I’m afraid of the unknown.”
The nation will know more in 75 days when the new regime enters office. In the meantime, the (mostly) friendly political discord between Brown and Laikowski seems poised to continue.
They had dinner plans with their mother Wednesday night.
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