Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, March 21, 2018

To the Arabs and Muslims on campus, keep the MomentUM going

REEMA KAAKARLI | OP-ED

I 

wasn’t able to put a name 
to 
my 
sexuality 
until 

my 
sophomore 
year 
of 

college. Before, I had always felt 
stuck between two labels that 
didn’t feel right. I was either 
heterosexual or a lesbian, and 
there could be no in between. I 
would develop a crush on a boy 
in one of my classes and think, 
“I’m cured! I’m normal! There’s 
no reason for me to worry!” Then 
I would find myself daydreaming 
about some female celebrity, and 
I would immediately question if 
all the feelings I had toward boys 
were actually fake, something I 
had forced upon myself in order 
to function in a heteronormative 
society. I remember once hearing 
a close friend’s mom say, “I can 
understand being gay, and I can 
understand being straight, but I 
don’t understand being bisexual. 
It’s so selfish — just pick a side!” It 
took meeting other bisexual folks 
for me to understand the way I 
experienced attraction wasn’t 
abnormal, it wasn’t me being a 
traitor to LGBTQ folks — it’s just 
who I am.

Janelle 
Monae 
recently 

released a single titled “Make Me 
Feel” and, along with it, a colorful, 
fun and undeniably bisexual 
music video. The first time I 
watched it, I felt myself rooting 
for Monae and Tessa Thompson 
to leave the bar, the setting of the 
video, together — thus confirming 
their relationship. I found the 
scene where Janelle Monae jumps 
between Tessa Thompson and a 
man — seemingly unable to decide 
between who she is most attracted 
to, finally choosing to dance with 
both of them — a bit awkward. 
But when I stopped thinking of 
the video as a story, and more 
as an allegorical representation 
of Monae’s sexuality, I began to 
really understand what I felt the 
artist was trying to convey. The 
scene where she jumps between 
Thompson and the man was a 
representation of her attempting 
to pick a gender, and when she 

finally gives up and just dances 
with the two of them, together, 
it’s a statement that she doesn’t 
have to pick one or the other. 
When the music video was over, 
I immediately sent it to one of 
my friends, someone who also 
identifies as bisexual, along with 
the message, “I feel so validated!”

Art, 
as 
a 
representation 

of life, is often used to help 
us understand ourselves and 
how we should structure our 
lives. Through film, music and 
other art forms, I had been 
convinced that a person could 
not be attracted to more than 
one gender — to be otherwise 
was an aberration. On film and 
TV, bisexuality was reserved 
for characters who were almost 
always 
female, 
generally 

unstable and promiscuous, and 
was often portrayed as a phase 
that would eventually end once 
the character found consistency. 
It was never presented as an 
actual, acceptable and long-term 
way of living out attraction.

Though 
bisexuality 
has 

existed in art for a while, in the 
past I have struggled to find my 
sexuality represented in ways 
more obvious than a subtle hint 
or a mispronounced pronoun. 
So, lately, I have been seeking 
out and appreciating art, created 
recently, 
that 
is 
explicitly 

bisexual. The character Ilana 
from “Broad City” is shown 
having 
relationships 
with 

people of all genders, and her 
long-term attraction to Lincoln 

isn’t seen as a statement of her 
heterosexuality, 
but 
instead 

just one relationship of which 
she happens to be a participant. 
Halsey, on her song “Bad At 
Love,” 
discusses 
her 
failed 

relationships with both men and 
women, and she also recorded 
a duet with Lauren Jauregui 
where they express their sexual 
interest in one another. And 
most recently, Monae’s “Make 
Me Feel” — sexy, vibrant and 
undeniably queer.

In the future, I hope to 

see more art that reflects the 
struggles and experiences of 
bisexuality in a way that is 
upfront and unabashed. I want 
to see more characters in TV and 
film who have relationships with 
people of more than one gender 
and are not asked to defend the 
decisions they make in their 
romantic lives. I want to hear 
more music that explores the 
nuances of being bisexual, and 
I want to see representations of 
people involved in long-term, 
monogamous 
relationships 

but 
who 
still 
identify 
as 

bisexual. Bisexual erasure is a 
real phenomenon, and unless 
there is a push to bring greater 
exposure to bisexuality, harmful 
narratives will continue to exist. 
I hope to see a day where young 
people don’t have to wait 19 years 
of their life to finally have the 
language to express themselves, 
and won’t ever feel the need to 
prove their sexuality.

When I experience art that 

is bisexual, I am reminded that 
though I live in a world that 
enjoys placing people into sharp 
and defined boxes, I can choose 
to exist in a place that is fluid and 
abstract. I can reject to make the 
decision that society is constantly 
asking me to, and as Cupcakke 
assures me in her song “LGBT,” 
“You ain’t gotta pick a side,” I can 
stay just where I am.

I

f you’re anything like me, 
you think Central Student 
Government 
election 

season at the University of 
Michigan is a nuisance at best. 
As a freshman, I had serious 
doubts about the ability of 
Central Student Government 
to 
accomplish 
anything 

meaningful or substantial, or 
if it could, then I had doubts as 
to whether Arab and Muslim 
voices would matter at all in 
that setting.

Just a few years ago, the 

Arab community on campus 
seemed fractured and invisible 
with no clear central authority 
to which we could address our 
concerns and aspirations, and 
no clear institutional support 
for improving student life in 
ways that narrowly affected 
our community. The Muslim 
community 
seemed 
only 

slightly better in these regards 
but was still relatively weak in 
its administrative ability to 
deal with rising incidences of 
Islamophobia. At that time, it 
was difficult to even imagine 
a place for inserting ourselves 
into important administrative 
conversations, as so few Arabs 
or Muslims were represented 
in CSG, and the ones that were 
present were known to have 
faced discriminatory remarks 
and subtle racism to get there.

Now, as a graduating senior, 

I have come to see the Arab 
and 
Muslim 
communities’ 

place on campus in a totally 
different light. These past two 
years especially, have seen 
important victories for us 
and it has become clear that 
administrations, 
including 

CSG, have begun to take our 
collective concerns seriously. 
In the past two years, CSG 
has uplifted the voices of 
historically 
marginalized 

Palestinian 
students, 

responded to ugly incidences 
of Islamophobia in reflection 
rooms, administered reforms 
and, crucially, has made the 
broader Arab community on 
campus more visible with the 
support for the implementation 
of a Middle Eastern/North 
African identity category on 
official University documents. 
This most recent resolution 

supported by CSG will help 
the 
ME/NA 
community 

going forward by providing 
pertinent 
demographic 

information on issues like 
retention 
and 
graduation 

rates, allocation of funding 
and bias incident reporting.

But these huge victories 

were not won alone. Our 
communities, 
both 
Arab 

and 
Muslim, 
have 
relied 

on 
our 
allies 
on 
campus 

to bring attention to our 
unique needs. And in this 
respect, Engineering junior 
A.J. Ashman and LSA junior 
Charlie 
Bingham 
must 
be 

thanked for their work and 
dedication. 
I 
didn’t 
know 

either of them then, but I saw 
and recognized their presence 
at the University Board of 
Regents meeting when the 
implementation of the ME/
NA box was being debated. 
I saw them proudly sporting 
#WeExist shirts, and they 
were present and supportive 
for the right reasons. Both 
Ashman and Bingham stood 
in solidarity, recognizing how 
minority 
experiences 
can 

often be detrimental to our 
collective feeling of belonging 
on campus. They were there 
for us even before either of 
them decided to run for office. 
Now, they have partnered 
to 
create 
the 
MomentUM 

campaign, highlighting issues 
like ours and similar issues for 
other minority communities, 
relying 
upon 
Arabs, 

Muslims and allies to build a 
comprehensive platform that 
speaks to our needs.

Representation 
matters, 

and 
this 
year’s 
slate 
of 

candidates 
with 
the 

MomentUM party are the 
most 
representative 
and 

diverse yet, including the 
most 
Arab 
and 
Muslim 

representatives to run with 
a party to date. It’s not 
enough that the candidates 
are demographically diverse. 
Indeed, these candidates are 
all 
incredibly 
passionate, 

competent 
and, 
most 

importantly, eager to continue 
making positive changes on 
our campus. What separates 
them from other candidates? 
The MomentUM team wants 
to center voices and concerns 
that affect communities on 
campus from both visible and 
invisible identities. In fact, 
The Daily’s CSG debate last 
Thursday 
highlighted 
how 

MomentUM alone addresses 
these 
issues. 
Every 
party 

mentioned 
the 
struggles 

of invisible identities, but 
only MomentUM candidates 
mentioned ME/NA students 
in particular. The ME/NA 
category was recorded for the 
first time in a CSG report, and 
it was Ashman who made that 
change to input that data in 
that report. In fact, Ashman 
specifically requested that 
CSG redo the survey just 
to make sure that data was 
available for analysis. Being 
included in the MomentUM 
campaign gives affirmation 
to their experiences while 
simultaneously 
uplifting 

them, 
especially 
for 

Arabs 
and 
Muslims 
who 

aren’t 
necessarily 
clearly 

identifiable as such but who 
nevertheless bear the brunt 
of 
anti-Arab 
racism 
and 

Islamophobia.

Now is our opportunity to 

elevate our communities by 
bringing them into the fold 
of 
University 
governance. 

CSG 
does 
affect 
student 

experiences whether we are 
aware or not, so it’s important 
that 
we 
understand 
the 

consequences of our votes. It’s 
time for Arabs and Muslims to 
keep the MomentUM going.

The importance of queer art

ELENA HUBBELL | OP-ED

Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz

Samantha Goldstein

Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan

Lucas Maiman

Magdalena Mihaylova

Ellery Rosenzweig

Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Alex Satola
Ali Safawi

 Ashley Zhang

DAYTON HARE

Managing Editor

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Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ALEXA ST. JOHN

Editor in Chief
 ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND 

ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors

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All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

D

emocrat Conor Lamb 
defeated 
Republican 

Rick Saccone in last 

week’s special election for the U.S. 
House seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th 
Congressional District, extending 
the Democratic Party’s winning 
streak and possibly offering a 
glimpse into the future electoral 
landscape a little more than seven 
months before the 2018 midterms.

Though the official results of 

the election are pending a final 
count, Lamb’s victory shook the 
political world and suggested 
that Republicans will have to 
withstand a massive Democratic 
wave this November if they are to 
retain their majorities in Congress.

This race received less media 

coverage than December’s special 
Senate 
election 
in 
Alabama, 

perhaps because the results have 
fewer immediate implications, 
with the GOP still claiming a large 
majority in the House despite 
the loss and the fact that Lamb 
will be up for reelection already 
in November.

While Doug Jones’s defeat 

of Roy Moore in Alabama’s 
Senate 
special 
election 
was 

more 
shocking, 
Lamb’s 

victory may have been more 
improbable. Lamb’s district was a 
conservative, reliably Republican 
district, 
and 
a 
district 
that 

President Donald Trump carried 
by 20 percentage points in 2016. 
Unlike Roy Moore’s candidacy, 
which was skewed by allegations 
of 
sexual 
assault, 
Saccone’s 

campaign avoided any serious 
scandal. 
And 
while 
Saccone 

wasn’t the strongest candidate, 
Republican-aligned super PACs 
poured millions of dollars into his 
campaign and he enjoyed the vocal 
support of Trump, Vice President 
Mike Pence and Congressional 
Republican leaders. In short, 
he should not have had any 
problem winning. Instead, he was 
defeated in a district so blatantly 
gerrymandered 
to 
benefit 

Republicans that it won’t even 
exist this November after the 
state Supreme Court ruled it had 
to be redrawn.

Lamb’s victory is ominous for 

Republicans. Democrats need to 

pick up 20 seats this November 
in order to retake the House, 
and there are 100 Republican-
held seats less conservative than 
this one. If districts like these 
are even somewhat competitive 
come Election Day, Democrats 
will almost assuredly take back 
the House and could do so by a 
large margin.

Republicans have rolled out 

several excuses in an effort to 
gloss over this loss. Some have 
pointed to polls that predicted 
a 4 to 6-point Lamb victory, 
claiming 
the 
close 
margin 

actually means that Saccone 
exceeded expectations, or that 
Trump, who campaigned for 
Saccone days prior to the election, 
nearly 
propelled 
Saccone 
to 

victory. These rationalizations 
are weak. Losing in a district 
that Trump won by 20 points 
cannot possibly be construed as 
exceeding expectations, unless 
Republicans 
have 
reconciled 

themselves to losing the House 
in spectacular fashion.

As for the idea that Trump 

somehow energized voters and 
boosted Saccone in the final 
days, it seems almost certain the 
president’s lackluster approval 
ratings contributed significantly 
to Saccone’s defeat. The election 
was not only a repudiation of 
Saccone, but also a repudiation of 
Trump. Saccone billed himself 
as “Trump before Trump was 
Trump,” so if Trumpism still 
appeals to the voters of the 18th 
district a year and a half removed 
from the 2016 election, Saccone 
should have won with ease. Even 
if Trump’s visit did mobilize 
some conservatives to turn out 
and vote, that does not negate the 
fact that Trump’s unpopularity 
has turned independents against 
him and invigorated his liberal 
opponents.

Others have tried to dismiss 

Lamb’s victory by claiming that he 
is actually a conservative, which is 
a rather specious argument. Lamb 
ran on a platform that supported 
universal health care, labor unions 
and legal medical marijuana, and 
opposed the GOP’s tax bill, cuts 
to Social Security and Trump’s 

border wall. Those are not 
conservative positions. Though 
Lamb is personally opposed to 
abortion and more centrist on 
gun control issues, he is pro-
choice on constitutional grounds 
(as are many Democrats) and 
supports stronger background 
checks on gun purchases. He 
is hardly the “pro-life, pro-gun 
conservative” that Paul Ryan 
tried to characterize him as after 
his victory.

From 
the 
Democratic 

perspective, 
Lamb’s 
victory 

underscores the fact that is there 
is no sole blueprint for success in 
these Congressional races. Jones 
won in Alabama on a solidly liberal 
platform. 
Lamb 
mixed 
both 

liberal and moderate positions 
to win in Pennsylvania. Though 
more moderate and more liberal 
Democratic candidates will surely 
clash in the primaries, this intra-
party conflict must stay contained 
to the primaries, and Democrats 
would be wise to embrace the 
ideological diversity within their 
party in their quest to retake the 
House. Lamb’s victory, coupled 
with a large number of retiring 
GOP incumbents, demonstrates 
that scores of House districts will 
be up for grabs in the fall. Even 
the Senate could be winnable if 
the cards fall just right.

Though it is easy to dismiss 

Lamb’s victory as an isolated and 
irrelevant event, it reflects deep 
voter dissatisfaction with the 
current balance of power that will 
indubitably influence the results of 
the 2018 midterms. Looking down 
the road, control of Congress 
will be critical to not only 
determining whether Trump 
can implement his legislative 
agenda but also determining 
the president’s fate if the special 
counsel, 
Robert 
Mueller’s 

investigation 
concludes 
that 

Trump colluded with Russia 
or obstructed justice. Given 
these implications, last week’s 
results in Pennsylvania should 
energize Democrats and alarm 
the Trump administration.

Lamb’s victory is a sign of what’s to come

NOAH HARRISON | COLUMN

CARLY BEHRENDT | CONTACT CARLY AT CARBEHR@UMICH.EDU

Noah Harrison can be reached at 

noahharr@umich.edu.

Elena Hubbell is a Senior Opinion 

Editor.

The MomentUM 
campaign gives 
gives affirmation 

to their 

experiences while 

simultaneously 
uplifting them.

Reema Kaakarli is an LSA senior.

In the future, I 
hope to see more 
art that reflects 
the struggles and 

experiences of 

bisexuality.

