Alberta referendum results . Last night, overwhelmingly, Albertans chose to remain in Canada and rejected a second referendum (75% supported Remain). However, a thin majority of Albertans supported 8 of 9 other referendum questions, as Premier Danielle Smith had hoped.

Questions 1-5 were anti-immigrant proposals (e.g. denying services) Question 6 called for provinces to appoint judges Question 7 called for abolition of the federal Senate Question 8 (rejected): called for reduced federal control over health and education spending Question 9 was a vague but menacing call for "working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to better protect provincial rights from federal interference by giving a province's laws dealing with provincial or shared areas of constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws" Question 10 (rejected) called for a second referendum on Alberta sovereignty "Those discussions about immigration don't take into account First Nations and the unique position that we're in." Samuel Crowfoot, Chief of Siksika Nation. Treaty rights predate the existence of Alberta. American interference ("divide and conquer, baby") seems to have been ultimately ineffective.

Advocates for Trans Equality has a great slate of candidates running for office. Each of these leaders has demonstrated a deep commitment to the rights and well-being of the transgender community. With 5 federal candidates and dozens of state and local candidates in states as diverse as Massachusetts, California, Utah, Indiana, and Georgia, this list has something for everyone. If you're looking for a little inspiration, or a candidate you can support with some door-knocking or a donation, this list is for you.

Want more? The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is devoted to electing pro-equality, pro-choice LGBTQ+ leaders to public office at every level. Their massive list lets you filter candidates by office level, state, and party. (Choose Republican and get "There are no candidates at this time. Please check back later.") The Washington Blade has mini-profiles on the LGBTQ candidates running for U.S. House and Senate. Pop quiz: What's the biggest caucus in the House of Representatives? If you guessed the famous Freedom Caucus, or even the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, or the Congressional Black Caucus, guess again:

At the beginning of the 119th Congress, the Congressional Equality Caucus is the largest* caucus in the United States House of Representatives with 191 members, the most the caucus has ever started a Congress with. In the 118th Congress, the Equality Caucus had a peak membership of 195.

(There are 214 Democrats in the House. 191 of them belong to the Equality Caucus.) The mission of the caucus is to work for LGBTQI+ rights. The caucus is chaired by the most senior openly LGBTQ member of Congress and co-chaired by the other openly-LGBTQ members of the House of Representatives. Membership is open to any member of Congress who is willing to advance LGBTQI+ rights. Caucus co-chair Becca Balint talks about what the Equality Caucus can achieve if Democrats take the House, even with a hostile president: Rep. Becca Balint says Dems can slow Trump's anti-trans warfare. But first they must win midterms. LGBTQ Nation, Faefyx Collington This post was inspired by someone who recently received an unwanted check from the government and thought donating to pro-trans rights Democrats would be a fitting use for the money. I hope these links are helpful to any MeFites finding themselves with an unpleasant partisan windfall they'd prefer not to keep. The length of this post was inspired by my admiration for so many wonderful posts by kliuless. This post is dedicated to fabulous MeFite mephron, and also to my personal hero, Montana State Representative Zooey Zephyr. (I have mentioned on MetaFilter that when I'm obsessing about the current horrorshow, I try to steer my thoughts to people who are doing the work to make the world better. Zooey Zephyr is in my thoughts a LOT.) * Some numbers: The Democratic Caucus has 214 members. The Congressional Equality Caucus has 191 members. The New Democrat Coalition has 112 members. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has 99 members (in the House, plus 1 in the Senate). The Congressional Black Caucus has 54 members (in the House, plus 4 in the Senate). The Problem Solvers Caucus has 48 members (26 Democrats). The Freedom Caucus has 31 members (all Republicans; at least 6 will be gone next year).