A leading political voice of Buffalo’s LGBTQ+ community has elected a new president. After spending most of the past two decades working behind the scenes in Erie County politics, Erich Weyant has taken over the reigns of The Stonewall Democrats of Western New York at a critical time.
“For about 14 years, attitudes towards the community were improving faster than almost any other social bias,” said Weyant. “We won enormous victories, but those victories were really predicated on a culture that was becoming more accepting. But now, especially in the era of the second Trump administration and how hostile the federal government has become to the community, we can't always assume that that foundation will be there.”
While the local LGBTQ+ community has strong health, cultural, and social organizations, Weyant is looking to lead the Stonewall Democrats to a place where, as a political organization, community members can better understand how to use their votes to build power themselves. It’s a matter, said Weyant, of building engagement, which has waned after the exhausting, decades-long fight for marriage equality in New York and COVID.
“I think it just needs a bit of an attitude shift,” said Weyant. “You don’t take a victory lap and then go home and rest.”
Especially with uncertainty at the national level, he feels more has to be done to maintain and expand those hard-fought wins on the local and state level.
“What we need to do next is start getting more folks elected to office. We don’t just want seats at the table. We want to be at the table, making those decisions,” said Weyant.
Among those who’ll take those seats are some younger people, who might not remember a time when LGBTQ+ voices were heard. Weyant said that’s not only a good thing, but it’s what motivates him in this new leadership role.
“It's a real opportunity for us to listen to the younger folks and what they think that we could be doing differently,” said Weyant. He’s working to create an organization that will outlast him and leave something sustainable.
And that work is being done. The Stonewall Democrats of Western New York has filed as a 501c4 — a tax-exempt, social welfare organization. They will soon be registering a Political Action Committee as well. The local group is also taking on more of an active role with The Human Rights Campaign, which is focused more on federal politics.
There’s plenty on his plate, and Weyant said he has been getting ready for this moment for a long time.
“Even before my political life, back in the early '90s, I was pretty heavily involved with getting Buffalo State's LGBTQ organization off the ground. We got folks to the March on Washington in 1993,” said Weyant, who has spent most of the past 20 years as an insider and an operative but remained in touch with those activist roots.
“When it comes to standing up for the community, and frankly, standing up for myself, I'm going to bring it if folks want to engage.”
