As an openly gay hip-hop artist for over 10 years, I thought Frank Ocean was old news. Gay, lesbian, bi and trans rappers have been openly rocking the mic for nearly two decades now. Starting in 1997 with the formation of hip-hop collective the Rainbow Flava crew, the long and brave history of homo-hop has brought to us to new artists like Le1f and Zebra Katz.

As we examine the fall-out from the re-election of Barack Obama, one thing is certain – American politics is a much more gay friendly place.

In Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin has voted in its first ever openly gay senator. An additional three gay men have joined the house of representatives and, more encouraging still, the approval of ballot initiatives means that gay people can get married in a further three states. While there’s work still to be done, the foundation for further advances in LGBT equality looks more solid than ever.

Wisconsin State Assemblyman Mark Pocan has won a seat in the US House of Representatives and made a little bit of history along the way.

Pocan, who is openly gay, succeeds Tammy Baldwin in the US lower house just as he had in the State Assembly. This marks the first time that one gay legislature follows another for the same seat. Baldwin on Tuesday (6 November) became the first openly gay member of the US Senate.

Pocan, 48, defeated Republican challenger Chad Lee in an electoral district that has been reliably Democratic in the past.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin made history Tuesday (6 November) by becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to the US Senate.

Baldwin, who has represented Wisconsin in the US House of Representatives for seven terms, defeated Republican Tommy Thompson who is opposed to gay marriage. She replaces retiring Democrat Herb Kohl in the Senate.

'I am honored and humbled and grateful, and I am ready to get to work - ready to stand with Barack Obama, and ready to fight for Wisconsin's middle class,' Baldwin told supporters at her victory party.'

Rep. Tammy Baldwin is in a close race for the Wisconsin Senate seat. As reported by The National Journal, the Democratic candidate is leading former Gov. Tommy Thompson 49 percent to 45 in the Midwestern state.

A record number of gays and lesbians are seeking seats in the US Congress and a surge of positive encouragement has followed.

Of the four openly gay members of Congress, the two longest-serving stalwarts are leaving their seats and their activist admirers are excited about a large number of gays hoping to win them and make history.

Now it all comes down to election day on 6 November.

The Obama campaign has blasted Republican vice-president nominee Paul Ryan for his gay rights record.

When US president nominee Mitt Romney accidentally introduced Wisconsin representative Ryan as ‘the next president of the United States’ yesterday (11 August), the Democratic campaign were quick to criticize the social and economic conservative.

‘Every now and then I’m known to make a mistake,’ said Romney. ‘I did not make a mistake with this guy.’

In the 1990s, when he was a congressman in the House of Representatives, Tom Barrett voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. Barrett, a Democrat, is now running against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the US mid-western state's recall election. In a recent debate, the Milwaukee mayor was asked if he would sign a civil unions bill if it passed the state's legislature.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, whose campaign has included extensive anti-gay rhetoric, stopped a boy from using a pink bowling ball at a Wisconsin bowling ally on Wednesday (28 March).

'You’re not gonna use the pink ball. We're not gonna let you do that. Not on camera,' Santorum told the boy. 'Friends don’t let friends use pink balls.'

Santorum's comments were quickly tweeted by Reuters reporter Sam Youngman.