At the Human Rights Campaign luncheon on Wednesday in Denver, Congressional hopeful and out lesbian Linda Ketner, vying for a traditionally Republican district in South Carolina, announced, “Hold on to your bloomers! I am up four points on my opponent … I’m not trying to make a point, or move the ball down the field, but to win.”
That kind of dogged determination could be felt all over the city as Denver wound up for the big rock star style Obama speech at the Invesco stadium on Thursday night.
It was echoed by Howard Dean at the same luncheon, when he explained how civil unions passed in his home state of Vermont against all odds.
Congressman Barney Frank then spoke about his work on LGBT issues since the ‘70s, and the prevailing thought was that three years down the line, things would always get worse.
“But this has been the most rapid change to prejudice ever seen … We are on the verge of one of the great moral victories in human history.”
I joined a live reading in a theater next to the Pepsi Hall, where easy-on-the-eyes Hollywood stars Ben Affleck, Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Josh Brolin and others read excerpts from famous protest speeches throughout the course of American history, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Cindy Sheehan.
When “A Dream Deferred” by queer poet Langston Hughes was read aloud, it sent chills down my spine despite the August heat.
When I got to the convention hall, I was invited up to the skybox of Democratic mayors, hosted by gay Providence, Rhode Island mayor David Cicilline (who has single-handedly transformed the now-booming city). As I gazed down on the throngs of faithful holding signs and wearing funny hats, I could hear Melissa Etheridge belting out “Born in the U.S.A.” on stage, out and proud like the glorious dyke she is.
I jostled into San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom in the crowded skybox. The great ally of LGBT marriage chatted with me and then quickly fixed his eyes on the TV screen as Bill Clinton took the stage and commanded it like royalty. When the former president proclaimed of Obama, “The values of freedom and equal opportunity which have given him his historic chance will drive him as president to give all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability, their chance to build a decent life, and to show our humanity, as well as our strength, to the world,” I once again had chills dripping down my spine.
The night ended with bumping into out New York State Assembly member Danny O’Donnell, the brother of Rosie O’Donnell who represents Manhattan’s Upper West Side. With a wide grin, he gave me the best quote I have heard during my time in Denver: “We are blowing up the straight men of privilege paradigm." (Matthew Link)
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Posted by: Michelle | August 29, 2008 at 04:02 PM