I am excited to announce that the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats have endorsed my candidacy!
I am incredibly honored to have the endorsement of Sacramento Stonewall Democrats, an organization I have been proud to be a member of, and work closely with for decades.
Even here in the 3rd District, some school board meetings have turned into polarized, dangerous battleground where the basic civil rights of students and teachers are under siege. A local library has had to confront repeated bomb threats.
Amid escalating attacks on the very existence of the LGBTQ+ community, it is more important than ever that our state leaders intimately understand the struggle that too many in our community are facing. I know it all too well—I’ve lived it. In the State Senate, my commitment to inclusivity and justice will be unwavering.
I’ve led from the front lines as the inaugural chair of the national LGBTQ Mayor’s Alliance and head of the LGBTQ+ caucus of the League of California Cities. Not just with speeches and statements, but getting real results on policy issues from marriage equality and inclusive nondiscrimination laws to HIV/AIDS and hate crimes. I even stared down Betsy DeVos, leading the effort byAmerica’s mayors to defuse her plan to unwind basic protections for transgender kids put in place by President Obama. A column on gay marriage I wrote for USA Today with Julian Castro and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was cited as evidence in cases before the US Supreme Court of changing social norms, helping cement marriage equality in US jurisprudence.
You know from that historic movement that the most important thing we can do to protect these rights is for LGBTQ+ people to be visible and at the table. As the longest-serving mayor in West Sacramento’s history and the city’s first LGBTQ+ mayor, I helped blaze a trail for LGBTQ+ public officials at a time when many were still struggling to publicly embrace who they were. My journey out of the closet was the subject of an episode of Logo network’s internationally syndicated Coming Out Stories. I’m committed to ensuring that everyone can tell their own stories, and that policymakers and the public can hear them—in our communities and in the State Capitol.
That’s why I’m proud of this Stonewall endorsement, as the Democratic club joins both the California LGBTQ Legislative Caucus and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund in making this campaign a priority.
