Around ten years ago, I stood on the sidewalk and watched then senator of New York, Hillary Clinton march down Fifth Avenue in the midst of the Gay Pride Parade. What I focused on at the time was that she was the only person in the parade wearing high heels. The lesbians certainly weren't wearing heels. Even the drag queens that year had started wearing sneakers with their dresses. What I remember now, of course, is that Hillary was there -- before marriage equality, before LGBT rights were known as human rights.
Fast forward to the current presidential election. I am having dinner with an older, less out, lesbian friend who gives me a look and says that gay people will have problems if a Republican wins the presidency. She is right, of course. The backlash to marriage equality is already underway.
It's not only publicly out people who will suffer. Now that so many of us are married, we have government papers identifying us. Too many gains have been made, to go backwards. That is why I am supporting Hillary Clinton for president. She has the best background for the job. She is ready on day one. As a relatively recent member of a Unitarian Universalist church and a lay minister, I am technically open to all religious faiths in a way that I have not been before. But I have to admit that the white evangelical conservative Christians in the middle of the country scare me.
It is because of them that I am writing the following three Tweets outlining the reasons that I support Hillary:
Supreme Court justices decided in the nxt pres. term will decide our fate -- including LGBT rights http://tinyurl.com/j3ujxlh #VoteHillary
Prez Obama first friend in white house to LGBT community -- #VoteHillary continue the legacy http://tinyurl.com/ja38xw5 @HillaryClinton
African American support buoys #Hillary http://tinyurl.com/jtgjh9x Let's take their lead. The last thing we need is a divided Democratic Party.
Of course, there are many other reasons to support a mainstream Democratic candidate. These include reproductive rights which are already being eroded and will be influenced by the Supreme Court. Bernie Sanders has some good points. But the candidate who defines himself as a "Socialist Democrat" and uses words such as "oligarchy" will not win over middle America. Chances are slim to none that he will win a general election.
No one wants to dash the idealism of young people -- or those who stand with the young. But in pointing out the obvious, we are helping the young people avoid the decades long (or more) struggles that affect them too. Yes, LGBT rights can be rolled back. Reproductive rights can be taken away.
Hillary Clinton is tough and more than competent.
And speaking as a second generation feminist descended from the working class (something that I talk about in my book Tea Leaves, a memoir of mothers and daughters), I am thrilled that a woman candidate has a good chance of securing the presidential nomination. I am voting not just for myself, but for the women who came before me.