I'm proud to be a gay dad with a beautiful child who has a wonderful lesbian mom.
Recently, Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo.) became the first openly gay parent in congressional history. But just this month conservative religious leaders in Honduras asked the government to deny Ricky Martin -- a gay dad with twins -- the right to visit their country and perform at an October concert.
We've made a great deal of progress, but there is so much more to be done.
In 2002, I was elected to represent the same seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors once held by Harvey Milk. His was an example of standing tall and doing what's right. I've always sought to break ground in standing up for LGBT families -- so, of course, I'm proud that my first ad in the San Francisco mayor's race shows me as a parent and father, the most important job I could ever hope to hold:
If elected, I will be the first LGBT mayor of San Francisco, and I will use this position to break ground and stand up to bullies -- from the halls of America's schools to the halls of Congress.
Campaigns like this aren't easy to keep on the air in an expensive media market like San Francisco. But, we're already seeing the impact of this ad as online donations from San Franciscans and others supportive of my message have begun to pour in to keep our first ad on the air.
So much attention has been paid to my first television commercial in this campaign, but to me this isn't just politics. It represents something deeper than that. People see in my story their own families -- whether they are households with LGBT parents or straight ones.
After all, isn't that the point? So many in our world seek to divide us. It is the simple things like family that can unite us.