Over the last week, people across the country gathered virtually to watch the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Convention, where Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris officially accepted their nomination for President and Vice President. Though people couldn’t gather in person, the LGBTQ community was seen and heard. Here are 10 standout LGBTQ moments from the DNC Convention.
On Monday night, soccer superstar and out lesbian Megan Rapinoe hosted a conversation with four frontline workers. Rapinoe also appeared earlier in the evening in a montage with Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, who is the first openly transgender state legislator to win re-election.
On Tuesday evening, several openly gay politicians participated in the keynote address: Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, and Georgia State Rep. Sam Park. Rep. Kenyatta appeared alongside his fiancé and shared, “When I wanted to marry the man I loved, Joe Biden was the first national figure to support me and my family.”
Several LGBTQ people and their families were featured in the Conventions’s roll call, which was led by Jason Rae, the DNC’s first openly gay secretary. The parents of Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was brutally killed in 1998, called role for Wyoming. In addition, Meghan Stabler, the only appointed transgender member of the DNC Platform Committee appeared while wearing a TRANS Equality NOW t-shirt.
The Convention tackled gun violence on its third night. In a video from days after the 2018 Parkland shooting, survivor Emma González, who is openly bisexual, shared: “They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS. They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS . . . They say us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call BS.”
As part of her hosting duties on Wednesday, Kerry Washington mentioned several epidemics plaguing our country including, “violence against members of the transgender community.” According to the National Center for Trans Equality, at least 28 transgender people have been killed this year. As of July 6, at least 12 trans people murdered were Black.
The DNC showcased some of Kamala Harris’ fiercest moments supporting the LGBTQ community. One clip showed Harris, then Attorney General of California, officiating the wedding ceremony between Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, plaintiffs whose Supreme Court case overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Senator Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, spoke on Thursday night. She shared, “Most of us want the same things: good schools in our neighborhoods, racial justice, the freedom to love who we want, dignity in our work, and an economy where small businesses and working families thrive. And over the past months, we’ve added another to our list: a nation free from COVID.”
If you haven’t heard of the Mayor of Atlanta, feel free to stop here and google Keisha Lance Bottoms. She has been very vocal about the fight against COVID-19 and some might say she has become one of America’s Mayors. During last night’s DNC Convention she spoke about the late and great John Lewis and the importance of voting rights. Toward the end of her speech, she spoke about justice and how Black lives matter. She specifically quoted Black lesbian poet and essayist Audre Lorde, saying “Your silence will not protect you.”
Openly gay presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg reflected on LGBTQ progress: “In 2020, it is unlawful in America to fire someone because of who they are or who they love . . . Love makes my marriage real, but political courage made it possible, including that of Joe Biden who stepped out ahead, even of this party, when he said that marriage equality ought to be the law of the land.”
With little representation of Black queer masculine of center women on television, Biden’s friendship with Jacquelyn Asbie was a refreshing moment. We see you, sis!
Jacquelyn Asbie was working as an elevator operator when she met Joe Biden and couldn’t help but blurt out “I love you!”
Now, she will nominate him for President at the #DemConvention. THAT is the power of the people. pic.twitter.com/poKeirh4nM
— Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) August 19, 2020
