Our Oregon delegation is back from the Democratic National Convention. I can only speak for myself, but it
would probably fair to say we were all left breathless with emotions at one point or another during our convention.
KC Hanson, Sam Sappington and myself arrived three days ahead of the DNCC to attend the National Stonewall Democrats convention. Frank Dixon was there too. With his duties as Vice Chair of the DPO, Frank was left with a few unavoidable scheduling conflicts. All of us suspected we too would be having our fair share of scheduling problems in the coming days. There were just so many events and too little time. I had over 20 pages of spread sheets with event information. Everything from political forums and receptions to baseball games and rock concerts. There was even a poker tournament with Ben Affleck to benefit paralyzed veterans.
At last count, continuing to rise at the convention, 374 LGBT people officially registered as delegates, alternate delegates, committee people, or convention pages at the 2008 DNCC in Denver. Interestingly, if the 374 person delegation were a state delegation, we would be the third largest state delegation, with only California and New York having more delegates.
The aftermath of last years non-inclusive ENDA struggle some of the detracting sentiment heard by our community was related to trans people not being considered a part of the larger gay and lesbian community, trans folk had been riding on the coat tails of the gay and lesbian community, and that trans people had done a really poor job of lobbying their congressional representatives to be included in ENDA. On the flip side of that issue was over 300 LGBT advocacy organizations that opposed the non-inclusive ENDA, holding fast to the commitment that we are a community which can not be divided.
The convention personally and politically touched me on so many levels as a latina lesbian transwoman with a gay son, another son in the military, a gay nephew who adopted a child with his partner, a lesbian niece who works her fingers to the bone in health care, and as an American. Not to mention being a member of one of possibly one of the most marginalized groups of people in society, doubly complicated by being a part of another tradi
tionally marginalized group of people.
September 5th will mark the thirteenth anniversary of the time I was involuntarily outed at work and forced into a disability retirement solely because my trans history was discovered and was labeled a freak. It took a long time for me to recover from that ugly time in my life to get where I am at today.
For anyone, gay, straight, or otherwise, who has any doubt that I, or any other trans person, have no worth, do not deserve equal rights, can wait while the rest of the community moves forward to equality under some sort of instrumentalist theory, or are not a part of the larger gay and lesbian community, I don’t have the words to respond politely.
We are not gay people. We are not lesbians. We are not bisexual or trans persons. We are people, inseparable and inextricably connected to one another. Our allied brothers and sisters come from a diverse mix of colors, issues, and unique personal histories.
On the anniversary of the “I have a dream speech” delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. another momentous time in history also happened at Invesco Field in Denver Colorado. The Democratic Party became united. But that is not the whole of the legacy of Barack Obama. I believe the message of hope and change for a better and brighter future for all of us was heard around the world.
Barack Obama is the real deal. Certainly our world is not in a happy place and will likely never be a perfect 
place. If you’re view is the “glass is half empty”, as is much of the the world in this time in history, then perhaps it is time to start viewing your world as a glass being half full. Fill yourself with the hope that we can work together to change our world for the better.
We must end the war in Iraq but maintain our security at home and elsewhere with intelligence and diplomacy. We must never again adopt a policy which includes the preemptive invasion of another country. We need a commander-in-chief who will not squander our best and brightest for the sake of a dollar.We need to feel the safety of our homes and streets.
We urgently need to begin the restructure of our health care delivery here at home, making health care a basic right for all people.
We must change the way the system works against families of all kinds. Children should not go hungry and parents should not have to work three or four jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and safe nutritious food on the table.
We must all work to guarantee that the people who we elect to represent us do actually represent us and work for our benefit.
We must continue to be vigilant of those who wish to keep us oppressed and deny basic civil rights to us and our families simply because of who we love, our skin color, or how we are born. Not just LGBT people, but all people must be equal in all respects.
Having come from Denver this last week, I see what is meant by the saying that politics is the art of the possible. The possibilities for LGBT people and all people is palpable.
Our brush stroke in the art of the possible is clearly defined and well within our means. We must indivually and as a whole and united community engage in the belief of change and hope for a better future.
We have a very clear calling, along with some very clear steps we all need take to be bring about the change we all hope for.
We are democrats. Our core values are adopted and defined in our party platform. We are included and a part of the intrnsic fabric of our democratic party. Our well being is woven into those core values expressed in the party platform and echoed in the true meaning of our constitution. We have the tools and means to effect the change we want. We as gay, lesbian, bisexual an transgender are empowered to participate in the change and hope for a better future for all our sakes. We simply can not afford to stand back and watch our future dissolve before our eyes.
Here in Oregon, we have a responsibility as a community to step up to the plate. As a community we have no choice choice but become fully engaged as a community. Where ever we are in life, we must consider the intolerable outcome if we fail to act now!
We are less than two months away from the election. If you have any spare time or resources to spare in the next two months, consider making an investment in your future.
If you ask yourself or doubt that you can make a difference, please reach out to any democratic campaign office in the state. Call or write your friends and relatives, even those in other states and beg them to support democratic candidates where ever they may be. If you’re still not convinced you can and do make a difference feel free to email treasurer (at) stonewalloregon (dot) org.
Here are a couple of links to get you started:
Jeff Merkley for US Senate
Jeff Merkley is a champion for GLBT people everywhere. As our Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Jeff Merkely was one of the crucial keys to bringing the Oregon Equality and Family Fairness Act from a dream to reality.
Unlike Jeff Merkely’s republican opponent who tries to pretend to be good on our issues, while voting in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment twice and comparing relationship equality to polygamy. Please contrast that to the fact that the republican nominee for president voted against the Federal marriage Amendment Act.
The Democratic Party of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and eQuality Giving have all enthusiastically endorsed my personal freind Jeff Merkley.
LGBT for Obama
This site has been specifically set up for the LGBT community to easily get involved in helping to elect Barack Obama. The site and drive behind it is the work Oregonian Terry Bean.
Transgender Community and Allies:
Trans folk and their allies with National Stonewall Democrats have set up an easy to use web page to support Barack Obama. It’s a great way to show your support for Obama and the trans people in your life.
as worked tirelessly on behalf of the transgender community within the democratic party.
delegates will be voting to adopt at the DNC Convention in Denver. The title of article is, “
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**Note: The article said that Diego Sanchez is the first trans person to ever be appointed to the convention.