In my 20s, candidate Obama was right for me. Now, in my 30s, candidate Clinton will get my vote.
In 2007, I jumped into the grassroots effort to elect then-Senator Barack Obama as President of the United States. I signed up to serve as the Hell's Kitchen petition captain blocks from my tiny midtown apartment and eagerly asked my fellow New Yorkers to help get his name on the ballot. I was a passionate 20-something who had marched against President George W. Bush's re-election bid wearing a handmade muscle tee that read, "RNC -- NY Rejects Your Homophobia and Hate." I believed the country was on the wrong track, and my commitment to Senator Obama's campaign was fueled by his message of hope and change -- which was prominently inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans.
When I moved to Denver in late 2007, only one state allowed same-sex couples to marry. I served as the State Pride Director to rally LGBT Coloradans to the polls. I registered voters at Pride events. I cheered with all my might during Obama's DNC acceptance speech in Mile High Stadium. I wrote each member of my extended family and asked them to vote for Barack Obama for President.
I cried years later when my president said I had should be able to marry the man I love.
Now I'm in my 30s, and I look at our country and want a different kind of leader as president. I hope to become a father for the first time while our next president is in the White House, so I will have a new stake in his or her policies and appointments. And America is in a different place than it was in 2008 -- as are my views on what this country needs in a leader.
Our economy is no longer on the brink of collapse. Unemployment continues to decrease with each new jobs report. Our reputation globally has been repaired. Like most Americans, I want a president who will grow our economy, protect Social Security and Medicare, and make our education system the best in the world. I also am in the solid majority of Americans who, for the time in the history of presidential campaigns, want a president who supports marriage equality. And I want a president who will appoint justices to the Supreme Court who aren't younger versions of Antonin Scalia.
And that's why I want Hillary Clinton to be the 45th President of the United States.
Have you ever read Hillary Clinton's bio? Just check out her Wikipedia page and count the number of "first" titles that she has held. First student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. First female law partner at Rose Law Firm. First female U.S. Senator from New York. She's a passionate advocate, smart tactician, and role model for women and men alike. She has devoted her life to making this world a better place, especially for LGBT people. As president, Hillary Clinton could continue our momentum domestically while expanding the programs and policies she created at the State Department to advocate for LGBT people under a human rights agenda. Just think of the power of her historic statement: "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights." Secretary Clinton has the experience, track record, and political acumen to be a great president. No one else running can even compare.
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton formally launched her presidential campaign (which is the first to have an openly gay campaign manager, the talented Robby Mook). My apartment is no longer as tiny and I wear my old muscle tees to bed. Eight years ago, I was one of the millions of grassroots supporters who helped elect and later re-elect President Obama. Today, I commit to working just as hard to help elect Hillary Clinton as our next President of the United States.