You Know What I'm Saying?

I spent the weekend canvassing in Pittsburgh. I was part of an LGBT posse from NYC. We drove (a long way). Our charge was twofold. First, we would canvass in a very poor African American neighborhood. Pro-Obama but historically very low turnout. I guess you have to feel like you matter before you can believe that your vote matters. After an afternoon of canvassing, we would then head to an event at local gay club. We understood that the Pittsburgh LGBT community had been fiercely behind Hillary and that our work there would be about persuasion.

I made an assumption about which of these tasks would be hard.

I was wrong.

My friend Sylvia and I teamed up to cover a five block area of The Hill District in Pittsburgh. It was a rough neighborhood. Shades drawn, doors double and triple locked. I saw a window shattered by a bullet. I'd never been that close to a bullet hole before.

We knocked on 88 doors. We met 22 members of the neighborhood. We saw lots of Obama signs. Many of these folks seemed to understand the importance of the election and the historic nature of Obama's candidacy. We found that particularly true with the older folks we met. We wanted to believe that they would walk down the street to that church to vote on November 4. I've been struggling about how and where to spend Election Day. I found myself thinking that watching folks walk into that church might be just the right place to be.

With no time to decompress, we moved right into part two of our day -- the LGBT event at a gay club. I wouldn't say that any of us were arrogant as we moved through the club but I believe each of us assumed that, unlike the afternoon, we'd have the home field advantage.

I began the evening talking with a kindred spirit -- a real leader in the Pittsburgh LGBT community. He helped me to understand the issues facing the community, the fierce support for Hillary, his own fierce support for Hillary. He also gave a heads up. We'd find McCain supporters and we'd find folks who did not plan to vote.

My first conversation was with a straight woman. She loves Hillary and now just adores Sarah Palin. I knew this conversation would be tougher than any I had had that afternoon.

"Do you think Sarah Palin is as qualified as Hillary to be that close to the Oval Office?" Even this Palin-ite hesitated. So I threw her my best stuff. "I love Hillary too -- and I hate the thought of the first woman to be that close to the White House to be someone that is NOT Hillary on so many levels. If we are going to have a female president in our lifetime, it should a qualified one." I should have just said "It should be Hillary." But I didn't. And without a single word -- not a single word -- the woman stared at me in this mean sort of way and literally spun on her heel, turned her back on me and walked away.

I took a deep breath and introduced myself to someone who had been pointed out to me as an undecided voter. She may have been undecided about some things but after 5 minutes with her, it was clear that she had long ago made a decision about race.

"I don't trust Obama. You know what I mean?" She continued. "He is a smooth talker. I worry about that. So many of them are imbeciles. You know what I'm saying?"

She continued to talk but after that, her voice sounded like the adults in the Peanuts cartoons. I was reeling.

Each of us had a story to tell on the ride home. The gay doctor who told Amy as a point of contrast that he liked babies. Amy assured him that she liked babies too. Another gay man was drinking the redistribution of wealth kool aid. A cross dresser told me that she'd vote when we finally had qualified candidates. When pressed, she said that she was as qualified as any of the candidates because she ran a successful business. While I thought it was unlikely that America was ready for a cross-dressing President, she might in fact be more qualified than at least one of the four campaign principals (do I have to mention her name?).

Did I really assume that all LGBT people would walk in lock step? Did I really assume I would feel unsafe in The Hill District? I felt a bit like an imbecile.

I was way off the mark. We need to work our community. More of us need to be out there, pushing as hard as we can. The length of this campaign is now measured but its impact will be measured in decades.

You know what I'm saying?

Comments

[AnotherTry]

Obama/Biden are against same-sex marriage so I don't have a real choice this election year, and neither do you, Joan.

[truthskr]

Yes, Kucinich was the only candidate on that front, but as well all know, being on the right side of every issue makes you odd man out in politics. It makes me wonder what percentage of our demo backed him as opposed to Clinton or Obama, neither of which support same sex marriage and are nearly identical when it comes to their stances on gay rightes, civil unions, etc.

[truthskr]

"We need to work our community. More of us need to be out there, pushing as hard as we can. "

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened during the primaries as those in our community who supported Clinton pushed it as hard as they could, so beyond the pale, with their hateful rhetoric, and completely unfounded accusations of sexism against Barack Obama, that we should not now be at all surprised that there's a pretty appreciable percentage in our community who were so turned against Obama that they would rather vote against their (and all of our) best interests, or sit it out in protest, than vote Obama. It was this very nasty, scorched earth campaigning for Clinton in my communities - the GLBT community, and the feminist community - as well as the national Democratic community at large, that caused me to leave Clinton's campaign of vitriole in utter disgust for Obama's much more tolerant, much more inclusive, much more positive campaign.

Also, our community is certainly not immune to a level of racism, stupidity, or even petulance that no amount of outreach will address. We're a passionate group, but it's a double edged sword in many respects.

I sincerely hope that those of us in the GLBT community will be a little more thoughtful next time and remember that we (by and large, anyway) are members of the Democratic Party first, and are aligned with a particular Democratic candidate second.

[antaeus]

The uninitiated are often unaware that Pittsburgh is not the second-largest city in Pennsylvania but rather the largest city of West Virginia, no matter what the maps show. It is surrounded by the uneducated and the benighted, and its urban culture contains one of the most reactionary anti-gay separatist movements in the Episcopal Church as well as having been the financial center of the anti-Clinton Whitewater smear effort in the 1990s. I just heard that McCain is trying to poach PA in a desperate effort to go over the top. Thank goodness for Philadelphia.

[NationalTreasure]

Why didn't you talk issues, say for instance about where Sen. Obama stands on "don't ask and don't tell," or Gay and Lesbian marriage and protecting the rights of everyone regardless on sexual persuasion, race, color or gender; or what about the the "agents of intolerence," who McCain has allowed control his campaign and his VP pick.
Why did younot talk about Sen. Obama's stance on Gay and Lesbians being allowed to adopt? Why did you not mention Sen. Obama's position on hate crimes?
There was much you could have discussed.

[CTagainstPalin]

Joan's article was one of the best I've read this election season.
GLBT folks need to stick together.
One fact that we always forget is how many gay men voted for Bush. An estimated 25% in 2000; a little less in 2004. That is horrendous.
You did your good deed canvassing in the Hill District. The people sound underserved and I am sure they greatly appreciated being recognized this election year.

[Tanene Allison - Huffpost Blogger]

Having been in Joan's car on that long (and fun!) ride to Pittsburgh and back, I agree with her sentiment. The trip for me was a reminder of what so much of Obama's campaign has been about. We need to reach out to everyone. We cannot make assumptions about who is on whom's side, and who we think will be 'with us or against us.' It's never that simple. We all need to be talking to everyone else right now. We need to share our stories, what we believe and the policies we think can heal this nation. The Obama Campaign has been a good tool to getting the nation to do this again. But there's still lots of work to be done, and we still have to keep talking.

[NationalTreasure]

why didn't you two confront the thinly veiled bigotry and racism directed towards Sen. Obama?
it is not a secret that there is a lot of racial bigotry and racism within the GLBT community.

why didn't the two of you ask folks why they would find confort in the republican party and with McCain/Palin since they support efforts to render GLBT Americans as second class citizens simply based upon their sexual idenity?

republicans do not respect GLBT Americans as individuals and do not want to allow GLBT Americans full rights

why would GLBT Americans support McCain/Palin and the republicans who demonize and foster hatred towards GLBT Americans as a political tool?