As 2012 presidential candidates take to the road, The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund will be rolling into Chicago Thursday, Sept. 8, to discuss LGBT politics and strategy. Windy City Times caught up with Deputy Executive Director Robin Brand to talk about what issues are at stake in upcoming elections, the changing face of LGBT politics and the Republican role in recent wins for gay rights.
Windy City Times: So tell us about your Chicago reception.
Robin Brand: It's really an opportunity to talk about LGBT politics … what are some of the exciting elections coming down the pipe, the internals of how we work as an organization and preparing people to run for office.
WCT: I imagine that is going to be a pretty interesting conversation right now with presidential campaigns kicking off.
RB: Well, we still have some exciting elections this year. Our only openly gay delegate in the house of delegates in Virginia won his primary for a state Senate seat so he'll be on the ballot in November, but he could become the first openly gay senator in Virginia's history.
We have Bevan Dufty running for mayor of San Francisco. Most people don't realize San Francisco has never had an openly gay mayor, even though its known as such a gay-friendly town. We have a gentleman running for an Indianapolis city council race.
WCT: Given the number of successes that we've enjoyed over the past few years, has the focus of LGBT politics shifted in your view? Are we looking at different issues today than we were even recently?
RB: Over the last, say, 10 years, there's been a shift towards really trying to gain more legislative victories at the national and state levels. From our perspective at the Victory Fund, where we are now is, after recruiting and electing candidates over the last 20 years, we have this incredible bench of leaders around the country who are now poised to move to the next level, Tammy Baldwin being a great example of that—in the House and now positioned to run for U.S. Senate. That's what I think we're going to start seeing happening more and more in the next few cycles.
WCT: What issues do you think are most at stake politically right now?
RB: I think part of the goal is to keep some momentum going at the federal level, the efforts to start challenging DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act] and hopefully start peeling that away, whether it's through the judicial process or the legislative process. There's a lot of eagerness to still get ENDA [Employment Non-Discrimination Act] passed. I think those are the burning issues at the federal level.
And then we've got some states trying to solidify same-sex marriage where they can. Then, you've got states like Oregon looking at trying to repeal their constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
WCT: What do you think we need to be doing right now as individuals locally to make some of these things happen?
RB: I think there are a lot of things. Most states have very active state LGBT organizations. I think supporting your state LGBT groups [is] really important. They're often on the front lines of identifying people who are running for office. And getting engaged with what's happening in your state, whether that's helping with these legislative efforts or supporting openly gay candidates.
WCT: Funding for LGBT organizations is down in this economy. What is our funding situation, politically?
RB: I can't speak for other organizations but we're feeling good about our financial situation. But I think that generally, we've seen some pretty well-funded efforts that have had success. The effort to win marriage in New York was not an effort that did not have a lot of money behind it. Unfortunately, politics and political activity tends to cost a lot of money, but I also feel like our community is still pretty energized, and when there is a fight, folks stand up.
WCT: Will same-sex marriage be the defining LGBT issue in these upcoming elections?
RB: I think it depends on where you live. I think that people in North Carolina and Alabama, when safe schools bills were passed, those were huge victories. I think that the marriage issue probably gets the most national attention but, state by state, I think there are a lot of states that have goals that are much closer to home in terms of what they're striving to accomplish.
WCT: It seems like we have more prominent Republicans coming out for LGBT rights and, at the same time, more moving further away from LGBT rights. What role are Republicans going to play in these legislative battles down the road?
RB: That's a great question. I personally think that bringing more Republicans into the fold around gay and lesbian issues is sort of our greatest area for growth. I think that many of us forget that, and New York really helped highlight it, that many on the state level, and frankly with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We would not have won these battles without Republicans supporting them as well.
WCT: Can you envision a time when it will be no longer acceptable to run as an anti-gay candidate?
RB: Well, let's hope so. I think in many places in the country that is the case. There are also places in the country where anti-gay rhetoric still does work and can motivate the types of voters that that person is trying to win over. But yeah, hopefully it's not too long before DOMA is repealed and we have federal recognition. Then, it's kind of a done deal and, sadly, our opposition will have to find new wedge issues to cling onto.
For more information on the Victory Fund reception Thursday, Sept. 8, check out www.victoryfund.org/get_involved/events.
