Windy City Times asked local LGBTQ individuals what they thought of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's selection of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as a running mate. This is what they had to say:
—Modesto "Tico" Valle: I speak now as a single person, as a voter in Chicago, and not a representative for Center on Halsted.
"The selection of Kamala Harris for Vice President demonstrates that Joe Biden is listening to the cries of women, LGBTQ people, Black, indigenous, people of color and trans folx who are demanding social justice and equity for all. We have the opportunity to begin to create real change in our country but we must vote for this to happen, we must continue to march and protest, and we must be heard and demand accountability and change.
"We cannot be divided as a country any longer. Your vote matters. The Biden-Harris ticket has created excitement and hope for true systemic change. Harness this moment and cast your vote. Unite with our neighbors and strangers to have their voices counted, to march, and to be heard. Be the change."
—Gay Liberation Network's Andy Thayer: "Harris' choice seems calculated to check the identity politics boxes expected by more well-to-do members of the Democratic base who, with their consciences eased, can now with greater comfort ignore the ticket's neo-liberal policy proposals and mass incarceration pasts. The usual two white men on the ticket wouldn't have passed that muster. For the majority of us hoping to escape the nightmarish Trump years, this is unfortunately a shell game.
"Neo-liberal austerity and broken promises to working class voters were what drove many to sit out the 2016 election, or worse, embrace Trump's racism. A four-year reprise of that risks the same result in 2024. Vote as your conscience guides you, but don't expect salvation from on high. People's movements have always been the source of the sweeping changes that our world so urgently needs now."
—Julio Rodriguez, board president of ALMA ( Association of Latinos/as Motivating Action ): "Sen. Harris is from an immigrant family. ALMA expects that will mean for the thousands of undocumented immigrants especially LGBTQ ones that have been criminalized, persecuted and live in fear every day because policies of the TRUMP administration and the Senate majority, that they can have hope for a real future in this country. And that Sen. Harris, along with Biden, will prioritize in their first 100 days a real plan for comprehensive immigration reform that includes everyone especially members of the LGBTQ undocumented immigrant community. This would insure all our communities can take part in the nation's recovery."
—Ray Koenig, attorney: "Biden/Harris are a strong, experienced and electable duo who have the potential to govern in a competent, empathetic, inclusive, and relatively progressive manner. They are a good team to lead us far away from the MAGA terror of the last four years."
—Activist Jerry Pritikin: "[In the 1990s], Harris was known as the girlfriend of Willie Brown ( speaker of the House of the California General Assembly and, later, mayor of San Francisco ).
"Without a doubt, she is more than just a pretty face. She went on to be elected as California's attorney general and junior senator. She has proven to be the people's choice and getting elected statewide several times. I believe she would make a very qualified vice president and president, if need be. I had several choices before Harris; however, she will be a great campaigner and partner in Biden's bid to be the next POTUS!"
—Playwright Nick Patricca: "KAMALA: Tamil name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi in the form of an owl to denote wisdom and knowledge; in the form of fertile Mother Earth to denote prosperity; in the form of Veera to denote courage and achievement of your goal; in the form of creative power to protect one's village.
"May Kamala Harris wisely use her powers to protect our great village and lead us to a new, just prosperity for all."
