As a millennial, I've seen first hand that politics can be disenchanting, isolating. We crave authenticity. We demand results. We want to be inspired.
This year, it's easy to feel especially discouraged by presidential politics. Republican candidate Donald Trump stands against the values that we have embraced as a generation: inclusion, love and appreciation for our differences, and open-mindedness. His candidacy is deflating and toxifies the political process.
But this year, we also have a candidate who stands for our values: Hillary Clinton. Hillary has fought her whole life to make our country and our world fairer and more just. She believes that our country will be stronger and better off if we continue to harness the strength of our diversity to build a better society. And perhaps, most importantly, Hillary believes in millennials.
She has created a progressive platform that will take on the issues that matter to us: criminal justice reform, ending the student debt crisis, good-paying jobs, taking on the big gun lobby, among so many other issues. She's for us, and that's why this year, it's so critical that we're with her.
Hillary is authentic.
I first met Hillary this year, by surprise, while phone banking at the LGBT Center in Manhattan's West Village. A number of LGBTQ volunteers were making phone calls to voters for New York's upcoming Democratic primary. I was in the middle of a conversation with voters, and who walks in the room? Hillary. She met each and every volunteer. When it was my turn to shake her hand and take a picture, I told her that I was a law student.
Hillary wanted to know more. She asked what year I was in law school, and why I wanted to go to law school. She gave me advice, telling me to continue pursuing public interest law, and reminded me not to give up when I inevitably hit roadblocks in the pursuit of justice. Hillary took the time to listen to people and ask them questions about their lives.
The Gay Community has long supported Hillary and she, LGBT rights. This ad is from 2015.
This is a candidate who cares authentically about us and this is someone who will take our stories with her to the White House.
Hillary gets results.
When Hillary's call for health care reform in 1993 was met with defeat, she did not give up on the fight. Instead, she got to work, because she knew that giving up was not an option. From strengthening the Children's Health Insurance Program to co-writing a law requiring pharmaceuticals to conduct rigorous pediatric trials for children's drugs, Hillary worked hard in the Senate to create concrete solutions for real problems that millions of Americans face across the country. As secretary of state, Hillary bridged the equality gap at the Department of State, ensuring that LGBT employees finally received the equal rights and benefits already received by their counterparts.
In the spirit of LGBT equality, Hillary declared in 2011 that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights" in recognition of International Human Rights Day. The whole world was watching, and Hillary made sure that the international community was aware that she was firmly on the side of LGBT people across the globe.
The changes Hillary made as Secretary of State for LGBT people were world-wide and ground-breaking. Her speech on the subject in Geneva changed the world.
These are just few examples of the ways in which Hillary has focused on an issue and fought tirelessly to ensure that something real was done to make it better.
In 2000, Hillary was the first First Lady to march for LGBT rights.
Hillary is inspiring. From the very beginning of her career, Hillary used her law school experience to fight discrimination against people because of their race or disability. During law school, Hillary conducted research about the health care and education of migrant farm workers and their children, inspiring her to focus on the rights of children who are economically disadvantaged. After law school, Hillary went to work for the Children's Defense Fund and fought for families of children with disabilities in order to help pass legislation requiring better delivery of quality education services for these children.
Similarly, Tim Kaine's career began fighting for people facing discrimination. Having graduated from Ivy League law schools, they could have pursued high-powered clients and high-powered paychecks. Instead, they pursued justice. We have the chance to vote in a couple of badass lawyers into the White House this November. Our generation has the chance to define the future of our country. Nothing short of our destiny is at stake in this election.
For these reasons, and so many others, I'm with Hillary and I hope that you are too. I hope that you'll join me in phone banking, knocking on doors, and rocking Hillary swag whenever you can (I may have worn my "Yaaas, Hillary!" shirt to a bar last week...).
Let's elect the first ever woman president. Let's ensure that our generation and generations to come have a country that we can all be proud of. Let's work together to ensure that Hillary's platform comes to fruition by electing Democrats up and down the ballot. Let's get fired up! Let's get ready to vote!
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September 1, 2016
