When Are You Going to Run for Office

I have been volunteering with the Human Rights Campaign for 10 years. Over the years one of the most popular questions I am asked is, "When are you going to run for office?" My response is always the same, "I would love to do that some day." The ball has been in motion. I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience over the last decade. I have met some amazing mentors that have had a huge impact on me.

A friend of mine told me that the Victory Fund would be hosting their candidate training in Phoenix in February. This was my chance to move the ball a little further down the field. I have seen how the Victory Fund has been instrumental in helping open LGBT candidates win election across the country. One key race they played in this past election cycle was in Arizona's Congressional District 9. They were able to help get Kyrsten Sinema elected and become the first open bisexual in Congress.

I have decided to attend the training. I'm very excited with the opportunity to learn how I can be successful as an LGBT candidate and make a bigger impact in my community. They Victory Fund is running a contest that I am participating in to have my expenses paid for the training. I would love your support. Just click here and vote for me. Feel free to let others know that I'm in the contest and be part of my team in making this happen.

I appreciate the encouragement my readers have given me over the years. Your support means a lot to me. While the answer to when I am going to run for office is still unanswered, after this training I hope the answer will change. I hope I will be able to say, "Soon."

Perspective

Perspective, it's an interesting thing. Two days ago the citizens of North Carolina voted to ban gay marriages. The next day President Barack Obama becomes the first sitting President to say that he supports marriage equality. Some say the President came forward a day too late. We won't know if it would have made a difference or not. However, for some the perspective is a state lost. For others the perspective is a country won. What all agree on is that the President did a historic thing in coming out in favor of marriage equality. From some people's perspective his actions might even be considered heroic

Go to today. I helped put together an event for the Human Rights Campaign to benefit the Maryland Marriage Fund to help keep marriage equality in that state. Governor Martin O'Malley was the special guest at the event. Governor O'Malley was able to show incredible leadership in helping to bring marriage equality to his state. Now that its there, he is continuing to lead the fight against a ballot measure to remove it. His conviction to make sure the LGBT community in his state is shown the same dignity and freedoms as anyone else is truly inspiring. I would guess that the perspective of many in the LGBT community in Maryland is that he is a hero.

The person that introduced the Governor was former Arizona State Senator and current candidate for Congress in Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema has been a leader in the LGBT community for years and is known for having led the only successful campaign to defeat an anti-LGBT marriage amendment in the country. Her ability to make things happen for the LGBT community in Arizona has been remarkable. I have had the pleasure to work with her on many projects over the years and for me personally, she is a hero. That is my perspective.

So why would someone from Arizona host an event like this? Why send money in a very important election year out of the state? Perspective. It is not likely that Arizona will repeal its constitutional ban on gay marriage. The only way Arizonan's are going to see marriage equality is by enough states having it that the Federal government takes action and the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed. So from our perspective here this is how we bring marriage equality to our state - one state at a time across the country.

So my perspective of heroes this week have been of President Obama, Governor O'Malley and Congressional Candidate Kyrsten Sinema. So it surprised me when I received this post on my Facebook

Perspective. One never knows who is watching and the impact your words and actions have on them. This is not the first time someone has shared this type of sentiment with me. However, each time it catches me off guard. I mean come on, who am I? I am not the President or a Governor. How can I possibly be a hero? Perspective. You see most of the time when I hear this it comes from our youth. While I know that the time I give is not only for myself but to make a difference in the lives of many others, I forget that people actually get that too. I gotta say - it makes all the defeats and struggles worth it. To know that I am giving our youth inspiration and hope is a very humbling experience. It also fuels me to keep going.

The funny thing is from my perspective the youth today are heroes. They are so brave to come out or to be an ally for their friends that do. I can't wait for today's youth to be in the lead and take this fight for equality to a whole other level.

A lot has happened in the last two days. I think I have a new perspective on a few things.

Kyrsten Sinema Announces Run for Congress

Image via Wikipedia

After months of waiting the maps have finally been drawn for the Congressional districts in Arizona. There has been a lot of discussion around the new district - CD 9. Today the first person threw their hat into the race. State Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat,  announced today that she will enter the race.

Senator Sinema has been a strong advocate for the LGBT community. The biggest example came in 2006, when she led the organization Arizona Together, to become the first and only successful effort in the country to defeat a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage.

Per election rules, Sinema has submitted paperwork resigning her job as State Senator, thereby focusing on the campaign full time. The main battle will probably come in the primary with some other well known Arizona Democrats strongly thinking of entering the race. Representative Ben Quayle lives in District 9 but has said he will most likely run in CD 6 since it is more Republican leaning. It is not a require to live in the district you represent at the Congressional level.

Watch Sinema's announcement video below then go to kyrstensinema.com for more information on her campaign.

Related articles

• Marilyn Quayle, Dan Quayle's Wife, Said to Have Called Jan Brewer About Arizona Redistricting (huffingtonpost.com)

Podcast Episode 8

Episode 8 of "Thoughts From A Lezzymom" is now available FREE on iTunes. You can subscribe and listen to it here. Please use the tell your friends link in iTunes and spread the word about the show. If you don't have iTunes use the player in the sidebar on the blog to listen to the show.

In this episode of the podcast I interview Arizona State Representative, Kyrsten Sinema. Rep. Sinema was a leader for the campaign that defeated the anti-gay marriage amendment in 2006. Rep. Sinema recently released a book called Unite and Conquer that talks about her success in building coalitions to achieve political goals. Rep. Sinema was one of about 250 individuals invited to attend President Obama's event remembering the Stonewall riots. We discuss the event along with some controversial statements on the LGBT community's mindset.

The song of the show is by Uncle Seth and is called "To Be An Angel." I found Uncle Seth on the Podsafe Music Network.

Thanks for listening and remember you can send me comments and show ideas by emailing me at lezzymom@gmail.com.