As of this writing, we’re midway through the Democratic National Convention. It’s been a whirlwind of a week, full of parties and protests, hunger and heat (who thought it was a good idea to have a convention in late July?), short deadlines and celeb spotting. As eager as we all are to say TGIF, it’s also been an incredibly inspiring week, which we’re trying not to lose sight of amid our growing political hangover.
For the first time, a major political party in our country has nominated a woman president. The power of that statement was communicated most effectively through a video shown at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday depicting every single American president — all 44 men — followed by a photo of Hillary Clinton. Despite the ongoing rifts with diehard supporters of Bernie Sanders, it would be hard for any Democrat to not applaud what this shift means for future generations of women. Especially in light of Republican nominee Donald Trump’s abhorrent statements about women (and anyone else who’s not a straight, white cisgender man), that a woman is within reaching distance of the White House sets the bar for countless young girls to fulfill their potential.
LGBT issues have also been integrated seamlessly into the fabric of the Democratic Party. Where four years ago, there were still divisions on civil unions versus full marriage equality among some party leaders, the party is now lock, stock and barrel behind LGBT-rights issues. Countless speakers have referenced marriage equality, trans rights, hate crimes and more from the convention stage, giving these issues equal weight as immigration rights, racial justice and other movements. The moniker “LGBT” rolled off so many speakers’ tongues with ease, and elicited a cheer from the crowd at every turn.
In the past few days, we have seen very visible LGBT support — from subway riders in rainbow shirts to delegates adorned with rainbow armbands and pins on the convention floor to equality posters being waved throughout the stadium. It’s been eye-opening to see so many LGBT and ally out-of-towners and hear their stories; living in such a progressive and affirming town as Philadelphia, we may tend to become isolated in a sense from the rest of the country’s LGBT community, and this convention has shown us both the depth and breadth of our community’s reach.
The momentum is here now but, once the balloons fall, traffic eases up and the fences come down, that’s when the real work begins of keeping alive the inspiring energy that has permeated Philadelphia this week.