On June 3rd of this year, voters in California's 26th State Senate District (which covers much of West Los Angeles and the South Bay and includes parts of Central Los Angeles) did something rather remarkable.
In a dual upset, they sent two young, articulate, and unapologetic progressive Democrats, Santa Monica - Malibu Unified School District Board Member/UCLA Law Professor Ben Allen and Social Justice Attorney Sandra Fluke, into a runoff against each other. In doing so, they quite possibly created the first ever general election match-up for major office between two Generation Y/Millennial candidates between Allen (born in 1978) and Fluke (born in 1981).
There are few Millennials in office. We only saw the first Democratic Millennials elected to Congress in 2012 (there are six total in Congress) and given the crushing economic burdens and environmental problems we face, we need far more). Generally, what few Millennial politicians who hold public office fall into the following three categories: (1) they come from political families with big names, (2) they come from very wealthy backgrounds, or (3) both. But what makes this runoff all the more remarkable is that both Allen and Fluke do not fall into any of these categories.
On election night as the results, completely unexpected by most political observers, became clear, I had this feeling of joy. I realized that the voters of West and Central Los Angeles had rewritten the script. They decided not only to vote for unapologetic liberals but more fundamentally, they made the decision to hand over the keys of government power to the Millennial Generation.
Of course, with this remarkable result, comes the difficult decision. Which one of these two incredible, talented, intelligent, and promising young progressive leaders do I vote for in the general election?
I've decided on Ben Allen.
In this incredible election, I've met and gotten to know both candidates . I like, respect, and admire both. I see both as potential leaders. I'd be proud to have either one represent me in the California State Senate.
So what has pushed me to vote for Allen?
The answer is simple. It's his leadership on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) Civil Rights issues and demonstrated commitment to sexual orientation and gender identity equality.
For our community, it is vitally important that we elect people to office who (1) share our values, (2) are willing to fight for LGBT Civil Rights, (3) truly believe in sexual orientation and gender identity equality, and (4) see our community not just as a special interest group but as an equal participant in the greater whole of American society.
Allen is that candidate.
I say that because Allen demonstrated his leadership on the Santa Monica - Malibu Unified School District Board when he worked to protect and recognize the most often ignored and most vulnerable members of the LGBT community: LGBT youth.
LGBT youth are frequently the most stigmatized and isolated, commonly facing discrimination in the school yard, and often, closeted, cannot turn to their families for support. I know this from first hand experience of having once been an LGBT youth myself. Until very recently, in the mainstream media, in general political discourse, and even among many LGBT Civil Rights activists, LGBT youth simply did not exist. Most LGBT youth experience isolation and shame as a result.
Worse, this false dichotomy is used to further discrimination against our community. I won't forget Proposition 8, when we saw the false dichotomy effectively used to take away our rights in the name of protecting children from learning about LGBT people (who were presented as predators). Even many people who wound up opposing Proposition 8 often bought into this; viewing "children" as different from "gay people." After all, it was the No on 8 Campaign that responded to these attacks saying "don't worry, this won't be taught to children!"
For most politicians, the reality of the existence of LGBT youth is too politically expedient to ignore. It's not something you acknowledge or want to deal with, lest jeopardizing a political career.
But Ben Allen is different. He stepped up.
When he initially ran for the school board, he publicly opposed Proposition 8 even though he was discouraged from doing so by political allies and mentors. In response, he was heckled by pro-Proposition 8 demonstrators who picketed every single campaign event he held. Yet he refused to back down, demonstrating courage and leadership.
As a board member, he continued his leadership, standing strongly for LGBT students at every chance. He has been a supporter of Project 10 groups and Gay-Straight Alliances at schools in his district. When the conservative Westboro Baptist Church came to picket Santa Monica High School, Allen stood with the students. He helped make sure that laws prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination were implemented and enforced in his district.
For those LGBT youth fortunate to attend schools in his district, their schools are safe haven and they know, in Allen, they have an ally in their corner. An LGBT youth might not be able to turn to their family but they know they can turn to their elected school board member.
How many LGBT youth anywhere in the world get the privilege of saying that?
It is not simply his acts as a school board member but how Allen conducts himself in his personal life. I've done my homework on this race. I learned about several instances of early activism, during a time when LGBT Civil Rights were not popular, that deeply impressed me. For example, as a student at Santa Monica High School, he helped establish that school’s first Straight-Gay Alliance. He was a member of a local Santa Monica Boy Scout troop that left the Boy Scouts of America and became independent when the National Boy Scouts refused to allow openly gay Boy Scouts and Scoutmasters. He employs openly LGBT people as senior level staffers to his campaign. He supports lesser known but effective LGBT Civil Rights organizations like Lambda Legal and the Victory Fund.
Ben Allen is, by all accounts, an LGBT Civil Rights leader. That's someone who we need in office and who I hope to have representing me.
I'm proud to be voting for him tomorrow and I hope my fellow SD-26 Kossacks will join me in doing so.