CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D), Vermont’s first woman and first LGBTQ member of Congress, spoke exclusively with the Washington Blade shortly after her remarks before the second LGBTQ Caucus meeting on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention.
“There’s so much energy and light,” this week, “and I think people understand that we are starved for connection,” she said. “We’re starved for connection — And it’s not just in our community.”
“It is across the country that people don’t want to live in a hateful, cynical place. They just don’t. And we have a special part in helping people to not just see the joy, but channel the joy. And I think that’s a huge part of our community.”
It was “super fun,” the congresswoman said, when she got a shout-out for her teaching background during the ceremonial roll-call vote on Tuesday, which officially made Vice President Kamala Harris the Democratic presidential nominee.
Asked to share her thoughts on her experience as an LGBTQ educator at a time when schools have become the nexus of Republican-led attacks against the community, particularly targeting queer and transgender young people, Balint said “our students across this country need us, and I mean all of us adults, to show up for them.”
“Educators are under attack” too, she said. “Librarians are under attack. And they believe — by them, I mean the MAGA, the folks who are supporting Project 2025 — they believe that somehow they can stifle who we are by going after teachers and educators and [it’s] not going to work.”
Balint continued, “We are who we are. We’re going to keep being who we are. But we, we need to show up for those teachers. We need to show up for those librarians, because they are the ones day in and day out who are standing up for our kids.”
Harris is “tremendous,” she said. “The day that [Joe] Biden endorsed [her], I endorsed [her]. I believe that she is the exact right leader we need at this moment. She has been very, very good for our community
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