Campbell Spencer, a lesbian and political consultant, moved to Washington in the 1990s to work in LGBTQ advocacy. She wooed gay and lesbian voters for Al Gore, worked a stint in the Obama White House and now serves on the board of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which this year issued its first-ever endorsement of a presidential candidate: Pete Buttigieg.<\/p>\n
But so far, Kamala Harris has wowed Spencer more than any other candidate in the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cMayor Pete, he\u2019s a trailblazer,\u201d Spencer said in an interview. \u201cBut I\u2019m one of these women who thinks we are way overdue for having a woman in the White House. That\u2019s a lens through which I\u2019m going to filter my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Ind., has drawn notable support from gay voters and donors for his presidential bid. But interviews with a dozen prominent Democrats in the LGBTQ community spotlight a remarkable collision of goals and ideals in the community of lesbian political activists this year. As the 2020 field slowly winnows, people are divided over which glass ceiling to break first.<\/p>\n
The majority of the women POLITICO interviewed for this story did not want to speak on the record, citing a desire not to damage Buttigieg\u2019s campaign. But especially when compared with the laborious ascent of Hillary Clinton, Buttigieg\u2019s swift rise in national politics hints of male favoritism, some said. Others applauded his run \u2014 but feel more strongly about the need to elect a female president.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a slap in the face to just go directly to the white gay guy, when for decades you\u2019ve been trying to elect a woman and it didn\u2019t happen last time,\u201d said one lesbian Democrat who works in national politics. \u201cIf Pete Buttigieg is elected it won\u2019t feel like a vindication of Hillary Clinton. If a woman is elected, it will.\u201d <\/p>\n
LGBTQ voters made up a relatively small 6 percent of the electorate in the 2018 midterm elections but voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates, according to exit polls. And gay donors are a formidable source of campaign funds in the Democratic Party: One in six of Barack Obama\u2019s top campaign bundlers in 2012 were openly gay, according to a Washington Post analysis at the time. <\/p>\n
The LGBTQ community has been an important launch pad for Buttigieg\u2019s presidential bid. He has fundraised at the homes of several prominent gay donors \u2014 such as television producers Ryan Murphy and Richie Jackson, each of whom have hosted Buttigieg for events in their homes this year \u2014 and received campaign checks from power players including Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and lesbian megadonor Laura Ricketts.<\/p>\n
But the broad 2020 Democratic field includes historic diversity and choice for LGBTQ voters looking for new representation in the White House, or at least on the Democratic debate stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are black gay men and Latina lesbians \u2014 we have all these identities,\u201d said Annise Parker, the former Houston mayor who is now president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund. \u201cI talk to donors who are really glad that Pete\u2019s running, but want Julián Castro to be on the debate stage. Or who say, \u2018I want Cory Booker or Kamala Harris to be on stage.\u2019 I say that\u2019s a great thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Parker, who became the first lesbian elected to lead a major American city only a decade ago, said she plans to vote for Buttigieg. But she also feels the pull of electing the first female president.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a woman, as a lesbian, as someone who was all in for Hillary Clinton and as someone who was a historic first myself, I would love to see a woman at the top of the ticket,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd talking with other women inside the community and not, we understand the importance of Pete\u2019s candidacy \u2014 but dammit, we\u2019re half the population. It\u2019s time\u201d for a woman president, Parker continued.<\/p>\n
Several lesbian donors and activists interviewed by POLITICO said they see in this election a continuation of the gender politics of 2016, when Clinton\u2019s nomination was a vindicating moment for many Democratic women \u2014 and Trump\u2019s position as the GOP nominee heightened the stakes of the race, as well as the burn of Clinton\u2019s loss. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo have a woman candidate finally running for president was extraordinarily galvanizing to substantial portions of the women\u2019s community and the lesbian community,\u201d said Elyse Cherry, a Massachusetts-based lesbian community activist and former member of Clinton\u2019s New England finance committee. \u201cWhen she lost, people were even more galvanized.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cherry pushed to build a movement for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, starting in the early 1990s when the idea was a political outlier. She chaired the board for MassEquality, which advocated for the state\u2019s gay marriage law and worked to guard it from challenges in the years after it was enacted. <\/p>\n
Cherry plans to vote for her senior senator, Elizabeth Warren.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a woman, finally, as our president is important to me,\u201d Cherry said. \u201cThe mistake is to suggest that we all stay in one lane \u2014 for example that if you\u2019re gay you should be supporting gay candidates, or if you\u2019re a woman you should be supporting women candidates.\u201d <\/p>\n
LPAC, an organization that focuses on building power among LGBTQ women, has not endorsed a candidate, but its endorsement discussions will begin at an upcoming board meeting, the group\u2019s president Stephanie Sandberg said, adding that there is a "strong possibility" that LPAC will endorse a candidate.<\/p>\n
Nabeela Rasheed, a Chicago-based lawyer and activist backing Buttigieg, said \u201cthere is absolutely a conversation that\u2019s happening\u201d among lesbian donors in her area about the value of supporting a female candidate over Buttigieg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the county is ready for a West Coast Democrat, and a female at that. And I don\u2019t think this country can take an East Coast female either. They need someone who understands Main Street,\u201d Rasheed said. So Rasheed \u2014 who is of Pakistani descent \u2014 has been raising money for Buttigieg and trying to introduce as many women of color to his campaign as possible.<\/p>\n
Buttigieg surprised observers by surging to national prominence this spring and raising $24 million between early April and the end of June, the most money of any candidate in the field. <\/p>\n
One foundation for his success was a bloc of openly gay male donors and fundraisers who threw their support behind his campaign early in the race. Among the people who have already raised more than $25,000 for Buttigieg\u2019s campaign were Terrence Meck, co-founder of the nonprofit The Palette Fund; and Alex Slater, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Clyde Group. <\/p>\n
Other high-profile gay donors, such as software entrepreneur Tim Gill and philanthropist David Bohnett, have donated to former Vice President Joe Biden, who was an early proponent of same-sex marriage in Washington.<\/p>\n
Kelly Dermody, a former Hillary Clinton bundler and employment lawyer who has represented women in sexual harassment cases, said that while Buttigieg\u2019s candidacy is \u201cexciting,\u201d federal lawmakers who are running have more experience.<\/p>\n