By Carolyn Wysinger–
‘Tis the season and all that stuff; I am so excited to go into the holiday season! It’s the time of year for conferences, galas, and swearing ins. As you read this, election season is officially over, even for those cities that had to endure pesky recounts. Congrats to all those who won, including meeeeeee! Thank you for your support.
A few weeks ago, I attended the yearly LGBTQ Leaders Conference hosted by the Victory Fund in Washington, D.C. FYI, the Victory Find is the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ people who can further equality at all levels of government. The Fund’s mission is to work to achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ officials at all levels of government. At this conference you had out elected and appointed officials, political consultants, activists, and other leaders from across the nation. From right here in San Francisco I got to spend time with our own Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Tom Temprano, Alex Randolph, as well as Victory Board Member and our friend Kate Maeder.
I would also like to shout out the National Black Justice Coalition that hosted its Good Trouble Network dinner for Black LGBTQ elected officials and the Victory Fund’s Black Leaders Caucus that held space for Black electeds and leaders. Both groups are very intentional about holding space to support Black LGBTQ electeds and building the bench for future Black leaders. Who knew we had so many Black LGBTQ elected and appointed officials in so many large cities and important roles across the U.S.?! We really have a lot of work to do here in the Bay Area.
But that wasn’t it! Before my seat on the plane was even cold, I was running over to the historic John’s Grill here in San Francisco where Mayor London Breed and former Mayor Willie Brown hosted a fundraiser for the most notable Black LGBTQ elected official in the country, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. It was a great honor to be asked to help with this major event. As a Black masculine of center woman, it was truly an honor to meet Mayor Lightfoot and hear her speak about the challenges in Chicago.
Check out the pics from these events and have a happy holi-gay season, everyone!
Carolyn Wysinger was elected in 2022 to serve on the El Cerrito City Council. She is an LGBTQ author, activist, and former president of the SF Pride Board of Directors. She can be found on Instagram & Twitter @CdubbTheHost
What Dubb Says
Published on December 15, 2022
Recent Comments