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So @PeteButtigieg sailed through his confirmation vote. 86-13. No big deal. :)
Makes me want to cry with joy and pride.
Makes me want to cry with joy and pride.
A brief story: In 1993 I had the honor of being the Capitol Hill "sherpa" to help Clinton nominee Roberta Achtenberg gain Senate confirmation to be HUD Asst Secy of Housing Roberta Achtenberg. She was the 1st openly LGBT nominee ever. Those meetings with Senators were bizarre.
They wanted to know things like whether she'd bring "ladies" or other "inappropriate" people to govt offices; whether she could be "impartial" in evaluating contracts due to her "preferences". Some asked her not to "flaunt" her lifestyle at housing events with children present.
On the floor we were up against Sen Jesse Helms whose comments about Roberta were so distasteful that we eventually got 13 GOP votes because they were embarrassed of the things he said. Famously ranting "That damn lesbian!"
But we had champions too: @SenFeinstein @BarbaraBoxer Ted Kennedy, George Mitchell, others. We won with 58 votes after two days on the floor talking about whether lesbians were fit to serve. So when @PeteButtigieg sails thru, it is a no big deal BIG DEAL. 
