Friends -
I am excited to share Equality California (EQCA), the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, has thrown their full support behind our campaign! They join the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, Co-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus in endorsing me for State Senate.
The laws and court cases which protect abortion access and care, marriage equality, and transgender rights are under coordinated assault in Florida, Texas, and in communities right here in California. That’s why I’m proud of the intersectional coalition led by Equality California, Planned Parenthood, and allies to fight back. And why I strongly support the package of legislation they won to protect the privacy of patients seeking reproductive or gender-affirming health care.
In the wake of the Dobbs decision and anti-LGBTQ laws in so many states, we can’t allow out-of-state politicians and bounty hunters to subpoena, investigate, and punish patients who come to California for care. And it is why we needed to enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution last year and do the same for marriage equality next year.
When I came out in 2006, I was one of the only four openly gay mayors in the country. My journey out of the closet was the subject of an episode of Logo network’s internationally syndicated Coming Out Stories (also available on iTunes). In the subsequent weeks, I received hundreds of letters from people on their own journeys of understanding and authenticity.
I went on to fight from the front line, serving as the inaugural chair of the national LGBTQ Mayor’s Alliance in 2014. I also headed the LGBTQ Caucus of the League of California Cities. A column on gay marriage I wrote for USA Today with Julian Castro and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was cited as evidence in cases before the US Supreme Court of changing social norms on Main Street, helping cement marriage equality in US jurisprudence.
A few weeks ago, in the wake of the bomb threats, school and library closures, and alarming school board meetings in our district, I wrote to you:
"Representation matters, not just in the abstract but also for LGBTQ kids and adults who depend on public officials for their very survival in an increasingly hostile and violent political climate. It is harder to see LGBTQ people as subhuman or “contagions” when they are visible in city halls and in the state capitol…I was the first LGBTQ city official in the 3rd Senate District back in 2006, but our district has still never elected an LGBTQ senator, assemblymember, county supervisor, or even a second mayor.”
That’s why Equality California’s endorsement means so much. With so many kids, teachers, librarians, and others under assault, representation has never mattered more.
Sincerely,
Christopher Cabaldon
Candidate for State Senate District 3
