Sal Rosselli is no stranger to the Democratic National Convention. The gay labor leader has been to "almost all of them" since 1984, the last time the confab was in the City by the Bay.
"In 1984, I happened to be president of the Alice B. Toklas club and we had 18 delegates to the convention," Rosselli said in a phone interview, referring to the more moderate of the city's two LGBTQ Democratic clubs. "At that time, to be a delegate you had to run congressional district-wide on the ballot and all Democrats were eligible to vote. It was a real campaign! You had to be elected by all the Democrats in the city."
That year's DNC was trailblazing in its own right — it was the first time a woman, the late Congressmember Geraldine Ferraro (New York), was chosen as the running mate on a presidential ticket. A woman wouldn't win the vice presidency until 2020 when Kamala Harris, who started her political career as San Francisco district attorney, was victorious with President Joe Biden.
Rosselli used that 1984 convention to draw national attention to the AIDS epidemic. President Ronald Reagan, whose reelection led the GOP to a landslide victory that year, had still not acknowledged it, despite the disease having already killed thousands of Americans.
"We did distribute a tabloid to 30,000 people over the four days focusing on the AIDS crisis back then and got national press," Rosselli said in a phone interview. "CNN did interviews. We did a march on the convention floor."
Now 74, Rosselli is showing up to Chicago next week to support Harris on another trailblazing ticket, as the sitting vice president-turned-presidential nominee and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, take on the Republicans, former president Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance (Ohio).
Rosselli said that Harris' ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket gives him "joy and hope that she can win."
"I help lead the national union of health care workers, and we were one of the first unions in the country to endorse Kamala the day after Biden decided he wasn't going to run," he said, referring to the National Union of Healthcare Workers. "We've known and supported her since she was the DA here in San Francisco, so it's a very close relationship with our members — a rich history."
Rosselli is one of seven LGBTQ delegates to the DNC the Bay Area Reporter has spoken to about their upcoming trip to the Windy City. The 48th quadrennial DNC will be held there, at the United Center, from August 19-22.
Delegates excited for Harris
This year's DNC occurs under two unusual circumstances. Normally, the delegates formally vote at the venue to select the presidential and vice presidential nominees. However, this isn't necessary at this year's convention since it already happened virtually from August 1-5. That was done to comply with Ohio's election laws that require nominees be certified by August 7. Therefore, the focus this year will be the adoption of the party platform and speeches by Harris, Walz, Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, other Democratic luminaries, and up-and-coming stars.
The other unusual circumstance, of course, is that normally the winner of the primaries receives the nomination. Biden won against token opposition but declined the nomination last month amid concerns about his electability following a faltering debate performance in late June with Trump that drew questions about his fitness to serve another four years. After his announcement on social media that he would not seek a second term, he immediately issued another post in which he endorsed Harris. The party quickly united behind her, and she faced no opposition.
Andrés Ramos, a gay DNC delegate from the Sacramento area, had "mixed feelings" about Biden's departure.
"He's done a great job, and I wish that more Democratic leaders had stood by him. But too often Democrats get spooked by polls and run from them rather than fight harder to move the needle in our direction," Ramos stated in a Facebook message. "That being said, President Biden is getting older and he made the difficult, but selfless, decision to pass the baton to VP Harris. I think history will look back and recognize it was the right decision."
Biden is 81. After he departed the race, Trump, 78, suddenly became the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history. Harris is 59.
Everyone the B.A.R. contacted agrees that Harris, in Ramos' words, has "enjoyed unprecedented momentum" since entering the race just over three weeks ago and "represents a shift in our politics to a new generation of leadership that is younger, more diverse, and more representative of America."
Shay Franco-Clausen, a lesbian DNC delegate from the East Bay who is political director for Equality California, told the B.A.R. in a phone interview that she "couldn't be more excited."
"I'm a Black, queer woman, and so for me, this is so exciting because I think that's what our nation needed. We needed some change," she said. "When that change happened, so did the momentum. So many people asked 'What can we do? What can we do next?' I'm way more excited to be at this DNC because this is a historic moment."
If she wins, Harris would be the first woman, the first Black woman, and the first person of South Asian descent to be elected president.
Franco-Clausen said one of the highlights for the LGBTQ delegates to the convention will be the LGBTQ caucus meeting, on August 19 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time. There's about 1,000 LGBTQ delegates from around the country, she said, and this meeting will give them a chance to meet one another.
One of those hoping to get to know other LGBTQ delegates is South San Francisco Mayor James Coleman, who is bisexual. He is seeking reelection this year to the South San Francisco City Council.
"I think that's one of the highlights," Coleman said in a phone interview. "I think last convention, it was all virtual due to the COVID pandemic, so the last time the DNC met was in 2016, almost 10 years ago, so this'll be a really great opportunity to meet all sorts of delegates from all over the country. So I'm excited to be networking and seeing what's going on in their states as well."
Honey Mahogany, a Black queer, trans DNC delegate who until earlier this year was chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, is intently interested in what's happening in other states as well. Mahogany is now the executive director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives.
"There's a lot of trans folks across the country who are organizing specifically for Kamala Harris," Mahogany said in a phone interview. "I'm hoping I get to connect with a lot of these folks in person. There's a lot of folks doing a lot of good work for the LGBTQ community, especially in states that are Republican-led. We've seen the passage of legislation preventing gender-affirming care in young people and criminalizing bodily autonomy. I look forward to connecting with them and to talking to them about lessons learned and how we can come up with a national strategy to push back against authoritarianism, and this movement that seeks to take away people's civil rights."
Life of a delegate
The process of becoming a delegate has changed over the years; instead of a countywide ballot, Democrats have to register online with the state party to get an e-ballot, where they can vote for individual delegates.
"Democrats were able to vote in the April 21 caucus using an online voting system in which an email with a link and unique code was sent out to each voter who registered to vote in the caucus by April 11," Ramos stated. "It was a fully online ballot."
Luis Zamora, a gay San Francisco man, stated in an email he wanted to be a DNC delegate to represent his communities. He's running for a seat on the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees in November.
"The California Democratic Party was very intentional in communicating that it wanted to ensure the diverse representation of our state and our party at this year's convention," he stated. "As a gay Latino and first-generation American and college student, I felt like the party was speaking directly to me, so I worked up the courage and signed up to run for one of the four available district-level delegate positions for self-identified males. I was honored to be the top vote-getter in our congressional district."
While party members select their delegates, that does not translate into a free trip for them to Chicago. Delegates are on the hook for their expenses.
"As a delegate, we have delegate accommodations HOWEVER they aren't paid for, lol," Carolyn Wysinger, an El Cerrito city councilmember and lesbian DNC delegate, stated in an email to the B.A.R. "So the challenge is having the funds to pay for it."
Rosselli, a San Francisco delegate, said that delegates are assigned to hotels.
"Each state in the country is assigned to a particular hotel, or in California's case, two hotels. So after we were elected, I got an email from the state party: 'make your reservation at this hotel.' Then the room is reserved for the delegate. The delegate has to pay all the expenses — hotel, transportation. I think there was a $300 per delegate fee to go to breakfast every morning."
Dems to vote on platform
Rosselli was on the platform committee in 2016, but is not this year, he said. The party released a draft platform, or statement of beliefs and policy proposals, July 13 that has to be approved by the convention.
The draft touts the victories of the Biden-Harris administration, including the bipartisan infrastructure law, the first gun safety legislation in a generation, the largest investment on climate change in American history as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, and strengthening NATO.
Harris has taken criticism for not yet sitting for a major news interview or releasing detailed policy proposals, though in campaign appearances she's discussed restoring abortion rights, cracking down on fentanyl, and reaching a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. The draft platform states that in the future, "Democrats will fix the tax system so everyone has a fair shot. We will restore the right to choose. We will continue to bring down costs for families. We will stop a dictator from destroying our democracy."
It's the Israel-Hamas war that gives the Democratic faithful anxiety; Chicago was famously the site of massive anti-Vietnam war protests and convention floor battles at the 1968 convention. The split screen of chaos stemming from the protests on the one hand and the action inside the convention hall have been blamed for the party's generational malaise on the presidential level in the 1970s and 1980s.
This year, protest groups have pledged massive demonstrations of United States support of Israel at the convention, despite not having done so at the Republican National Convention last month.
The draft platform states that "President Biden and Vice President Harris recognize the worth of every innocent life, whether Israeli or Palestinian" and that "President Biden has also been determined to broker an immediate and lasting ceasefire deal that once finalized secures the return of all hostages, including the remaining Americans held in Gaza; addresses the immense civilian pain and extreme suffering being caused by the conflict, including the displacement and death of so many innocent people in Gaza; results in a durable end to the war in Gaza; and sets the stage for a lasting regional peace."
Nonetheless, the delegates the B.A.R. contacted are happy to be visiting Chicago.
"This is my first time going to Chicago," Coleman said. "Hopefully, this'll be more peaceful [than in 1968]. I'd like to visit and eat the food there; it's definitely a very diverse community there. My uncle lived there; he passed away, but I never got to visit."
The delegates were united in hoping the convention continues to build the momentum for the Harris-Walz ticket.
Wysinger stated that "we must all remember the big fight is in the battleground states."
"We must do everything we can to support ground game efforts in those states," she continued. "Volunteering to phone bank, text bank and even GO to those states if you have the flexibility. All hands on deck!"
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