Rachel Balick live from Iowa
The most moving moment of last night's caucuses - and maybe our whole trip - was when Elizabeth Barnhill of Des Moines (pictured left, wearing green shirt) courageously presented her personal resolutions on key GLBT issues, including marriage equality and a fully-inclusive employment non-discrimination policy, during her precinct's platform discussion.
She spoke of her family's story, illustrating perfectly the real reason that we must work tirelessly toward full equality.
Not to mention that it was all caught on C-Span while she and her partner Peg Whorton wore HRC t-shirts. It may have been controversial for Elizabeth to bring up these issues, but ultimately she and her neighbors voted for fundamental fairness. The vote made the resolutions official recommendations to the county Democratic platform committee, who will then decide whether to move it to the state committee for consideration to be part of the state Democratic Party's platform.
Peg and Elizabeth brought two of their daughters, Nisha and Alicia, to the caucus. I took Elizabeth, who is the executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, aside and asked her a few questions to learn more about her, her family, and her passion for equality.
Q: What was the conversation about your resolution like?
A: This particular caucus was very receptive to the resolutions. From here they'll be forwarded to the county level for consideration in the county platform and then maybe the state platform. Hopefully similar resolutions were introduced in other caucuses.
Q: What motivated you to present the resolutions?
A: My personal motivation is that my partner and I have eight kids and young adults between us, plus seven grandkids. My partner's had difficulty obtaining medical care for my kids because she's not their legal parent under current law. We've also both experienced discrimination on the job - not in our current jobs, but in the past.
Q: Were you surprised that your resolutions were approved?
A: I didn't know they it would be, so I'm very pleased. I hoped they would pass but I wasn't sure. A lot of people leave the caucus after the delegates have been chosen for the candidates, but I think now that even if the full caucus had voted, they also would have supported them.
Q: How did this caucus compare to previous caucuses, as far as support for GLBT issues?
A: I've been to every caucus since 1980. I think the resolutions would have faced more challenges in the past, but there's a lot more momentum now, so it's a good time to work on these issues.
Q: What do you think accounts for the momentum?
A: I think the efforts of the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations play a big part. It's the increased visibility of these issues, giving real-life families a chance to talk about their lives and showing people that we're regular - even boring - families.
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