Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made a cameo appearance on an organizational conference call Thursday night, surprising thousands of gay and lesbian supporters of his wife, Kamala Harris, who are running for president. Queer black men are shocked.
Emhoff promised Harris would “be there for” the LGBTQ+ community moving forward — just as she has been in the past.
“Because it’s about this wonderful, beautiful community of black gay men who are always there for you, with you, always have your back and will always have your back, just like she will support everybody else,” Emhoff said. .
Emhoff also told a story about how he was surprised by President Biden’s announcement Sunday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race, when he said he happened to be with a gay couple – his friends – after a presidential campaign. In Los Angeles – Join them for a one-hour SoulCycle class in West Hollywood.
“We were there drinking coffee, hanging out, talking, and… people were coming up to me, so now, like after the announcement, my friend’s partner said, ‘Well, you need to see this,’ and I said, ” What?
What the friend retained was Biden’s letter to the nation announcing his withdrawal.
“Of course I didn’t have a phone, so I ran and ran, got in our car, and of course my phone was on fire, and it was basically ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala. Marla called, ‘from everybody,'” Emhoff said. “Of course, the first thing she said was, ‘You… where are you? I need you.
From then on, it was a “whirlwind,” Emhoff said.
“We’ve been busy – I’ve barely even seen her or talked to her since this all happened,” he said.
Emhoff joined the call, which was billed as an organizing, fundraising and information gathering for “Black gay and queer men in Harris,” and was attended by about 2,250 people. His speech followed speeches by several prominent black queer people, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
The call, one of many identity-inspired calls organized in support of Harris, came just ahead of another larger, star-studded call to the broader LGBTQ+ community organized by the Human Rights Campaign.
Emhoff was introduced by Dorien Paul Blythers, a former Harris campaign staffer and founder of the Los Angeles social impact group Good Rebel, who has worked with Emhoff in the past Work closely together.
Blathers said he knows Harris is a fighter, especially for marginalized communities.
“I often think of her as one of us – someone who is often underestimated, stereotyped and ignored, when in fact we know we are well prepared, we are very dynamic and overqualified, ” Blathers said.
He said that while everyone on the call may like Harris, “I know one person who likes her better” – before introducing Emhoff.
“Hey everyone!” Emhoff said with a smile.
Emhoff thanked Blathers, saying they used to “drive together on campaigns” when Emhoff had a staff member, who was usually Blathers. He apologized for exposing Blathers to “terrible ’80s music” on these trips and thanked him for being a leader.
“You have been there for Kamala, me and our family,” he said. “Now, just as you have been there for her, she will be there for you and the rest of us.”
Emhoff heaped praise on Biden.
“I love that man so much. He’s been there for all of us. He’s been there for your community, my community, all of us,” he said.
“But now we must support Kamala Harris because her vision for America is one where we all have a place,” Emhoff said. “She was talking about the future, not the past. She was talking about a free world, a world where we value everyone, a world where we advocate for people, a world where we fight bullies – and we are now Fight the ultimate bully.
Emhoff said he is now “in awe” of his wife “as her husband, but as a proud American and as someone who loves our country.”
He mentioned Trump briefly, but then said, “I don’t want to talk about any of this because I heard the last speaker talk about what a hellscape our country is going to be.” [in] If only the guy who was a terrible president the first time could somehow come back.
“We can’t imagine a future like this,” Emhoff said.
Before hanging up, Emhoff said he was going to “go upstairs” to see Harris – “because I haven’t seen her in four or five days and I’m going to give her a big hug and I’m going to say, ‘ Honey, go get some rest’ because we have about 102 days or so left to save our country.
The call was organized by civil rights attorney Alphonso David, civil rights leader and Color of Change president Rashad Robinson, and journalist, professor and community organizer Emil Wilbekin. The session was attended by men from all over the country, all joining the chat room from where they dialed in.
Atlanta, Washington, D.C., the Baltimore area and New York are well represented, but there are also people from Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Robinson said the calls from gay and queer black people unearthed something unique and important.
“I’ve been thinking about the connections between the issues we face in the upcoming election and the stories of black gay and queer men,” he said.
“In many ways, we all have to fight for our seats at the table. We have to work to ensure that our relationships are recognized and treated fairly. We have to work to ensure that we are fully integrated into community life, while at the same time doing a lot of work that is sometimes hidden and unseen work to make our community beautiful, our community whole, our community great,” he said.
“We have to be resilient against so many challenges, just like our sisters have to be resilient in this election,” he said. “So we know what it’s like to fight. We know what it’s like to be the loser, And knowing what winning would be like.
