Second gentleman Doug Emhoff surprised a couple thousand gay and queer Black men who are backing his wife, Kamala Harris, for president, when he made a special appearance on an organizing call Thursday night.
Emhoff promised that Harris would “be there” for the LGBTQ+ community in the future, as she has been in the past.
“When it comes to this wonderful, beautiful community of Black gay men, she has always stood by you, with you, has had your back, and will always have your back, just like she will have everyone else’s back,” Emhoff said.
Emhoff also told a story about being caught off guard by President Biden's announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race on Sunday, when he said he was in Los Angeles with a gay couple (friends of his) after taking a one-hour SoulCycle class with them in West Hollywood.
“We were just there having coffee and playing games and talking, and… people come up to me, so now it's like, after the announcement was made, and my friend's buddy was like, 'Um, you need to see this,' and I was like, 'What?'” Emhoff said.
What the friend was holding was Biden's letter to the country announcing his withdrawal.
“Of course, I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got in our car, and of course my phone was on fire, and basically everyone was like, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’” Emhoff said. “And of course the first thing he said was, ‘Where the hell were you? I need you.’”
Since then, Emhoff said, it's been a “whirlwind.”
“We’ve been working hard, I’ve barely seen or spoken to her since all this happened,” he said.
Emhoff joined the call, which was billed as an organizing, fundraising and informational meeting for “Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris,” when there were about 2,250 people on the call. He spoke after several prominent Black queer men had spoken, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
The rally was one of many identity-inspired rallies organized in support of Harris, and took place just before another larger, star-studded rally for the broader LGBTQ+ community, organized in part by the Human Rights Campaign.
Emhoff was introduced by Dorien Paul Blythers, a former Harris campaign staffer and founder of the Los Angeles-based social impact organization Good Rebel, who has worked closely with Emhoff in the past.
Blythers said she knows Harris as a fighter, someone who fights for marginalized communities, in particular.
“I like to think of her often as one of us, someone who is often underestimated, stereotyped and overlooked, when in fact, we know that we are exceptionally prepared, incredibly dynamic and overqualified,” Blythers said.
He said that while everyone on the call may love Harris, “there's one person I know loves her even more,” and then introduced Emhoff.
“Hello, everyone!” Emhoff said with a laugh.
Emhoff thanked Blythers, saying they used to “drive around together on the campaign trail” when Emhoff had a staffer, who was usually Blythers. He apologized for subjecting Blythers to “terrible 80s music” on those trips and thanked him for being a leader.
“You have always been there for Kamala, for me and for our family,” he said. “And now, just like you have been there for her, she will be there for you and for the rest of us.”
Emhoff praised Biden.
“I love that man so much. He’s been there for all of us. He’s been there for his community, for my community, for all of us,” she said.
“But now we have to get behind Kamala Harris, because she has a vision for America where we all have a place,” Emhoff said. “She’s talking about the future, not the past. She’s talking about a world where there’s freedom, a world where we value everyone, a world where we stand up for people, a world where we fight back against bullies — and we’re fighting back against the biggest bully right now.”
Emhoff said he is now “in awe” of his wife, “as her husband, but as a proud American, as someone who loves our country.”
He briefly mentioned Trump, but then said, “I don’t want to get into all that, because I heard the last speaker talking about what a hell our country is going to be. [in] “If somehow that guy who was a terrible president the first time comes back somehow.”
“We can't imagine a future like that,” Emhoff said.
Before hanging up, Emhoff said he was going to “go up” to see Harris, “because I haven’t seen her in four or five days, I’m going to give her a big hug, I’m going to say, ‘Go get some rest, honey,’ because we’ve got about 102 days left to save our country.”
The rally 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. Men from around the country attended, all of whom left the place they had logged in from to chat.
There was strong representation from Atlanta, the Washington DC and Baltimore area, and New York, but also people from Florida, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Robinson said the call from black gay and queer men touched on something unique and important.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the connections between what we’re facing in this upcoming election and the history of black gay and queer men,” he said.
“In many ways, we’ve had to fight for our place at the table. We’ve had to fight to make sure our relationships are recognized and treated fairly. We’ve had to fight to make sure we were fully integrated into the life of the community, all while sometimes doing so much hidden and invisible work to make our communities beautiful, our communities complete, our communities great,” she said.
“We’ve had to be resilient through so many challenges, just like our sister will have to be resilient through this election,” she said. “So we know what it’s like to struggle. We know what it’s like to be the underdog and what it’s like to win.”
