I only caught snippets of the debate, and maybe I’m just cranky because I live in Indiana, where we’ve had to put up with Pence for longer than anyone else in the nation. But I’m here to say: ugh, this could’ve gone way better from a universal human rights perspective.
I agree with the Slate coverage stating, “Tuesday night was probably America’s best chance to hear Pence directly challenged on his militantly anti-LGBTQ views” …which totally didn’t happen. As a reminder, Pence is in favor of conversion therapy, he was passed the awful RFRA bill that legalized discrimination against LGBTQ folks, and he was letting a bathroom bill work its way toward becoming law (thankfully it didn’t).
Pence also thinks cigarettes are a-ok, helped create an HIV crisis in Indiana, and is so insistent on getting into women’s business that we made the #AskDrPence hashtag to exemplify his interference in uteruses.
I’ll admit, Kaine hasn’t been on my radar much, but according to the Slate article linked above he’s started to support LGBTQ rights over the last few years. I intend to keep reading up on him, though.
Obviously there are many reasons to loathe Pence’s politics and question his ability to lead, but I’m not voting for anyone who thinks LGBTQ people like me are aberrations. (well, I guess there are two counts against me in his book: not only am I bisexual but I also have a womb which apparently needs TONS of regulating, wow, I wish this thing had come with a manual or something!)
Anyway, I just had to vent about that. As a scholar of gender and sexuality, and a feminist educator/activist/blogger, it’s always a bummer to see issues that impact me, the people I care about, and roughly 4% of the American population, ignored.