Julia Boseman, North Carolina's only out state senator, was the solitary holdout who voted no on the resolution honoring Sen. Jesse Helms after he died last year. She is also the successful plaintiff in a custody case, in which the North Carolina Court of Appeals accepted the validity of a second-parent adoption. What absolutely boggles my mind is that if I still lived in the very conservative town where I grew up, she would be my state senator.
Durham Indy interview conducted by Steven Petrow:
In sitting down with the Indy recently at her Wilmington home, Boseman, a 43-year-old Democrat from New Hanover County, spoke frankly and movingly about [a number of issues].
For Boseman (and North Carolina's LGBT community), it's been, as she says, a "really good year," one where she successfully led the fight as primary sponsor of the School Violence Prevention Act (known informally as the anti-bullying bill), which specifically protects LGBT kids and marks the first time that sexual orientation and gender identity are included in North Carolina law. The year also marked the passage of the Healthy Youth Act, which provides young people with life-saving information about STDs as part of a comprehensive sex education program that teaches more than just abstinence....
Indy: When you first ran for office, were you out as a lesbian?
Sen. Boseman: Yes!
How much do you think your sexual identity has been a driver in your political life?
I have to say it's much easier with the whole world knowing that you're gay. I can remember when I ran in 2000 for county commissioner, I had a choice: I can either be closeted or I can run as an openly gay candidate. If I run as an out gay person, I take away the biggest bombshell that they can use against me. There was a lot of interest in my race at that time—especially my first Senate race [in 2004]—because there have only been a handful of openly gay elected officials in North Carolina. So people from around the country had concerns.
[In the end], I made a conscious decision to run as an out lesbian. I have to say it was a little unnerving when the media went through my campaign reports and they found out I got support from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. They came into my office with the cameras running, saying, "You're a lesbian. You're openly gay."
"Yes, I am. I am going to be honest with the people about who I am, just as I will be about honest with them about the issues that affect them."
So what's it like to be the lesbian, the only out state senator, the poster child for being an elected dyke here in North Carolina?
I never really think of it like that. People automatically assume things about you because you're gay—like you're going to raise taxes through the roof because you're liberal. You want everything that's considered liberal. Actually, we care about all the same things as other people—getting a good education, roads, where's the guy who's picking up my trash.
What advice do you have for other LGBT folks who are thinking about politics and public service?
You better have a really thick skin. You better want it real bad. You need to work hard. Don't get distracted from the light at the end of the tunnel.
Continue reading "Out in Carolina politics: an interview with NC State Senator Julia Boseman" »
Recent Comments