• GAYRVA.COM
  • ABOUT
  • Mobile Site

GayRVA

  • News & Views
    • Headlines
    • History
    • Op/Ed
  • Arts & Events
    • Calendar
    • Photos
    • Nightlife
    • Submit an Event
  • Lifestyle
    • Food & Drink
    • Dating & Relationships
    • Health & Fitness
    • Style
  • Guide
    • Attractions
    • Bars & Clubs
    • Faith
    • Health & Beauty
    • Hotels
    • Legal Resources
    • Non-Profit, Volunteer & Activism
    • Real Estate
    • Recreation
    • Restaurants
    • Shopping
    • Support & Social Groups
    • Theaters
    • Travel
  • Calendar
  • Advertise
  • Bars & Clubs
  • Business Directory
  • Dating
  • Nightlife
  • Photos
  • Visit Richmond
  • Home
  • >
  • OpEd: I Got to Meet a Guy that Calls Hillary Clinton his Bestie
  • You are not logged in.
  • LOGIN
  • News & Views

    Christian Conservatives Claim Bill...

    oann-4
  • News & Views

    RTD Quietly Apologizes For...

    ggUwXDMz_400x400
  • Arts & Events

    On Their Debut Album,...

    npr-1----farrah-skeiky_wide-05af2f640c5bed5ccb7df1f871116072c1d54b78-s800-c85
  • News & Views

    “Queers Will Burn And...

    michael-hill-4
  • Arts & Events

    “Queer Voices” Brings Needed...

    queervoiceslitcrawl
  • News & Views

    VAVP Brings NERVE: Stories...

    29314750_1888291627850560_5798738618818232320_n
  • News & Views

    Controversy Erupts After William...

    wmpridetop
  • News & Views

    Pompeo’s Anti-LGBTQ Views Just...

    pompeo-gay-4
  • News & Views

    Prominent LGBTQ Rights Attorney...

    Day0uiQVAAABMs8
  • News & Views

    LGBTQ Advocacy Group GetEQUAL...

    1423588845

Featured

    • Headlines
    • History
    • Op/Ed
  • Question

    Tacos vs Pizza: You must choose!

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

OpEd: I Got to Meet a Guy that Calls Hillary Clinton his Bestie

Of the three choices in this election, the only person willing to put a rainbow flag behind their name is Terry McAuliffe.
XtinaFitch
XtinaFitch
October 31, 2013
    • Tweet

    Read More: election 2013, Op/Ed, Terry McAuliffe

    xtine and McAuliffe

    Ten days ago, I got to meet a guy that calls Hillary Clinton his bestie… His name is Terry McAuliffe.

    I got to work, and was doing my normal prep for the day (a little extra pep in my step since it was my birthday) when my boy Josh hollered at me from the kitchen, “you know there’s gonna be a bunch of ‘you people’ in here today, right?”

    As I screwed my face into a question mark towards him… A young man in a suit walked through the door, pleasantly introduced himself, and inquired where he could begin setting up a greeting station. I rapidly got the rundown on how there was to be a short function for the Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate from 5:00 to 6:00. It wasn’t until 4:56, when he walked in the door, that I realized that Terry McAuliffe himself was going to be in attendance.

    You can discern a lot about a person by how they treat the people who serve them. I have personally been waiting on prominent politicians in this city for 12 years. So when I describe McAuliffe as the most grateful and courteous “public persona” I have ever met, it is with a substantial and very firm basis of comparison.

    As a bartender, a large part of my job involves regulating rooms full of human interaction – i.e. Cutting people off, interrupting hearty debates before they escalate into fights, and knowing when to tell Creeples McSleezeballs when to quit hitting on Suzie Sitsbyherself.

    Being able to size-up a person’s personality is something in which I take tremendous pride. That being said, I found Terry to be extremely genuine and effortlessly charismatic. For roughly an hour I observed him interacting with about 30 people. He never responded with what I call “flash-card” answers. He quite easily bounced from circle to circle answering specific and intricate questions without repeating himself.

    It was exuberantly refreshing, considering most of my listening to politicians involved a television, a scheduled debate, and several cocktails. McAuliffe said he had a very clear and motivated objective to put an end to the Tea Party movement in this state. I don’t believe that any group at all should be completely stifled for having extreme points of view, but I do always try to truly look at things objectively.

    And from a sternly objective point of view I would point out that the Tea Party is a group that proudly waves the “don’t tread on me” flag, while gleefully treading on the liberties and pursuits of happiness of entire sectors of society, including women and the LGBTQ community.

    With all of this in mind I do not vilify Terry for having a somewhat “anti-tea party” stance. Some people may consider McAuliffe to not be “liberal enough” when it comes to extremely important issues such as marriage equality, (he’s said he supports it, but wont spend time in office pursuing it) but at the very least he has placed himself on the accepting and caring side of history.

    It was more than a year ago that he publicly announced he was a proponent of marriage equality, and with people like Hillary Clinton in his “tree-fort” of political buddies, I feel like there is an inside influence upon him to stick to his guns and continue to be a public voice for the cause.

    Both McAuliffe and Cuccinelli are Catholic. But, of course, there is a massively polarizing defining point from that – McAuliffe acts upon the instinct that the views and practices of his religion should have zero baring on his office or political actions. While anything Cuccinelli spouts induces a need to paraphrase Russel Simmons… “why don’t you just worry about doin’ you?”

    Unfortunately McAuliffe’s camp has not responded to GayRVA’s attempts to open a dialogue leading up to the election*, but it has been apparent for quite some time that of the three choices in this election, the only person willing to put a rainbow flag behind their name is Terry McAuliffe.

    In politics concerning LGBTQ issues right now, there are two main options on the side of progress:

    1) stand firm and bide your time while slowly tempering the waters toward acceptance and new public policy

    2) become a political martyr for a jagged pinch of forward momentum in the name of gay pride.

    I believe both can be extremely effective, but the main problem with number 2 is that, to quote Alan Rickman in “Dogma”, you have to die to become a martyr. Some may say that Terry McAuliffe’s multiple attempts to become governor in different states is a negative attribute of character. But I believe it is quite the opposite. I commend any person who stops at nothing to achieve a personal goal. It is only a testament to his tenacity and positive outlook.

    If you ask me… We need a lot more of that around here. And… the guy came behind the bar and sang “happy birthday” to me with all of his buddies… Which was undeniably awesome.

    *numerous attempts by GayRVA to speak with McAuliffe have been denied or ignored – Editor, Brad Kutner

      • Tweet

      Xtina Fitch is the Founder, Director, and Choreographer of XF Company of Dance. She studied Engineering and Mathematics at N.C. State University. She has been teaching dance professionally and Bar-tending in RVA for more than a decade, and is thrilled to join the GayRVA team!

      26730789_1620967001282549_595294939751427927_n

      Related Stories

      Northam’s First Executive Order Expands Workplace Protections to LGBTQ State Employees

      With his official term as Virginia’s Governor only hours old, Gov. Ralph Northam signed Executive Order #1 into law this afternoon, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, political affiliation, or against veterans, or otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. This executive order mirrors former [...]

      January 13, 2018
      • BREAKING: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoes ‘religious freedom’ legislation, calls them “bad for business”, March 23, 2017
      • Gov. McAuliffe promises to veto anti-LGBTQ legislation at Equality Virginia Lobby Day event, February 8, 2017
      • Governor McAuliffe hits LGBTQ issues hard in 2017 State of the Commonwealth Address, January 11, 2017
      • Prev Theatre Review: “War Horse”
      • Next Movie Reviews: The Counselor & Bad Grandpa
      • Topics
      • Back to top
      ACLU Babe's of Carytown Bob Marshall Carytown Discrimination Diversity Richmond DOMA Equality Virginia Fan Free Clinic Featured Fourth Friday GA 2016 gallery Gay Community Center of Richmond GCCR Godfrey's History HRC Human Rights Campaign Lesbian LGBT LGBTQ LGBT Rights Mark Herring Marriage Equality movie reviews Movies music Nations North Carolina Photos Richmond Richmond Triangle Players ROSMY rva theater RVA theatre Same-Sex Marriage Transgender transgender bathroom use Trump tv jerry University of Richmond VA Pride VCU video

      More News

      • oann-4 Christian Conservatives Claim Bill Banning Conversion Therapy Would Also Ban The Bible
      • ggUwXDMz_400x400 RTD Quietly Apologizes For Hate Group Ad, Donates Proceeds to Diversity Richmond
      • michael-hill-4 “Queers Will Burn And So Will You”: High School Teacher Quits After Months Of Anti-Gay Threats
      • Recent Posts

        • Christian Conservatives Claim Bill Banning Conversion Therapy Would Also Ban The Bible
        • RTD Quietly Apologizes For Hate Group Ad, Donates Proceeds to Diversity Richmond
        • On Their Debut Album, HIRS Unleashes The Kind Of Queer Rage We Need Right Now
        • “Queers Will Burn And So Will You”: High School Teacher Quits After Months Of Anti-Gay Threats
        • “Queer Voices” Brings Needed LGBTQ Representation To the Literary World at Babes Friday
      • Friend Activity

      our partners

      Gungho Guide

      QUICK LINKS

      About

      • About GayRVA
      • Advertise
      • Contact Us
      • Privacy Policy

      Arts & Events

      • Photos
      • Nightlife
      • Calendar
      • Archive

      Connect

      • YouTube
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • E-Newsletter

      Guides

      • Travel
      • Resources
      • Real Estate
      • Business Directory

      Lifestyle

      • Style
      • Health & Fitness
      • Food & Drink
      • Dating & Relationships

      Partner Links

      • RMCVB
      • Gungho Guides
      • GCCR

      Copyright (c) 2018 GayRVA.com | Website Developed By CO+LAB

      GayRVAout. spoken.

      Continue to GayRVA (X)