Friend,
As you may know, before I came home to Illinois, I was a meteorologist at a local station in Tyler, Texas.
One morning, my boss approached me and said we needed to speak after the show.
When I got to the conference room, I saw my employment contract laid out on the desk. Next to it was a printout of my profile from a gay dating website.
I was told I had a choice: to be "that person" in the profile or "have a job."
I decided then and there to resign and move back to Illinois.
That story has replayed time and time again in my head, throughout my life. And it’s been triggered again by the Supreme Court announcing they would take on a case that seeks to ban marriage equality.
As the first openly LGBTQ+ legislator to represent Illinois, I believe in what’s possible. But MAGA extremists -- from elected officials to Trump-appointed judges -- have been emboldened by the hate spewing out of the White House, and are trying to strip others of the freedoms they claim for themselves.
These efforts to re-litigate our humanity are a reminder of why we need representatives in Congress who can lead with empathy -- especially when it comes to protecting youth who may already feel marginalized.
And in the face of attacks by the Supreme Court, it’s a reminder that every seat matters in flipping Congress — so we can strengthen federal laws against these hateful efforts.
I’m standing up to hate in Congress, but it's going to take a team effort to get this done. Please contribute $3 to my re-election campaign, and help me defeat these bigoted attacks on our communities.
Thanks for hearing me out,
-Eric
