Congratualtions to Tammy Baldwin. She was sworn in to the U.S. Senate yesterday. Although I do enjoy the formality of tradition in the ceremony, I rather would have liked to see a modified swearing in, where Vice President Biden asks "Do you swear to uphold the constitution of the United States, and to perform the duties of this office to utmost of your ability?" to which Tammy Baldwin could respond "You're Damn Right!"
Tammy has said that she didn't run in order to win, and that she wasn't focused on becoming the first openly gay Senator. She does, of course, recognize the importance of this milestone, though. In a report from WISN 12, Milwaukee she explained "If you're not in the room, the conversation is about you... If you're in the room, the conversation is with you, and that's transformative."
This is one of the reasons I have supported Tammy since her 1992 run for State Assembly. At the time, I could only root for her from counties away. I remember watching election returns until late at night, frustrated because local stations focused on Milwaukee county, and the ticker on the bottom showed her race about every 20 minutes or so. I actually didn't find out the result until the next morning, and I celebrated when I learned of her victory.
Back then, I had some notion of who Harvey Milk was. I've read up since then. Harvey understood, perhaps inspired, what Baldwin says about the conversation. Allies are important, especially in bridging the gap between lgbt people and those "want nothing to do" with us. But it's just as important that we have "one of us" taking part in the conversation.
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