Gay Georgian Patty Payne, shown with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver and served on the Credential Committee. (Photo courtesy Payne)
Ga. gay delegates reflect on Democratic National Convention
Gay
Georgians
were
involved
in
every
aspect
of
the
Democratic
National
Convention
held
Aug.
25-28,
where
Sen.
Barack
Obama
officially
accepted
his
party’s
nomination
on
the
final
day
of
the
historic
event.
Georgia
sent
nine
gay
delegates
to
Denver
to
participate
in
the
convention:
Patty
Payne
served
on
the
Credential
Committee;
Miguel
Gallegos
and
Morris
P.
Steward
attended
as
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton
delegates;
Jeffery
Meeks
was
a
Clinton
alternate;
Obama
delegate
state
Rep.
Karla
Drenner
(D-Avondale
Estates)
brought
her
children;
Preston
Harden
attended
as
an
Obama
alternate
delegate;
Jane
Bradshaw
and
Joe
Taylor
were
Platform
Committee
members;
and
Gregg
Bossen
served
as
a
page.
The
Republican
National
Convention
was
held
Sept.
1-4.
Unlike
the
Democrats,
the
Republican
Party
does
not
track
the
sexual
orientation,
race
or
gender
of
its
delegates,
and
state
party
officials
were
unaware
of
any
openly
gay
delegates.
Atlanta
Log
Cabin
Republican
members
did
report
one
gay
delegate
who
attended
the
Republican
National
Convention
in
Minneapolis-Saint
Paul,
but
who
did
not
wish
to
be
identified
for
personal
reasons.
SOME
LEFT
WITHOUT
CASTING
BALLOT
Jeffery
Meeks
made
the
trip
from
Atlanta
as
part
of
a
12-day
RV
trip
titled
the
“Unity
Express”
that
took
him
and
other
delegates
to
historic
sites
like
Selma,
Ala.;
the
Clinton
Library
in
Little
Rock,
Ark.;
and
out
to
New
Mexico
before
driving
north
to
Denver.
Once
he
got
to
the
convention,
Meeks
said
it
was
a
whirlwind
of
attending
functions
and
meeting
political
dignitaries.
On
Monday
night,
Aug.
25,
Meeks
sat
four
rows
away
from
former
President
Bill
Clinton
and
“got
close”
to
meeting
Hillary
Clinton.
A
die-hard
Clinton
supporter,
Meeks
left
without
casting
a
ballot,
and
left
before
Obama’s
acceptance
speech.
“I
still
have
an
issue
about
supporting
Obama,
so
it
was
would
not
be
right
for
me
to
fake
it,
and
I
didn’t
want
to
sit
there
four
hours
[before
the
event
started]
either,”
Meeks
said.
“I
never
really
truly
believed
in
Obama.
I
never
have
supported
Obama.”
Obama
alternate
delegate
Preston
Harden
said
the
convention
was
so
jam-packed
he
barely
slept.
Harden
attended
a
number
of
gay
related
events
including
a
GLBT
Caucus
meeting
and
a
luncheon
put
on
by
the
Global
AIDS
Alliance
where
he
met
actor
and
AIDS
activist
Danny
Glover.
Like
Meeks,
he
didn’t
get
a
chance
to
cast
a
vote
for
Georgia.
“I
was
an
alternate,”
he
said.
“I
was
hoping
I
would
get
the
chance
to
vote,
but
I
never
did.”
‘LIKE
A
MIRACLE’
Patty
Payne,
former
chair
of
the
Franklin
County
Democratic
Party,
was
promoted
from
the
Rules
Committee
to
the
more
powerful
Credential
Committee.
As
part
of
the
committee,
Payne
voted
to
give
full
voting
rights
to
the
Florida
and
Michigan
delegations.
Initially
a
Clinton
supporter,
Payne
said
she
wanted
to
be
there
when
Obama
accepted
the
nomination.
“It
was
awesome,
it
was
different.
I
realized
I
was
part
of
history,”
she
said.
Payne
sat
in
her
seat
for
hours
in
Invesco
Field
at
Invesco
Field,
home
of
the
Denver
Broncos,
before
the
event.
“Sitting
there
watching
people
come
in,
I
remember
thinking,
‘Would
he
really
be
able
to
fill
up
this
entire
space?’
And
by
the
time
it
started
to
get
dark
it
was
full.”
She
said
there
was
a
moment
in
the
stadium
that
changed
her
mind
about
Obama’s
candidacy.
“It
was
funny
when
I
listened
to
Obama
speak,
for
one
split
second,
and
I’m
a
Hillary
delegate,
that
convinced
me
that
we’re
really
going
to
make
it
this
time,”
she
said.
“It
felt
like
there
was
a
miracle
there,
like
there
was
a
little
bit
of
MLK,
John
Kennedy,
Bobby,
but
different.
He’s
different
than
any
of
them,
but
they’re
there.”
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
