Many of us lived through a Democratic party, that was, to put it charitably

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indifferent to 'social' issues. Ronald Reagan opposed the infamous initiative that would have banned not only LGBT teachers but any people who supported LGBT people from teaching before Jimmy Carter did. Our Senate majority from 1977 to 1989 was Robert Byrd, who was by any measure a total homophobe. The GOP record on AIDS, quite fairly, is recognized as being abysmal but the Democratic record from that era frankly was only marginally better. Clinton was the first nominee to actively campaign for LGBT votes. Then we saw 2000 where the candidates debated whether to add LGBT to the Civil Rights Act or pass a separate ENDA style law. In 2004, we had one candidate who campaigned largely on his record in regards to LGBT (along with opposition to the war) and the rest of the slate fought hard for our votes. In 2008, one of the forums was entirely about LGBT issues. Then in 2016, it was nearly radio silence. Not one single, solitary debate question was about LGBT issues. Those issues only got brought up by Hillary unprompted by the moderators. Honestly those debates could have been held in the 1980's in terms of LGBT issues given the lack of them coming up. Gays have, in many senses, come a long way since my childhood and young adulthood. My college's gay group was underground when I was at school. There was only one state with statewide protections for LGB people (Wisconsin didn't protect trans). The president of my college's Democrats wore shorts on a 40 degree day in order not to show support for the LGBT denim day at my school. Now 21 states have state wide protection. Marriage equality is the law of the land. A few states have banned gay conversion therapy. But, 29 states still have no protections, marriage equality was a 5 to 4 decision with two 80 year olds having authored it. Yet, not one question, not one, about any LGBT rights issue. Nothing about the problem older gays have in nursing homes, nothing about the persistent problem with bullying and suicide in schools, nothing about our 9th largest state banning trans from bathrooms.

It is against that backdrop that some of us are looking with fear when we see progressivism being defined as purely economic without regard to social issues. When we see the moniker progressive being given to candidates that would outlaw abortion, codify discrimination against gays and see it refuse to be given to candidates who favor legal abortion and have sterling gay rights records because they want to raise the minimum wage to 13 dollars and hour as opposed to 15 or want college to be loan free instead of tuition free or they once spoke to Citibank that is worrisome. I remember a time when only economics mattered to our party and I was very much on the outside looking in. We am on the inside now, we clawed our way in, we aren't going quietly into that great night. You don't get to define me out of progressivism.