Monologue: Politics Gets Personal
When Elliott told me he was gay, I was terrified for him. And I promised that I would do
everything I possibly could to protect him. I mean I knew that I couldn't be there every time to
protect him from every little thing, no parent can possibly do that, but I always told myself that
for the big things, I'd be there, no matter how busy my career kept me. And it did keep me busy,
very busy. I mean I barely even got to see Elliott. One day I finally got a few hours off in the
afternoon. I came home and he was there. It was the middle of the afternoon and he was
supposed to be in school. He told me that some kids had been harassing him because he walked
the wrong way or something. He tried to act like it didn't bother him, but I could tell it did. I
mean how it could not? And I realized that I had failed. I mean, my son had been getting
harassed and threatened for weeks, and I wasn't there to protect him. He was scared to walk to
school, and I wasn't there. I felt like I had betrayed him. I never really got over that.
And when I first went into politics, I had the same conversation with him and I promised the
same thing: that he would never get dragged into the mud, and that every nasty political
mudslinging game would involve me and not him. So when that woman starting saying those
things, I felt like I would fail again, and that I owed it to him to put her in her place. I know that
he's smart and mature enough to stand up for himself and handle his own battles, but...I'm his
mother. And when someone starts slamming my son, they're slamming me.
I get how politics is, but when people are saying these horrible things about my son, that's not
politics. That's personal.
everything I possibly could to protect him. I mean I knew that I couldn't be there every time to
protect him from every little thing, no parent can possibly do that, but I always told myself that
for the big things, I'd be there, no matter how busy my career kept me. And it did keep me busy,
very busy. I mean I barely even got to see Elliott. One day I finally got a few hours off in the
afternoon. I came home and he was there. It was the middle of the afternoon and he was
supposed to be in school. He told me that some kids had been harassing him because he walked
the wrong way or something. He tried to act like it didn't bother him, but I could tell it did. I
mean how it could not? And I realized that I had failed. I mean, my son had been getting
harassed and threatened for weeks, and I wasn't there to protect him. He was scared to walk to
school, and I wasn't there. I felt like I had betrayed him. I never really got over that.
And when I first went into politics, I had the same conversation with him and I promised the
same thing: that he would never get dragged into the mud, and that every nasty political
mudslinging game would involve me and not him. So when that woman starting saying those
things, I felt like I would fail again, and that I owed it to him to put her in her place. I know that
he's smart and mature enough to stand up for himself and handle his own battles, but...I'm his
mother. And when someone starts slamming my son, they're slamming me.
I get how politics is, but when people are saying these horrible things about my son, that's not
politics. That's personal.
