Politics & Government

LGBT Advocate Represents Redwood City at Democratic Convention

Redwood City resident Jeffrey Adair said re-electing President Obama would continue our country on the right path.

As each day progresses in the Democratic National Convention, delegate Jeffrey Adair grows more certain that the Democrats have the right vision for the future of America.

Adair is a full-time business owner in Menlo Park, but wanted to find some free time to give back to his community as he grew older. To accomplish this, he decided to become more active in his political party and support the candidates he believes will help our country the most.

 

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Advancing the LGBT Agenda

An active advocate for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community, Adair’s activism aligned more with the Democratic Party.

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“[President Obama’s] mind-blowing declaration that he supported same-sex something made me cry,” Adair said. “Who would ever thought that our President would say that? America needs to have this in their mindset.”

Adair strongly supported President Obama’s repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military policy prohibiting openly gay individuals from serving, and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

While working on the National Board of Human Rights on an LGBT campaign, Adair spoke with several of the President’s staff, who said that the President supported same-sex marriage.

“But we never thought he would say those words publicly,” he said.

Adair said he believed Americans were beginning to think more progressively, a shift in mindset that occurred within his own father, .

Adair and his husband, Craig, are one of 18,000 legally married couples in California, before the passage of Proposition 8 outlawed gay marriage in 2008.

“He accepted [Craig] like his own son, even calling him ‘son’ in public,” Adair said. “That was gigantic for my dad, who is highly conservative.”

In response to the opposition who believe gay marriages would ruin the sanctity of the institution, Adair said, “The world is not falling apart because same-sex couples are getting married.”

 

Supporting Obamacare and Immigration Reform

The second most important achievement during Obama’s first term, Adair said, was the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which is designed to reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

“I lived in Europe for a couple of years and saw where countries take care of the people,” he said. “Here in America we’ve been thrown to the wolves of corporations controlling health care and being at the mercy of what they’ve decided it should be.”

He said Obama is the candidate who is the voice of the middle class and not those who “live in big mansions in Atherton.”

Adair also supports Obama’s stance towards reforming immigration policy and fewer Draconian measures that some Republicans support.

 

Becoming a Delegate

Just as politicians run for office, delegates must run for their position. Any registered Democrat can vote for a delegate, Adair explained.

Adair ran for one of nine spots in a pool of 23 candidates in Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s district. His campaign included a six-person slate of three men and three women, who promoted each other.

“It’s funny because it’s such a foreign thing in people’s minds,” Adair said of decided to run for a delegate spot. “But you just dive in head first and do it.”

And while at the convention, Adair said he would always remember his roots.

“I’m a native of Redwood City,” he said. “And it makes me really proud to be able to do this.”

The other delegate from Redwood City is Mayor Alicia Aguirre. Stay turned for an article about her experience.

 

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