Openly gay candidate draws blood

During election season most campaign volunteers give their time and money to make sure that their candidate gets elected. But Framingham state representative candidate Dawn Harkness' volunteers are more hardcore; on August 14 several of her volunteers gave their blood for the good of the campaign.

To raise Harkness's profile her campaign participated in a blood drive held that evening at Framingham's Plymouth Church in response to media reports about a shortage in the local blood supply. Harkness' own daughter, Kate, spent more than an hour on the donation table as Red Cross workers jabbed both of her arms in search of an accessible vein; she emerged from the donation room with bandages on both arms, ready to hold signs on the street with other volunteers.

The irony was not lost on Harkness, an openly gay candidate for the 6th Middlesex District seat, of a gay candidate encouraging her supporters to give blood when U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Red Cross policy prohibits gay men from donating if they have had sex with another man since 1977, a policy that many in the LGBT community have attacked as discriminatory. At least two of her volunteers holding campaign signs outside the blood drive, a married gay couple, were ineligible to donate. Harkness said she felt it was important to raise awareness about the blood shortage in the short term and encourage those who were able to donate, but at a later date in the campaign she said she would speak out publicly against the ban and call on the Red Cross to revise its blanket ban on gay male donors.

"After this we're going to talk about the number of gay men who can't donate," said Harkness. "[The policy] feeds into the homophobic fear that gay men are unclean or diseased. ... I think there's a real need to donate blood and to raise the issue, to move the Red Cross along."

LGBT activism is one of Harkness's core passions, along with environmental activism. For years she has been a fixture in local politics as a member of Framingham's Town Meeting. She also has the backing of a family that carries a lot of weight in the town, the family of the late state Rep. Debby Blumer, who held the 6th Middlesex seat until her death in 2006. In the run-up to that year's election, which was held a month after Blumer's death, the family supported Pam Richardson, who now holds the seat. This time around they have thrown their support behind Harkness, expressing dissatisfaction with Richardson's performance. Blumer's son, Adam, is Harkness's campaign manager, and both Adam and Blumer's husband, Irwin, turned out to give blood at the blood drive.

Yet Harkness lost out to Richardson in getting MassEquality's endorsement, and Harkness and her supporters are upset that the most powerful LGBT political machine in the state has thrown its weight behind her opponent. Richardson won the organization's support by voting last year to defeat a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Since MassEquality began getting involved in electoral work in 2004 the organization has ensured that every single pro-equality incumbent has won re-election, a feat that has given it major clout on Beacon Hill. Harkness and her supporters are clearly irked that MassEquality, with its perfect track record, will be working against them in the run-up to the Sept. 16 primary.

"I wasn't even interviewed. I wasn't even considered for a MassEquality endorsement. I collected signatures for MassEquality," said Harkness. "It does astonish me that they use their power to actually oppose LGBT activists. It's not a fair playing field. I think the least they owe us is to say, Dawn's a lesbian activist and she's good on our issues, but we're supporting Pam Richardson because she cast this vote. At least that would be honest."

Michael Godin, who along with his husband turned out to hold signs at the blood drive, said MassEquality should take a broader approach in making endorsements and support candidates who will best serve the LGBT community.

"Dawn's been a gay and lesbian rights activist for her entire life. ... One vote and they automatically give [Richardson] the whole caboodle," said Godin.

But Matt McTighe, political director for MassEquality, said MassEquality's goal in its electoral work is to build relationships with lawmakers and reward those who take difficult votes on LGBT issues. He said part of motivating lawmakers to vote with MassEquality's agenda is convincing them that the organization will work to make sure they get re-elected.

"We're not going to abandon somebody because somebody else gets in the race who's gay," said McTighe. "It has nothing to do with Dawn Harkness personally. ... It has to do with, has the incumbent been with us when we've asked her to be, and in Rep. Richardson's case she's been there every time."

Harkness said MassEquality should not undervalue the impact of electing more openly LGBT lawmakers to the legislature. She said her work as part of the Framingham Town Meeting has shown residents that LGBT people are active members of the community who are passionate about a range of issues beyond LGBT rights. She remembers one man coming up to her at Town Meeting after seeing her speak and telling her he didn't know gay people cared about local government.

"Let's not undermine the importance of having out members. Even when MassEquality went to support [openly gay] Carl Sciortino [in his first run for Somerville state representative] they said you cannot underestimate the importance of having out members of the legislature. ... We role model for all of our constituents what it means to be out and active in our communities, integrated in our communities, especially in communities like Framingham that are not gay enclaves," said Harkness.

She said MassEquality should weigh her decades of work on behalf of LGBT rights against Richardson's record. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s Harkness went for her law degree at Northeastern Law School in large part due to its reputation as one of the most pro-gay law schools in the country. As a student she clerked for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and opened a Boston legal clinic for homeless youth that she said served many LGBT youth.

She also argued that her work as an LGBT activist helps her connect with other people experiencing discrimination living in the district, particularly the poor, immigrants, communities of color, and the elderly.

"If you're the kind of person who has experienced discrimination or knows what it's like to be thought of as different, then you're the kind of person who, when that happens to another person, whether you're part of the group or not, you're going to stand up to it," said Harkness.

Richardson's campaign responded to a request to comment for this story by providing Bay Windows with a statement from her campaign manager, Jacob Oliveira, touting Richardson's work on LGBT issues.

"Rep. Richardson is proud to have the endorsement of MassEquality. As a strong supporter of the LGBT community, Rep. Richardson has fought to protect marriage equality by supporting the repeal of the '1913' law and opposing steps to write discrimination into the Massachusetts constitution. In addition, she is a cosponsor of the Transgender Rights Bill and she worked for increased funding for programs for LGBT domestic violence victims. The LGBT community has a friend in Pam Richardson," wrote Oliveira.

The night of the blood drive the Harkness campaign was out in full force, raising the campaign's visibility while helping to shore up the region's blood supply. Throughout the evening a team of volunteers rotated positions, taking turns going inside to give blood and venturing outside to hold signs on the street and trying to catch the eye of commuters returning home during the evening commute.

Among the volunteers inside waiting to give blood were Adam and Irwin Blumer, both sporting Harkness campaign buttons. Blumer's family supported Richardson in her run for Blumer's seat in 2006, and she bested Harkness, who ran for the seat as an independent. Adam Blumer said they pulled their support for Richardson this time around because they felt that she had not honored his mother's legacy of speaking out on difficult issues and working to bring people in the district together to solve problems. In particular, Blumer was an outspoken supporter of marriage equality, speaking against an amendment to ban same-sex marriage from the floor of the House during the 2004 constitutional convention. Richardson did not speak from the floor during debate on an amendment in 2007, nor did she speak last month during House debates on repealing the 1913 law that barred most out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

"Even though I agree with many of [Richardson's] votes, there's more to being a state rep than voting on Beacon Hill. ... This particular House seat has a history of people who bring people together in town. My mom saw being a state rep as a way of bringing people together in town," said Adam Blumer.

He said he saw some of that same spirit in Harkness while watching her interact with people in the district at the start of the campaign.

"I felt like supporting her was natural, and once I did that I couldn't be lukewarm," said Adam, explaining his decision to sign on as Harkness's campaign manager.

Harkness has not been shy about advocating for either of her two passions, LGBT rights or the environment, during her campaign. At the blood drive she was joined by her wife Kristen and daughter Kate, who often accompany her on the campaign trail. Kristen said she and Harkness may not fit the traditional mold of a political couple, but she has not encountered any anti-gay sentiment from district residents while campaigning.

"My rule is I come out whenever it comes up. ... You just are who you are, and they respond back to you with what you put out," said Kristen.

Another fixture of the campaign is Harkness's green ambulance, which runs almost entirely on used vegetable oil donated by local restaurants. Harkness bought the ambulance and converted the fuel system to raise awareness about environmentally friendly fuel alternatives and to test whether such vehicles could be integrated into Framingham's municipal fleet to save the city money on fuel. The ambulance has become the campaign's mobile headquarters; the back is full of campaign signs, buttons, and other paraphernalia. Harkness brings the ambulance with her each Friday to do campaign outreach at Framingham's weekly outdoor concert series on the town green. The curiosity factor about the ambulance helps draw people in, allowing Harkness to talk about both the campaign and her environmental activism.

"The ambulance is the calling card of the campaign," said Harkness.

With less than a month to go before the Sept. 16 primary Harkness spends her days knocking on doors, chatting up people in local restaurants and coffee shops, calling potential supporters, and attending local meetings, all in an effort to mobilize support for her candidacy. With no statewide races on the ballot the primary will likely be a low-turnout election. Adam Blumer said that given Richardson's short time in office and the truncated nature of her last campaign she's more vulnerable than the typical incumbent. A third Democrat, Town Meeting member Chris Walsh, is also vying for the nomination.

"This is the first typical election for Pam. Though it's an incumbent it's not your average incumbent," said Adam Blumer.

McTighe said he expects Richardson will prevail, and he said many of MassEquality's supporters in the district have gotten involved in her campaign.

"I think she will be able to fend off the challenge. ... She's already built up a great reputation and she has the support of most of her constituents," said McTighe.

Harkness said she's focused on getting as many of her people to the polls as possible on primary day.

"We always prepare for the unexpected. My goal is to get out as many of my supporters as I possibly can," said Harkness. "This is a hotly contested race in this town."