OUT ON THE HILL is the official blog of the Victory Congressional Interns. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. Learn more about the internship at victoryinstitute.org/vci.
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This past week, my office held a press conference turning Father’s Day into a week of advocacy called Father’s Day Care Week. As chair of the Congressional Dad’s Caucus, Representative Gomez fights for policies such as Paid Family Leave and establishing a permanent Child Tax Credit. While standing alongside my fellow intern, both of us holding signs that read “paid leave now,” a profound resonance swept over me. It wasn’t just because I support that policy, but also because I recognized how it could have positively impacted countless families, including my own, in the past.
Growing up with a disability, I had constant appointments with therapists/doctors, necessitating extra care from a parental figure. Though I had the luxury of having a stay-at-home mom, it notably required her to retire from her job and rely on a single income from my father. People with disabilities are often disadvantaged by our country’s policies, which fail to recognize the unique challenges we face. From kindergarten to 12th grade, I attended public schools in New York City, notorious for their segregation based on multiple factors. One of those factors was disability, something I am quite familiar with. Though I had accommodations throughout my educational endeavors, I often had challenges using them and faced stigma from staff and peers who were convinced I didn’t need them. During those moments, I refused to give in to the stigma, fighting tirelessly to use my accommodations and defend my existence as a disabled person in an academically challenging environment.
Being in a similarly demanding environment in Congress, it is easy to let your queerness take the back seat and conform to the heteronormative environment. However, days like today reminded me that embracing these identities and representing where you come from is important in moving our society forward. Especially considering the fact that these identities intersect and exacerbate the challenges of being disabled, these experiences not only shape my perspective on work and life, but they are essential to share and hopefully impact others’ worldviews.
And this is exactly why representation matters. Personal experiences and social circles continue to be major contributors to how people form opinions about politics. Being in these spaces and disrupting widespread pre-existing narratives surrounding disability and queerness is vital in altering that narrative for the better. As we endure in these spaces and bring our unique experiences to the table, we expose stakeholders to insightful, most importantly memorable, perspectives. Changing public discourse surrounding these issues will take a village, but a small village has arrived in Congress courtesy of the Victory Institute, bringing me back to the conversations occurring this week as part of Father’s Day Care Week. These conversations only started because of Congressman Gomez representing his role as a dad by bringing his son onto the House floor. Experiences like these spark conversations, discussions that can turn policies that have disadvantaged certain populations, into ones that use their past to create a brighter future. As I enter the halls of the Cannon House Office Building each day, I remember these stories and hope that they can be the spark to help those who come after me.
