YDA Elects First Openly Gay President

I imagine that when most people think of Texas and politics, they think of George W. Bush and how he likes to work down on his ranch in Crawford every now and then. Fortunately, Bush isn’t the only Texan currently serving as president — David Hardt was just elected president of the Young Democrats of America (YDA).

You can read more about David on his campaign website, but the heart of his story is that when he joined the local chapter of YDA in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas was in the heart of Republican territory and the chapter had very few members. Through David’s leadership, however, “the Dallas County Young Democrats grew to become the most important Democratic organization in Dallas and one of the largest YD chapters in the nation.” Perhaps one of the most impressive feats was that Dallas YD’s played a significant role in the Democrats “sweep of all contested countywide races in the 2006 elections.”

After hitting the campaign trail hard and traveling throughout the country, David was then elected President of the YDA at the biannual convention last week. I had the opportunity to speak with David on several occasions, and I was very impressed with what he had to say and his vision for the organization.

Furthermore, as David said during his acceptance speech on Saturday, his victory also signifies was is truly great about the Democratic Party – we look at people for their talents and what they can contribute to our society and do not believe in discrimination. Why? Because David’s overwhelming victory (he received 93% of the vote) resulted in him becoming the first openly gay person to serve as YDA’s president.

I am truly honored to say that as a Delegate from Virginia, I cast my vote (along with the rest of the Virginia Delegation) in David Hardt’s column. I also feel the need to reiterate once again how proud I am to be a member of a political party who accepts people of all ages, religions, genders, sexual orientations, etc, and believes that they all can be a force for good.