A few words about Sen. Barbara Boxer

I’ve always had a casual interest in politics. However, my political awakening came in 2005, around the same time I began to come out as gay to friends. Sen. Barbara Boxer was one of the first national figures to make it onto my radar. She was one of the very first candidates to whom I donated money. She was the ranking member of the Environmental and Public Works Committee (which she would later chair when Democrats were in the majority) and was a strong outspoken champion for environmental protection and combating climate change. She was one of only 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. I can remember when she and Sen. Ted Kennedy were pretty much the only senators to publicly support same sex marriage rights. She became a hero of mine and quickly became my favorite senator. She’s remained my favorite senator for a decade. She never backed down from a challenge and was always a champion for progressive ideas. She matched her fiery rhetoric with hard work and sponsoring and co-sponsoring important progressive legislation. As Nancy Pelosi said, “Small in size, but a giant in terms of her contribution to her country.” I look forward to seeing the work she does in her final two years as a U.S. Senator, and I’m sure she’ll continue doing great things afterwards as well.