LGBT POV

California Assembly Speaker-elect John A. Pérez laughes when asked to name his key advisors.

“I just put together the votes!” Perez,  who represents the 46^th District, says by phone from Sacramento Thursday night after the legislative session ended.

For many LGBTs watching the difficult race for the speakership, the moment of victory was savored in the unity walk with Speaker Karen Bass arm-in-arm with Perez and his rival, Assemblymember Kevin de Leon after the unanimous vote in the Democratic Caucus late in the afternoon.  After all the sadness and anger over the passage of Prop 8, here was Bass, the first woman Speaker and a strong supporter of marriage equality, effecting the beginning of a gracious transition of power to another person of color making history – John A. Perez, who becomes California’s first openly gay Speaker of the Assembly.

It should be noted for the record – and to honor LGBT history – that Perez is actually not the first openly gay person to serve in the top leadership role in a state legislative body. The late Allan H. Spear was state Senate president in the Minnesota Legislature from 1993 to 2000, when he retired.

But as the first openly gay person of color in a majority/minority state where homophobia still hides deep in the hearts of many, Perez’s ascension to power stands as a beacon of the possible in this state suffering under the weight of economic crisis and longing for renewal.

That is why he sought the speakership, Perez says.

“I wanted the job because I care about the state. This is a state that really is unusual. It has given so many people from so many different backgrounds opportunities that no other state would provide for them. At the national level, we talk about the American Dream and the opportunities that this country provides. But within the country, California is really that place that people look to – and so much of that promise is in question as we move forward through these economic times. And as somebody who’s benefited so much from the opportunities of this state – I want to fight to protect as much as we can protect in this economic crisis.”

This is not just rhetoric, as Perez’s cousin, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tells me by phone.

“I couldn’t be prouder of John. I’ve known him his entire life. Throughout that time, the one thing that has always distinguished him since he was a young boy, from 15 years old – was a commitment to social justice and working families and I couldn’t be prouder that colleagues in the Democratic Caucus unanimously elected him their leader. I also want to say I’m very proud of the way Kevin de Leon worked to unite the Caucus putting the interest of the Democratic Caucus above his own.”

Villaraigosa does not think there’s going to be any residual bitterness among supporters of Perez and de Leon.

“The fact that John was elected unanimously, I think is an indication of he leadership he’s demonstrated over a short period of time. People respect him and they elected him their leader because he has an innate ability to bring people together. John has the ability to reach out to people who disagree and build consensus based on mutual respect.”

Perez, 40, was “humbled” by the vote.

“It’s an overwhelming experience to have your demonstrate support for you unanimously. That was a very powerful and humbling experience for me. But a lot of the discussion focused on the challenges the state is facing right now. And so as much as you’re humbled by the support, you’re really focused on what the challenges are ahead.  There’s a lot of work for me as we move forward to going to the floor next month for the ultimate vote and towards the time when I transition in, if everything goes as I would hope. But it’s an awesome sense of responsibility.”

One challenge facing Perez is the future of the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which is facing the chopping block in the debate over how to fix California’s looming $21.7 billion budget deficit.

But the fight against HIV/AIDS has long been a priority for Perez. He served on both in the Clinton and Bush Administration’s President’s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, was on the board of AIDS Project Los Angeles, co-chaired the Latino Coalition Against AIDS and has worked with Bienestar.

“I’ve been tracking where we’re at. I was one of the folks who was taking the lead in challenging the governor’s illegal line items vetoes this past year – as it related not only to ADAP but to prevention programs. And it wasn’t limited to that. It was also cuts to domestic violence programs, cuts to whole sets of services across the state of California. So these are issues I’ve been involved with for years and obviously they’re going to be part of the cornerstone of the things I’m going to fight for as I move forward.”

Here he is discussing those cuts on a popular local LA morning program:

In fact, this year Perez carried a resolution calling on the Obama Administration to extend, as opposed to re-authorizing, Ryan White.

“We thought that made a difference in terms of maximizing the amount of federal money that the state of California would be able to draw down and we were able to pass that successfully through both houses, get the governor to sign it and we think that tee-ed up some of the discussion for the ultimate extension.”

But, Perez says -

“my top priority is figuring out what we do with the economic crisis this state is facing. And it takes a couple of different roles. One is dealing with the immediacy of the budget crisis that we’re in – we’re at $21-plus billion dollars in deficit going into the next year. That’s going to take really, really hard choices for us – and they’re not going to be pretty choices. And so the top priority has got to be figuring out how we negotiate with the governor to make sure that the response to that economic crisis and that budget crisis is as humane as possible. And that’s the real point of tension.

The second priority is looking at ways in which we can use both state resources and other resources to play a role in turning around economic development in the state of California because you can’t do this just by looking at budgetary solutions. We have to be actively involved in creating a space by which we could to increase economic development in the state to help build us out of this hole as well.

I will be drawing down on some of my experiences both in doing redevelopment in LA, doing economic development work in the county – and quite frankly, the work I did in the labor movement in working with employers to figure out ways where we could protect and expand jobs while making sure they were the best quality jobs for people. And we did that so I hope to work with my colleagues to also reach out into the business community to figure out ways in which we could be more effective in using state resources to do that kind of economic development work.”

Perez also wants to make it clear that what happens with the economy also concerns LGBT people.

“The reality is the issues that we’re talking about impact everybody. What people lose sight of is that lesbians are twice as likely to live in poverty than straight women; that other members of our community are struggling with the economic crisis in huge ways. So when I’m talking about the economic recovery that we need to be engaged in, that definitely has an impact on the LGBT community – but especially with respect to lesbians, with issues with African American gays and lesbians who also have disproportionately high rates of poverty.

My approach in the legislature has been very broad. A portion of my legislative package has been LGBT-specific, a portion of my legislative package has been more general. So this past year I passed and got signed into law a bill that increased the competition and expanded the number of organizations that can compete for same sex domestic violence programs.

But for all his LGBT work – he has often ridden in the LGBT Pride parades and was named the Man of the Year by Christopher Street West – it’s another bill that Perez described as “quite frankly one of the important bills that I may ever be able to work on” that also gives insight into his character. It deals with the quality of water in the small (2 square miles), mostly working class city of Maywood in the southeast portion of Los Angeles.

“Maywood gets its water from private water companies that are controlled by the property owners. It’s a city where 80 percent of the residents are tenants so they have no say in the services of the water they receive – they just have to pay for it. And if you open the tap on any given day, the water is yellow green or brown never clear. It’s never without smell.

For years, the residents have been trying to improve the water quality to no avail. So this past year it was one of my number one legislative priorities. We brought people up to show the legislators what water they were dealing with. Ultimately, we got it signed into law where they’ve got to meet the water quality standards of other water agencies within a 20 mile radius – a huge, huge quality of life issue in my district. And when we negotiated the water bond a couple of months ago  – it was 45 years in the making – we also made sure that we got resources in there to specifically deal with the improvement of water quality in that city. Those have been the other kinds of issues I’ve been focusing on.”

Perez was outspoken about Prop 8 and the decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold the constitutional amendment.

But he thinks the “options are good” for a repeal Prop 8 effort in 2012.

“We’ve made progress – we need to make a lot more progress. We need to be engaged in broad-based coalition politics with people who understand that we’re concerned with issues that impact them, as well as wanting people to be with us in the battle for equality.

But I also think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of some of the other issues impacting the community. As we’re working for marriage, we’ve got to be engaged in the national battle for employment non-discrimination, we’ve got to be engaged in the call to end ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’  We need to be broadly engaged in a variety of issues – not just singularly engaged in marriage. Marriage is important – we shouldn’t lose sight of it. But we also shouldn’t let it eclipse the other issues that impact the community.”

Perez seems slightly taken aback when asked about what he thinks of now being a role model for LGBT and Latino youth.

“It’s a big challenge. You should always be focused on doing what you think is the right thing and doing the best job you can and hope that people can appreciate what you’re trying go get done.”

Eric Bauman, the openly gay Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party and LA County Democratic Party Chair – who also happens to be Perez’s best friend – was less circumspect:

“I could not be more proud of John today. He has all of the qualities that make for a great Speaker: intellectual vigor, combined with keen political and tactical instincts and years of experience as an organizer and negotiator.  When John becomes Speaker, the youth in our community will have an extraordinary role model, and California’s families will have a fearless champion they can count on to stand up for what is right.”

The full Assembly is expected to elect Perez in January.