ABOVE: 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Photo via Biden’s Facebook page.
The Democratic National Convention anointed Thursday night Joe Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, formalizing his wins in the primary with a roll call of delegates declaring votes for their home states.
Delivering the roll call was Jason Rae, secretary of the Democratic National Committee, the first openly gay person to hold that role and the fourth in the party’s history since 1944. (Dorothy Bush help the position from 1944 to 1989 and read the roll call at 12 conventions.)
LGBTQ people had representation in nomination process. Pete Buttigieg, the gay presidential candidate who made waves in the Democratic primary, declared the votes for Indiana, where he served as mayor of South Bend. Additionally, Judy Shepard, the mother of gay college student Matthew Shepard who was murdered in a hate crimes in 1997, read the votes for Wyoming.
High-profiles speakers at the convention that night were former President Jimmy Carter, former President Bill Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a group of Democrats who collectively gave the keynote address and former second lady Jill Biden.
A former school teacher, Jill Biden gave her remarks from an empty school building in Wilimington, Del., urging the audience to elect Biden and oust President Trump from the White House so that children can safely return to classes amid the coronavirus epidemic.
“And with Joe as president, these classrooms will ring out with laughter and possibility once again,” Jill Biden said. “The burdens we carry are heavy, and we need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole.”
Watch Jill Biden’s speech here (via CSPAN):
