Jeanne Smith hoola-hooped on the lawn while ’60s rock and soul revival band the Vellures played at the Hamilton Friends and Family picnic Sunday afternoon.
Mayor John Hamilton was the host of the second annual picnic at Bryan Park where Bloomington residents had the opportunity to talk to Democratic Party candidates, including John Gregg and Bloomington Councilwoman Shelli Yoder, face-to-face.
“We’re meeting together to enjoy Bloomington, enjoy each other and get fired up for the elections that are coming,” Hamilton said.
Smith, a Bernie Sanders delegate and transgender activist who regularly performs at Bryan Park with the LBGTQ-friendly hula-hooping group Hudsucker Posse attended the picnic. Smith said she became more active in politics because Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville, her representative in Indiana State Congress, sponsors anti-abortion, anti-transgender and anti-LGBT legislation.
“The sanctity of marriage is now the sanctity of toilets,” Smith said.
The Republican Party is trying to turn its supporters against transgender people to stop the progression of equal rights, she said. The anti-transgender speech sells, she said.
Her hope is to be visible to change people’s minds on transgendered politics, Smith said.
Smith said she is now supporting Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential election particularly because of the open Supreme Court seat, which could decide the future of transgender people in the United States.
“I hope Republicans stay home and decide not to vote this year,” she said.
The Democratic Party’s goal is to start with Monroe County and work across the state to turn Indiana blue in the elections this Novemeber, Hamilton said.
Shelli Yoder, who is running to represent Indiana’s 9th district in the House of Representatives, said she is running to guarantee economic opportunity for all people in the district. She said she wants to keep this district in the hands of a Hoosier, she said.
Yoder’s Republican opponent is Trey Hollingsworth, a multimillionaire originally from Tennessee who moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 2015.
IU law professor and wife of Mayor Hamilton, Dawn Johnsen, said events like this picnic are particularly important in election years where so much is at stake.
The goal is to draw the community’s attention to who is on the ballot and give them the opportunity to meet the candidates and hear about important issues, like the school referendum, Johnsen said.
“John and I hope to highlight not just great music and food but what would be useful to the community and give them access to the people who are experts on the issues or running themselves for office,” Johnsen said.
Bloomington resident Diane Legomsky said it is nice to meet the candidates in a low-pressure environment like Bryan Park where the entire community comes together.
Joe Hardin, Bloomington resident and the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Bloomington, said he is a lifelong Democrat and loves events like this picnic that allow people to come together and get energized about politics.
Hardin said he has known John Gregg, the Democratic candidate for governor, for 30 years and is proud to support him.
The Democratic Party is there to help everyone, not just certain groups, Hardin said.
He said community events like the Hamilton picnic are an example of this.
“If Indiana is ever going to go blue, it’ll be this year,” Smith said.
