Matt Mahan on LGBTQ Rights | On the Campaign Trail

Welcome to this week’s episode of Duke’s Download

After two intense months on the campaign trail, I’m checking in — tired, energized, and fully immersed in the race for California governor ahead of the June 2 election.

I’ve been working on San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s campaign, and in this episode, I share what that experience has been like, including bringing Mayor Mahan to West Hollywood on May 16 for a meaningful visit to the heart of LGBTQ+ Los Angeles.

We stopped at The Abbey, walked across the iconic rainbow crosswalks, and recorded a short interview about allyship, inclusion, and what leadership looks like in this moment.

Mayor Mahan talks about becoming an LGBTQ+ ally after witnessing friends bullied in high school, why inclusivity makes America stronger, and how delivering on the basics — public safety, affordable housing, and strong schools — benefits everyone while also protecting LGBTQ+ Californians through the rule of law.

I also take time to honor the late Congressman Barney Frank, one of the most influential LGBTQ+ leaders in American political history. I reflect on meeting him when I served as a House page in 2008 and share why his 2016 memoir remains essential reading for anyone who believes in equality and public service.

This episode is both personal and political. It’s about why I believe in showing up, why I believe in leadership that delivers results, and why I’m encouraging Californians to return their ballots and vote on or before June 2.

Democracy only works if we participate.

Let’s get into it.

For more information about Matt Mahan go to MahanForCalifornia.com

Click here to order Barney Frank’s memoir FRANK

You can write to us at: Questions@DukesDownload.com

And follow us onInstagram: 

• @jamesdukemason
• @PrideHouseMedia

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Duke's Download, my new weekly podcast. I'm Duke Basin here, and each week I'll bring you candid, thought-provoking conversations with incredible guests from the worlds of politics and pop culture. Together we'll explore the stories, ideas, and moments that shape our lives and drive change. I'm so glad you're here. Now let's get started. Hello, everybody. Welcome to this mini episode of Duke's Download. I'm your host, James Duke Mason. In case you can't tell, I'm a little bit tired today because I have been on the campaign trail with Mayor Matt Mahan, who's running for governor of California. I've now been on his campaign officially for about two months. I've been a supporter of his campaign since he first announced that he was running back in January. And I've written about why I endorsed him and his candidacy, wrote an article when I was brought on to the team officially about why I was proud to work for him. And it's been a pretty insane uh two months. Uh it's been amazing. I mean, this first time I've ever been involved officially on a statewide campaign in California. And so, as you can imagine, uh, in a state as big as this, uh, it's an unprecedented experience as far as I'm concerned. Uh, but it's been amazing. And um, I just wanted to take a minute to check in with you guys. The election is actually next Tuesday on June 2nd. So this week has been insane. But um, I did have an opportunity a couple weeks ago, uh, on May 16th in West Hollywood, here in my hometown, um, to bring Matt to uh see the community. He actually went to the Abbey, which, as many of you know, is one of my favorite hotspots here in West Hollywood, uh City Institution, one of the most popular nightclubs in the U.S. And so I had the opportunity to bring Matt there, give him a tour of the Abbey, and introduce him to some of the staff there. And then we went up the street to Santa Monica Boulevard and to the Rainbow Crosswalks in West Hollywood, which are an iconic landmark in the city. And I had the opportunity, despite both of our breakneck schedules, to take a few minutes with Matt and interview him for the podcast and talk to him about uh why I believe he is the best candidate for the LGBTQ plus community uh here in California. Um it's a brief conversation, but I feel like we get a lot of important points in. And if you haven't decided who you're gonna vote for yet for governor, I hope you'll give Matt uh your consideration. Um, like I said, I've talked a lot about why I support him and why I'm so proud uh to be part of his campaign. So um I hope you all check out uh the interview, check out my articles about uh him that I've written in the past, and consider giving him your vote. Um before we go to the interview, I wanted to take a second to acknowledge um the passing of a person who was so important to me um as a young gay teenager dreaming of entering politics when I was young, when I was first coming out, um, Representative Barney Frank, uh, one of the highest ranking openly gay politicians in American history. Um chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which is one of the most uh powerful uh committees in the House of Representatives during the financial crisis. But he also was the first openly gay member of Congress to come out while in office. And he served in Congress from 1981 to 2013, um, and was you know an LGBTQ trailblazer, one of the most iconic uh members of Congress, I think, of all time, uh, both due to his uh liberal progressive agenda, but also uh his quirky personality, which made him such a character and such a you know, I think, unique uh voice in Congress. Um But you know, I actually had the opportunity to meet him uh when I went to Washington and served as a page in the House of Representatives in 2008. Um I was there for the summer, and you know, when you're a page, you have the opportunity to apply and choose, you know, if you have members of Congress who you want to get photos with, you know, go meet them in their office, you have the opportunity to apply for that. And so I applied for a meeting, and uh I got to meet Congressman Frank in his office and you know, shook his hand, he gave me a tour. Um, and you know, for someone like me who thought when I first came out that uh my future you know in politics and public service was over, uh, because I thought, you know, especially what 20 years coming up in October since I've been out as gay, um, you know, back then we were living in a very different world. And Barney Frank stood as one of the few examples of somebody who stood firm, spoke freely, you know, claimed his truth, uh, was uh outspoken in every possible way, um, and yet uh you know uh achieved great things in uh American government and public service. And uh I think you know he he passed away uh a week ago and uh uh I shed a tear. And um, you know, for those of you who want to learn more about him, I would recommend his memoir, Frank, that came out in 2016. And I think I read the whole thing uh as a young uh uh you know, 20-something year old um when it came out back in 2016, and I just I've just always been in awe of his of his uh bravery and courage and boldness. And I think we could all uh take a lesson from that in these challenging times. So I hope you'll all consider checking that out, learning more about Congressman Frank, and I hope you enjoy this episode of Duke's Download with California gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan. Matt, such a pleasure to work for you and honor. I'm so happy you can make it to West Hollywood today. We're thrilled to have you on the team. You're doing a great job. Thank you, sir. Um, I wanted to ask you since tomorrow is the International Day Against Homophobia, yeah, um, what how do you how do you feel about that? And how do you feel about the importance of the LGBTCB community?

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Well, I can't overstate the importance of the community, and I feel very strongly about actively publicly fighting against homophobia. I formed that view in high school when I had friends who were bullied for who they were, and I guess you could say for the first time in my life I became an ally. And ever since then, I've felt very strongly that we have to stand up for the LGBTQ plus community, and all communities that have been seditionally marginalized and are discriminated against because somehow they're perceived as different or other than, and I just firmly reject that. I think that what, you know, to take a line and turn it back on this MAGA movement, what truly makes America great is in fact our inclusivity. If you think about it, we're a country of immigrants, we're a place that's welcomed people, actually embraced difference and created opportunity for folks. And when we expand that circle of opportunity and make sure everybody has what they need to thrive, we all benefit because we're all interconnected. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Now, I mean, if I can say for me, the reason why from the from the day you announced that I was so excited to support you and volunteer for you and then work for you is I feel like there's such an emphasis on these days on performative politics versus actually delivering results, whether it be for marginalized communities or just for the entire state. And so there are a lot of politicians who say, you know, they support LGBTQ rights, and like, and yeah, there are issues you're focused on that disproportionately affect this community. The homelessness is disproportionately impacting, you know, the community is disproportionately impacted upon that issue. That's right. Um, crime, hate I mean, like, there are small businesses, you know, in West Hollywood, there's so many small businesses struggling. And I feel like you're the only candidate that's actually trying to, like, in a tangible, like real way, help you know address these issues.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

I think that's well said. And and look, it isn't either or. I mean, the truth is we've got to get the basics right for everyone. And when we get basics like safe neighborhoods, faster permitting, better schools, more affordable housing, to your point. When we get those things right, it benefits everybody. It disproportionately benefits communities that have often been pushed to the margins who may have less resources. Um so I take that very seriously. At the same time, I'm not afraid to also say we have a unique history in this country and around the world in which um particular groups have been oppressed, have been discriminated against, and that's why it's important that we also use the law and the courts and other tools to promote you know real equality, legal and political equality, and equal access to opportunities. And that does mean being able to fight for particular groups when they're the targets of discrimination. And both things can be true.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

I mean, nuance, it seems like nuance is like is maybe not non-existent because there are folks like people like you that are speaking truth, but then that it shouldn't be a difficult thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

No, you should be able to acknowledge both. I just think in our social media world, everything tends to be a you know a 15-second clip, and we sort of get siloed into these very simplistic uh echo chambers. But anyway, I think we can break through that. That's why we're out here. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

So you're the only candidate that I think will deliver for our community. So thank you for being here. And it's always an honor to work for you. It means a lot to have you on the team. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Well, everybody, I really appreciate you tuning in and checking out uh my interview with Mayor Mahan. I hope you enjoyed it. Um, you know, I've spoken about this uh a lot, but I feel so passionately that Matt Mahan is the only candidate for governor who could help achieve actual, tangible, lasting, progressive uh results and change in California. Um, I I don't want to speak negatively of any of the other candidates. You know, I'm a proud Democrat, uh, and I respect uh, you know, all of my you know uh fellow Democrats here in California who make a different decision about who they want to vote for. I think you know who you vote for is a very personal decision. But I really truly believe in my heart of hearts that, you know, look, California is an amazing place. Um, you know, it's obviously one of the leading economies in the world. Uh it's a leader in so many areas. Um, but you know, I I think it's important to acknowledge that it is possible to both champion those uh positive uh achievements while also acknowledging the reality, you know, which is that you know, we have issues, we have challenges, whether it be homelessness or crime or for uh housing affordability. You know, those are issues that you know were not created by Donald Trump. And Donald Trump has caused a lot of problems, but we also have to take a look inside at ourselves and at the way that we've done things and say if we want America to vote more like us, then we need to show them the democratic uh you know policies and the progressive policies work in practice. And I think that's a message we're not really hearing from anybody else. I think it's a critical message right now. You know, we're about to go into a presidential election where we're gonna try to convince the American people that our policies actually work in terms of helping people. I just, you know, I've I I think it's important that we put an end to performative politics, you know, to the BS and the posturing that we see on the right with Trump, you know, just blowhard, you know, just spouting BS all day. And I think we also need to put aside that on the liberal, you know, left side because we have a lot of uh politicians who say the right thing and you know, uh you know, virtue signaling, saying, you know, how progressive they are. But what have they actually done to achieve any of those progressive, any of the big progressive goals? They haven't helped to advance health care. Uh they haven't helped to uh protect the rights of uh you know this it's people who would rather talk uh than deliver and who don't have the expertise that I think you really need to deliver uh in a state as as complicated and as uh challenging as California. Matt Mayhan has proven during his time as mayor of San Jose, he's only been mayor three years, and yet on pretty much every major issue, the city has seen gains uh that no other city in America has come close to seeing. Cut by a third of homelessness in San Jose, cut by a third of actually I should know this, but I think it's it might actually be 70% down of crime in San Jose. Um I mean housing, housing has exploded, you know, they're building thousands of new homes. He actually can deliver what we as progressives say we believe in. And instead of electing people who you know may just say the right thing, we need to actually start making seeing our progressive vision come into reality. And I believe that Mad Mahan's the only one that can do that in this race. This election is coming up in just a few days. And for those of you who haven't voted, um, I hope you will uh you know not listen to some of the uh pundits out there who say that you know the only candidates that can win are the top you know two polling candidates. You know, something like I think it's still we're only a week and a half before the election. And I think something like 90% of ballots in the state have still not been uh returned. Um so there's definitely uh room and time for uh for an underdog candidate to to rise up and to beat the establishment. And I think Matt Mahan uh could very well send shock waves uh on Tuesday. Um we're certainly doing everything we can on the campaign to make sure that that happens. Um it'll only happen though with the support of folks like you. So please, if you live in California, consider voting for him and turning in your ballot. You can drop it off in any mailbox or ballot drop box in your community or go to the polls and vote in person on June 2nd. And if you have any questions, go to mayhem for California.com. And if you have any um questions for me, feel free to email us at questions at Dukesdownload.com. Um, also like, share, subscribe, and uh we really appreciate all of your support. Thank you, and I will see you back next week. Thank you for joining me today on Duke's Download. This podcast is part of Pride House Media, hosted by me, Duke Mason, produced and edited by Josh Rosen's Wike. Original music composed by Nell Balaban. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're there, leave us a rating and review. It really helps others to discover the show. I'd love to stay connected with you, so join the conversation by following me at James Duke Mason on Instagram and X, or by emailing me at questions at Dukesdownload.com.