As one of the loudest and most polarizing voices in the Democratic Party, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s words are both impactful and influential. Following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ocasio-Cortez was sure to highlight the gravity of the upcoming election, stating that “if there is someone in your life that you can only get to in this election, it is your job to get to them” One of the people listening to those words was Washington D.C. resident Brennan Suen.
Earlier this month, Suen tweeted that his grandmother has “always voted Republican.” After two Supreme Court judges came out stating that they wanted to overturn marriage equality, Suen had to act. He called his grandmother in tears, saying that “Republicans are trying to take away our right to marry, adopt, access health care.” After having this potentially uncomfortable conversation with his grandmother, he says that “I told her a vote for Republicans was a vote that would harm me and my future. I told her I was scared,” he wrote. “And today, my grandmother promised me she would vote for Joe Biden…. She told me that I’m the love of her life and that she would not break her promise.”
After RBG died, I listened to @AOC say, there is someone in your life who only you can get to in this election, and it is your job to get to them.
Since then, I have been filled with anxiety knowing what I needed to do. For me, that's my 94 year old grandmother.
— Brennan Suen (@brennansuen) October 7, 2020
Suen told Metro Weekly that while his grandmother is not a Trump loyalist, she simply votes Republican out of habit, still glorifying the Reagan era of politics. While Suen was apprehensive about having the conversation, she has always been supportive of him, including accepting him when he came out. “When I was younger, I had told her I was going to name my kids after her. And when I came out to her, she grabbed my hands and said, ‘Well, I hope you’re still naming your kid after me,” he recalled.
Suen’s grandmother touched Suen’s heart during this discussion like only a grandmother can; “I could hear her smiling through the phone, and I could hear how proud she was,” he said. “And she was proud of herself, too. And she literally said to me, ‘I have my loyalty. But my number one loyalty is to my grandson,’ which made me cry all over again.”
Follow Brennan Suen on Twitter.