Sen. Elizabeth Warren had a touching exchange about acceptance with a young LGBTQ voter during a campaign stop in Marion, Iowa.
The Democratic White House hopeful was taking questions from the audience when a 17-year-old named Raelyn asked a question about acceptance.
“I was wondering if there was ever a time in your life where somebody you really looked up to maybe didn’t accept you as much, and how you dealt with that?” asked the teen.
Warren paused before answering, “Yeah – my mother and I had very different views of how to build a future.”
“She wanted me to marry well, and I really tried, and it just didn’t work out,” continued the senator quietly as her voice broke. “And there came a day when I had to call her and say, this is over. I can’t make it work. And I heard the disappointment in her voice. I knew how she felt about it. But I also knew it was the right thing to do.”
“And sometimes you just gotta do what’s right inside and hope that maybe the rest of the world will come around to it,” explained Warren. “And maybe they will and maybe they won’t. But the truth is, you’ve gotta take care of yourself first and do this.”
Warren then walked over to the teen and the two hugged.
I was asked at a town hall “if there was ever a time in your life where somebody you really looked up to maybe didn’t accept you as much?” Here’s my answer: pic.twitter.com/ariYPwvWQr
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 2, 2019
Raelyn (she asked to not share her last name) told ABC News after the event that Warren’s “care for the LGBTQ Community” is what captured her attention in the first place because “it’s been a struggle with that, with people close to me.”
“She gives me hope, which is not something that I’ve really had with other politicians, and I’ve followed politics for a while,” she added.
Raelyn says she’s also following the campaigns of openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, it’s Warren’s ‘authenticity’ that draws the teen in.
“I just think she actually cares about the people that she talks about,” explained Raelyn while waiting in Warren’s selfie line. “I know everybody always says, oh, they’re just politicians. They’re just saying things to get your vote, but I don’t think it’s like that with her. I think she actually genuinely cares about what she’s saying.”
Raelyn shared with the Massachusetts senator she plans to be a precinct captain for her campaign during the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
