Cynthia & the State

Well, now isn’t this interesting. Cynthia Nixon, actress, activist, and the “Sex and the City” character we all secretly aspired to be in retrospect, is running for governor of New York. She announced yesterday via Twitter. Now, I don’t live in New York. My father’s side of the family are all from there and most still live there. And I have good friends living there now. I know there’s a lot amiss in the state – like, oh I dunno, the subway. And I know it needs serious people with good ideas to fix them. I am not, on the surface, against the concept of a celebrity candidate. I am, however, against unqualified celebrity candidates. Luckily, Cynthia does not appear to be one of those.

While she may be a first-time candidate she is an outspoken feminist and long-time education and LGBTQ rights advocate. An out bisexual woman, Cynthia is married to longtime education organizer Christine Marinoni and mother of three children. She will be running as a Democrat in the primary against incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo this September.

Now, New York has never had a female governor, let alone an out LGBTQ governor. If Cynthia wins she would join Oregon's Kate Brown (who is also bisexual), as the nation’s only out LGBT governors elected to office.

Look, win or lose I respect her decision. People should put their activism, their energy and their expertise where it can do the most good. We need all the help in this fight we can get.

p.s. People who shit all over “Sex and the City” as superficial and vapid tend to be the kind of people who shit on women in general for being superficial and vapid. Sure, it wasn’t all Shakespeare and certainly could have been more diverse. But its depiction of unapologetic female friendship and unabashed female sexuality was – and continues to be – radical.