Mayor Jenny Durkan doesn’t want to talk about her private life. Which is too bad, because it must be a hell of a story.
It’s hard to imagine Durkan’s success in politics could have happened 20 years ago. The general public, even the supposedly liberal Democratic Party, was openly hostile to LGBTQ people back then. Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, instituting homophobia into federal law.
After decades of strong, brave women blazing a trail and fighting for equal rights, we now live in a world where a lesbian can become the most powerful person in a major American city. The irony of the mayor not wanting to talk about that is that Durkan is herself one of those women who forced society to change, paving the way for future generations of women and LGBTQ people. So is Dana Garvey, Durkan’s longtime partner, with whom the mayor has two children.
