Radio QGLLU - Latino and LGBTQ Representation at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Mario J Novoa takes us on a captivating journey through his experience as a delegate at the Democratic Convention. Inspired by the need for greater Latino representation in Adelanto, California, Mario and his husband embarked on a path of political advocacy. Their dedication to the High Desert Progressive Democrats paved the way to earning delegate positions with the endorsement of Governor Newsom. In this episode, the Radio QGLLU team, along with hosts Rita Gonzalez and Eduardo Archuleta, unpack the unique challenges and responsibilities Mario faced while representing the LGBTQ and Latino communities on a state level. As political dynamics shift leading up to the November election, Mario shares insights into the evolving landscape and the impact of their advocacy efforts.

The pulse of the Democratic Convention is brought to life through Mario's vivid recounting of engaging encounters and inspiring speeches. Join us as we relive his networking opportunities with influential figures such as Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg, and Hillary Clinton. One unforgettable highlight was meeting iconic activist Dolores Huerta. These experiences underscore the importance of community engagement and the transformative power of recognition. Tune in to experience the exhilarating energy of the convention and discover how Mario's commitment to political involvement serves as an inspiring narrative for all who wish to make a difference.

Chapters

• 0:05 Delegate Experience at Democratic Convention
• 13:34 Delegate Networking and Impactful Encounters

Transcript

Rita Gonzales: 0:05

Welcome to the Outagenda, which is coming to you on archive kpfk. org. Well, summer break is over for Radio Q Glue and we have another segment coming to you right now. Welcome to podcast, a segment of the Out Agenda, the show that takes a deep dive into what the queer, gay and lesbian Latine community is talking about. I'm Rita Gonzales.

Rita Gonzales: 0:39

I'm Eduardo Archuleta.

Mario J. Novoa: 0:42

I'm Mario J. Novoa.

Rita Gonzales: 0:43

We have a lot to talk to Mario about, and he was a delegate at the Democratic Convention.

Rita Gonzales: 0:49

It was just last month, and Eduardo has so many questions for you, so just to let you know, mario is a part of the regular team and we were talking off air and I found it fascinating what he did and what he did. So I'd like to ask him some questions and then we'll just go from there. Just wanted to start by asking Mario how did you become a delegate, what was the process and how did that come to be so?

Mario J. Novoa: 1:23

I'm glad to be contributing some political information in regards to how our political system works. We've talked about this before in terms of how it affects our community and how we were encouraging people to go out to vote for the primary. So if you listen to any of the old episodes, we did mention that back in March of 2024. And so now we're heading into the fall election on November 5th, and I got involved in the voting process because my husband and I live in a small town. We live in Adelanto, california, which is in the High Desert community of the Victor Valley. So if anybody has ever driven from LA to Las Vegas, you probably have eaten or gone to the bathroom in Victorville.

Rita Gonzales: 2:13

I have.

Rita Gonzales: 2:16

There's a roadhouse restaurant that I go to.

Mario J. Novoa: 2:20

Yes, there's plenty of eateries here. They're good eateries. But you know the High Desert is going through a big transition. My family moved here in 1990, and there was little representation in terms of Latinos involved in community efforts and or politically engaged in city councils, regional elected positions, so the place has been primarily conservative on so many levels, and you know I favor the Democratic Party. I love to listen to both sides of what conservatives and liberals have to say and independents, so open-minded very to having discussions. But I do think that with the High Desert, with it having a primary, primarily have a conservative base of very religious people. I think the community has been built around that, has been built around that. However, while everybody who lives here, like in anywhere of our country, gets taxed right, so we get taxed for various reasons to support the community, but not all of that is diversified in the right way, and so there are many holes in the high desert in terms of what it provides the community, whether it's a robust infrastructure for sewage and water and streets to community centers, to schools, to hospitals. All the infrastructure is kind of still lacking, especially with the post-pandemic growth that we've had in the high desert.

Mario J. Novoa: 4:06

So my husband and I were whiners and complainers, and we were whiners and complainers when we moved up here in 2019. And we were like, okay, how do we get involved? What do we do? And we met one person her name is Seta Gazarian who runs the democratic club here called the High Desert Progressive Democrats. She was the president at that time. She got us kind of into the club and then asked us to be part of the leadership, and so we did that. That entailed phone banking, canvassing, talking to constituents, talking about their issues. There was another person we met. His name is Derek Marshall. He's running for Congress, for California 23. And he got us sort of even more activated, where he's like okay, you represent the LGBTQ community and Latino community, why aren't you guys doing more, or what can you do more? Have you thought about doing this? Have you thought about doing that? And so I think, once we were in the mix and we were participating and doing all these things that were being asked of, then we took it up upon ourselves to like really be engaged.

Mario J. Novoa: 5:17

And a friend of mine who's been on the show, Roland Palencia, challenged me with taking my commitment or taking my complaining to a commitment. So my husband and I have been in the commitment space in regards to how we uplift the pueblo, the community, and so we have. We ran for delegates for the state party for Assembly District 39, and we both won. So we represent our region on the state level came up for anybody that wanted to run and so I threw my name in the hat, my husband threw the name in the hat, several other people I know threw their name in the hat to be considered as a delegate, as a voting delegate, a representative for the state of California to attend the DNC. And, unbeknownst to me, this email goes out by Governor Newsom endorsing my candidacy and two other people. And that held a lot of power because we won. So we won, thank you, thank you. It was very cool and I was smiling ear to ear that day just to get the endorsement and then winning.

Mario J. Novoa: 6:41

And then came the big sigh of like okay, we did this. Now what? Well, delegates are tasked to be involved either in meetings and to find out, preparing for the convention, and so that preparation. It took some time, it took a lot of information and then to share that with people. So it's not just about me, it's about sharing it with the community. So we were sharing it with people about what this meant.

Mario J. Novoa: 7:10

At that time Joe Biden was running, so to have a conversation with people about Joe Biden was very difficult because they just did not feel enthusiastic about him. Enthusiastic about him and um, once he made you know, trump got it, was attempted assassination against trump, and all this stuff was happening politically. When joe biden decided to endorse kamala harris and he decided to step down, then the energy level just went through the roof and it was all of a sudden. Being a delegate was super important, because then we're getting bombarded. So this is even before the DNC decision. But they were saying are you going to vote for Kamala, are you supporting Kamala? And we were getting phone calls and emails and people that we knew were asking us. And so I am like I don't know, I have to do my research. I said I know what she's done for our state as an attorney general and then also working in the Bay area as district attorney, and I kind of stood in line with her policies. But I just needed to do a little bit more research. But I just needed to do a little bit more research and after I made the commitment to support her.

Mario J. Novoa: 8:27

Then we, as delegates, then everything kind of coalesced together within the party and Nancy Pelosi and the California Democratic Party called us to a meeting and before the convention which is unusual we had to cast our vote. So our decision was made before the convention. Usually that happens at convention but because of some state restrictions, with um candidates being on the ballot as I think it was, a state in the state of ohio was having that issue um, we had to vote. So we all primarily the the majority voted for Kamala Harris. So there was such enthusiasm and such like excitement around that. So you know, it was really I felt like I was a part of history and very proud to be Latino and queer, to be representing us.

Rita Gonzales: 9:22

When you did this vote, was it in person? It was virtual, oh virtual. So it was a virtual meeting, okay, yes, so it was a large virtual meeting.

Rita Gonzales: 9:31

It was a very large virtual meeting, but Nancy Pelosi was on my screen and I met her in person, so oh, one of the when we were talking, one of the things that came up, because I always thought that everything was paid for by the party or by the state, but when we were talking I found out differently. Can you share a little bit about that?

Mario J. Novoa: 9:57

Yeah, having already attended two state conventions, one in Los Angeles and one in Sacramento, we already knew that as a delegate we had to pay our own way. So just even participating on the state level, we had to pay for lodging, travel, food, all that that goes with that and plus member fees for the state party and then other convention fees, plus member fees for the state party and then other convention fees. So I knew there was going to be a cost to this. And the designated convention city was Chicago and I had been to Chicago. I had been to Chicago once and I knew it could be costly. So my thought was this is going to be expensive. My thought was this is going to be expensive.

Mario J. Novoa: 10:40

So once everybody was getting organized around after Kamala and getting organized for the convention, we started to receive information weekly and that kind of was stressful because we're like okay, what are we doing? What's the itinerary? Like where are we supposed to be? So you know, we got information on when we should arrive and check into the hotel. So at one meeting they gave us a breakdown of what the potential cost could be and so it was kind of hovering around $4,000.

Mario J. Novoa: 11:11

So I really wasn't prepared to kind of fund the whole trip. I knew that we'd have to make some sacrifices to do that, but I think it goes with the territory right. I think sometimes you mentally prepare for that but then you get the official word that the party does not cover those costs. It's out of your pocket. I think there might be some stipends for people somewhere.

Mario J. Novoa: 11:37

I didn't ask, but I think we're trying to represent people from different socioeconomic backgrounds and we know that minorities have a hard time fulfilling those financial obligations, so I'm sure that there are sponsors out there willing to assist. Or if the party is connected to maybe some foundation, I don't know too much. I did fundraise for my cost, so I was able to raise maybe just about a quarter of what I needed to spend. So that was super helpful and I'm very, very thankful for the people that did contribute. And my husband was kind of like in charge of that because I worked long hours during the day, so he was able to do that for us and I was able to go on the journey without having too many hangups about it.

Rita Gonzales: 12:30

Did your husband go with you Because he was also a delegate?

Mario J. Novoa: 12:34

He was a delegate for the state party, but he wasn't a delegate for the convention.

Rita Gonzales: 12:38

He ran wasn't a delegate for the convention. He ran but he did not get elected. I was curious as to kind of what you did there. Who did you meet? What was kind of the process, the fun and maybe the not so fun of this convention?

Mario J. Novoa: 12:56

Yeah, so you know there's about 400 plus delegates and 278, between 270 and 278 are elected, so I was part of that pool. The other portion of that that makes up the 400 are elected officials, so they're kind of automatic delegates.

Rita Gonzales: 13:17

So kind of what did you do? Who did you meet? What kind of were some of the events that took place?

Mario J. Novoa: 13:34

Part of the day-to-day we had for the California Democratic Party. We had a breakfast and that breakfast was sort of informational in nature and also an opportunity to network with other delegates from our state. We were all housed well. We had a block of rooms that we could choose at a certain hotel and we would have breakfast there at like one of the meeting rooms and it was like a ballroom size meeting room and it gave us a chance to again network with people. But we had speakers come in. So we had speakers like Nancy Pelosi. We did have speakers like Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary. We had other dignitaries come in and talk to us every morning. So all of this was live streamed as well, so people that were watching could watch on social media and it was fun. It was really informative to get kind of like the schedule of the day and then also getting the speakers in to help us motivate. Get motivated because as delegates we're not just voters for our candidates but we're also going back home to send and bring some messages. Right, we're taking messages with us to carry on. So I think that's what our state breakfast were mainly about was just to get us enthused about going home and making sure that we're encouraging people to do phone banking, encouraging people, encouraging people to knock on doors and put up signs and talk to the community. So you know, again, even through this question that you just asked me, I encourage our listeners to do the same go out and do something. Because and I'll share this in depth a little bit more because it goes deeper I think it was one of the most impactful speeches I heard and it was from Hillary Clinton and I think ultimately, the subtext of her speech was like don't get complacent, because look at what happened during my election. Everybody has she had shared in interviews that people have told her I didn't go out to vote because we thought you had already won and clearly there is no taking back your non-vote or voting in that you can't go back in time. So a lot of that is sort of like ingrained to the delegates that we are part of the larger community in terms of leadership and that we can have impact. So I'm glad that we're talking about this because I think I want to, ultimately for our listeners, I want to encourage people to participate, like you don't have to run for office, but there are other ways that you can be supportive of leadership or be a leader yourself within your local clubs, whether that's a conservative one or a liberal one, just participate, be involved.

Mario J. Novoa: 16:30

But you know, outside of that, you asked me who I met. Oh man, I met so many great people. I met a governor, former Governor, Gray Davis I had a chance to talk to him Gloria Allred, who's an attorney, who's representative of a lot of cases all over, but she's a feminist attorney and has helped a lot of women with their cases on the justice issues. I think the most memorable encounter I had was with Dolores Huerta. Dolores had I had already met through one of our screenings that we had at for Unidad, which is the film about the gay and lesbian Latinos Unidos, and I had run into her before at another convention, and so she's like 90 plus and she remembers who I am. Wow, I'm like you know so over the moon about that. That's incredible.

Mario J. Novoa: 17:35

And she, you know, I went up to her and I said you know this is who I am. She said I know who you are and she's introducing me to somebody and she knows this is Mario. He's the producer of this film, is on PBS. You guys should talk. And so she asked me are you going to that? There was a luncheon that day. She's are you going to the Latino leaders luncheon? I said, yes, I am. There was a luncheon that day. She's like are you going to the Latino Leaders Luncheon? I said, yes, I am. She's like we're going together. And she grabbed me by the arm and she's like we're going to go. So we had to go from one hotel to another venue about six miles away and we got there. And you know, dolores is such a big person in our communities. She's made a really big impact nationally, probably internationally too, but her work is known for having worked with Cesar Chavez for the United Farm Workers Union and she's just a really great public speaker. And so when we got out of the car to go to this venue like the seas part here comes Dolores and she's holding Montemario and we're walking through the crowds and people are like can we take a photo with you or do you remember me from this or that? And she remembers people, she remembers where she was at and like people from Texas and people from Arizona and people from another part of the country, and and she's having these wonderful conversations. And then, you know, for this particular event there was a VIP area and so we were escorted I by default, holding onto her, and I'm actually recording the whole time because I took my camera, so I'm recording all of this and they take us to the VIP room and everybody wants to talk to Dolores. They're taking pictures with her and with everybody. She's like this is Mario producer, meet him, mario, give him your card. So she made me feel so special.

Mario J. Novoa: 19:46

She made me feel bigger than anyone in the whole convention that for that week, maybe not bigger than Kamala how memorable that is that is yeah, I mean, how can you you can't ask for more to be recognized and to be seen, right, that's what we all want as human beings. And she did the most simplest human thing you could do and that's recognize somebody, and that was great. So I'll never forget that. That was the highlight for me of the, of the campaign, of the whole experience sorry and leading into the convention, which is the reason why we were there. That was huge. I don't think I'll ever have another chance to hear Bill and Hillary Clinton, barack Obama and Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden and so many speakers that were on stage. I don't think I'll ever be in a room like that again ever.

Rita Gonzales: 20:52

I'm just soaking it all in for this moment in time, this moment in time, I have experience, but that will always be the most special moment. It certainly will.

Mario J. Novoa: 21:02

One of the most special yeah, it certainly will and unforgettable. And I think for those of you that watch the convention at home or any part of a speech, I think you can probably get the energy of the speaker right, you can. It transfers over on the airwaves or the streaming lines. You know, you really do get people's's passion. But it's nothing like being there I've seen these conventions my whole life and to be in a room where everybody is like from energy level from one to ten right, we say pain level one to ten, but energy level one to ten, and ten being the highest ten. Every everyone was at 10, even the reporters, even all the press that were like packed, jam-packed in all the aisles. Um, there was just really good energy there. I think people felt the promise of a better tomorrow and an opportunity to have new leadership, to have a new voice. So all all the conventioneers I don't know what the word is, but all the people from different states, all the delegates and everybody who participated, it was just like a big family. And so you do feel that from the rally and then obviously, when the speakers come up and you cheer for them, it's just a great feeling. And just to point out the two other moments. So there were, you know, three moments for me of the whole week. One was Dolores Huerta, which I just talked about, and the other one was Hillary Clinton. And not only did she talk about losing and passing, you know, the baton over to Kamala, but seeing the opportunity for people to actually, you know, move baton over to Kamala, but seeing the opportunity for people to actually, you know, move the needle forward. So sometimes leadership, maybe there's no succession, but maybe there's like inspiring the next group of people to take up that baton and lead, and lead with agency and voice. And I think that's what Hillary kind of transferred to me that day. There was a lot that was subtext in her speech. There was a lot about inspiration also. But that leads me to the promise of tomorrow.

Mario J. Novoa: 23:21

As a delegate, obviously I have endorsed someone and I know that we're part of the show is not to endorse but just to see somebody's history and so why they've been put on the platform. So I want to just put that into context, because the convention is about endorsing a particular person and everyone has to do their homework, even as listeners. We have to find out if that candidate fits for us, because I know other Democrats and I know other liberals that are not voting for her. So people have to really not only look at the presidential platform. They have to look at down ballot.

Mario J. Novoa: 24:06

So how is it affecting your state? How is it affecting your local elected officials? What measures, what propositions are on the table for you Increases in your taxes, or how community programs are rolled out? I think it's up to the electorate to figure that out, and you have to have a discussion with people. You have to do your research. The internet has given you a lot of abilities to do research that we didn't have 30 years ago. You'd have to be looking through books, do your research, listen to YouTube, listen to the speeches, listen to the position. So, whether you're liberal or conservative, do your homework. Be part of your right as a voter and exercise that right.

Rita Gonzales: 24:57

And I would agree with Mario on that that it's important that and that's kind of the point of this is that there are things that you can do, whatever your background is, whatever your political affiliation is, there are things you can do to hopefully better your community and want to better your community and encourage you to get out there, learn what's available, learn how certain measures, certain people, certain candidates, propositions all impact you and the people around you and the people you care about.

Rita Gonzales: 25:37

That's incredibly important to do and that's why I think we've all stressed the importance of one registration, which you need to do before I believe it's October 21st what I read and then following that up and getting out to vote, because I think what it was very telling, because I saw Hillary's speech and was very moved by it as well. I thought it was one of the best speeches I've ever heard when she talked about that how we can't become complacent. If there's something that you believe in, again, whatever your affiliation, you need to get out there and you need to make a point and hopefully contribute something positive to your community.

Rita Gonzales: 26:21

Any last thoughts, other than I'm always pushing people to register and vote. I feel like Taylor Swift actually.

Mario J. Novoa: 26:28

Well, I did want to say that we have more, as a people, things in common than we have things that separate us, and we have to find that consensus and that commonality, whether you're in on the left, the right or the middle. We have to as a community. That is part of democracy is that we have to work together to move our pueblo, our community, forward, and I don't have any issues with anyone that's conservative, let's just work together, and I have to convince you that my perspective is the best one, and then you have to do the same and then maybe find some compromise there.

Rita Gonzales: 27:14

There's a thing on Facebook where they show someone will say a topic and said change my mind as they sit there, and that's exactly what we all have to do.

Rita Gonzales: 27:24

Well, this has been great talking about all this, Looking forward to the future actually, and just to add before we close, is that you do need to register by October 21st if you want to participate in the upcoming presidential election and, like Mario said, there's a lot of other than president. There are a lot of other things that you need to consider, other than president. There are a lot of other things that you need to consider Again local leaders, local and statewide amendments. So please do your homework, please read up, and we all encourage you to get out there, register and vote.

Mario J. Novoa: 28:08

And Eduardo, just to read my fortune cookie that's taped on my computer. Be your strongest advocate, and I'm going to add be your strongest advocate and vote.

Rita Gonzales: 28:21

Absolutely Great. Thank you for listening to us. I'm Rita Gonzalez. I'm Eduardo Archuleta. I'm Mario G Novoa. Like us on our Facebook page or email us at the out agenda@ gmail. com and have a wonderful week, and remember that being out is the first step to being equal. Now stay tuned for this Way Out.