Elizabeth Warren shares tearful moment with queer teen when asked about acceptance
Elizabeth Warren hugged the tearful queer teenager. (Elizabeth Warren/ Twitter)
Elizabeth Warren was asked by a tearful young queer person about acceptance during an Iowa campaign event, and she responded by telling a moving, personal story and giving the teen a big hug.
17-year-old Raelyn, who only wants to be identified by her first name, teared up as she asked Warren: “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?”
The presidential candidate took the time to share a personal story about her own struggle for acceptance from her mother after her first marriage ended.
She became tearful herself as she said: “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.
“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.
“And maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but you gotta take care of yourself first.”
She then told the crying teenager: “Give me a hug.” As the pair embraced, Warren told her: “We’ve got it. We’re going to be OK. You’re going to get through this. You’re going to be good.”
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
The queer teen said she was “touched” that Elizabeth Warren had the “courage” to answer the question
After the emotional moment, Raelyn told CNN: “I loved it. I was scared. I didn’t want her to feel, almost, pressured to answer it, because I know being put on the spot and being on that big of a pedestal in front of America, it’s kind of like, you don’t want to put all of your personal information out there.
“You don’t want to have everybody see everything, every single side of you. And I was just really touched that she had the courage to answer that question in a different way than she has spoken before.
