Sunrise Movement Launches Hot Bisexuals Against Kyrsten Sinema Phonebank

Sunrise's Tempe, Arizona, hub is connecting young people to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's office to demand climate action.
flier for Hot Bisexuals Against Kyrsten Sinema phonebank
Sunrise Movement

Kyrsten Sinema is America’s first openly bisexual senator — a source of consternation for bisexuals frustrated by her centrist politics. Today, some self-described “hot bisexuals” with the Sunrise Movement are taking matters into their own hands.

Bets Ericksen, a member of Sunrise’s national organizing team, recalls hearing about Sinema’s groundbreaking 2018 run and admiring her gutsiness. “I was like, ‘Wow, that's really vulnerable. That's really brave.’ There are so many reasons not to be out as bisexual in the world, and then also to run for office as a younger woman,” Ericksen says. But they've grown deeply frustrated with Sinema’s obstructionism, particularly around the popular Build Back Better Act. 

While organizing in Washington, DC, in support of the legislation — which Vox’s Rebecca Leber explained is one of the last opportunities to change American climate policy before reaching a new epoch in the climate crisis — Ericksen says, “Kyrsten Sinema became this figure that was clearly in the way.”

“Realizing that she was literally one of two or three people standing in the way of passing this legislation that folks have been fighting for, and that she basically campaigned on being the kind of person that would want to pass it to represent Arizona, that made me really mad,” Ericksen explains. “It made me so furious that I had even identified with her at one point or had looked up to her. I just felt betrayed. LGBT folks in politics are using their identity and they're claiming to represent people, but they're not actually standing up for the things that would make our lives better.”

Ericksen had an epiphany. Why let Sinema take all the credit for being a politically active bisexual? They know plenty of hot bisexuals who totally disagree with Sinema’s approach. That’s when they had the idea for the Sunrise Movement’s Hot Bisexuals Against Kyrsten Sinema phonebank, set for Thursday, October 7.

“Hey girls, gays, and theys,” the phonebank page opens. “We're recruiting — for Hot Bisexuals Against Kyrsten Sinema.” It continues, cheekily, “Cuff your jeans, grab your iced coffee, take your SSRI, and sit sideways in your chair at smvmt.link/sinema. We've got to let Sinema know that representation isn't colorful wigs and great eyeliner. Queers want it all: good jobs, investments in infrastructure, citizenship for all, and a chance to SURVIVE.” Phonebank participants will be supporting the Sunrise Tempe hub, directing people to plug into their work and contact Sinema directly about the Build Back Better Act.

The two bills under consideration by Congress include billions of dollars allocated for, among other things, climate: over $200 billion for clean energy investment; $80 billion for electric cars and public transportation; and funding for “natural carbon removal” or agriculture and forestry. Also included are fines for oil and gas producers that leak methane, essentially taxing emissions from fossil fuel production, which the fossil fuel industry is pushing to have removed. Given the urgency of this moment, in advance of COP26, climate and progressive groups like the National Wildlife Federation, Citizen Action, and countless others have been putting pressure on Sinema and others standing in the way.

Ericksen says the prospect of the bill passing — should Sinema and fellow critic Joe Manchin (D-WV) decide to support some version of it — is “a testament to youth movements and progressive organizing.” “We're not even talking about doing something totally out of the imagination here. This is literally the president's agenda, this is literally what Biden campaigned on,” says Ericksen. But, they added, “It really makes me sad that a queer woman who is young is one of the people [in the way], especially when I think she’s deceiving the public about why she’s doing it, because she does get a lot of support from corporate donors. But most Arizonans are in favor [of] the stuff in these bills.”

Ericksen says that members of Sunrise’s Tempe hub have struggled to get in touch with Sinema, and that she’s been unavailable for “face time” with her constituents. They’re hopeful that phonebanks like this will keep the heat on Sinema, even if she continues to refuse to meet with them.

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