Hillary's Biggest Gay Supporter Shares His Campaign Tales

We asked theater producer and longtime Hillary Clinton volunteer Tom D'Angora about how he got involved in the campaign and what it's meant to him. Read his story below:

I helped in Hillary Clinton's '08 campaign and I was very big in what you call visibility; with pulling together the big crowds and being her hype guy. I went to seven different states; it was a lot of fun. I really was very involved every day in the campaign and it was a photo finish, but she ended up not winning the nomination. I swore if she was in again, I was in. So I returned first day she announced she was running in '16 and have had several roles this go-round. I worked in grassroots engagement the first year of the campaign under Adam Parkhomenko who is the man who founded Race for Hillary, and now he's moved on to the Democratic National Committee.

Then for six months, I got the honor of working in LGBT outreach, which was really incredible and I was a grassroots coordinator for LGBT outreach team. I helped coordinate almost all of the Prides in the United States this year, including a huge contingency in New York in June where we had over 1,000 people marching and, of course, Hillary became the first-ever nominee of a major party to march in a Pride parade; she's already the first sitting first lady to march in a Pride parade.

I also worked in what we call expansion states. Right now I'm in Tampa, Fla., for the final leg of the campaign because this is the checkmate state. I'm in Hillsborough County, where if Hillary wins, she'll win Florida, and if she wins Florida, she'll be the next president of the United States.

I've also spent a lot time working on the advance team doing crowds for her rallies and being her hype man for her rallies. I pick the people that go in the bleachers behind her -- the excited people who want to be up there -- and I help everyone have the best time they can and be the most enthusiastic they can. I love doing the grassroots efforts and being with the voters. We were lucky enough to have Hillary in Tampa for her birthday.

I actually came to Tampa to work on early-vote events because if we can mobilize our base here, we can have such an insurmountable lead by Election Day; it'll really help secure the state. I'm here primarily working on getting out the early vote.

It's very intense here. Floridians are very aware of what an important role they play in the election. I wear a Hillary for President T-shirt 90 percent of the time, so I'm a walking billboard -- and you can't miss me, I'm 6 foot 4' -- and I'm getting a great response. I expected more opposition, and it's only been a couple times and a couple of the Trump supporters I met have even been kind of nice. They'll say, "I know she's gonna win, but I don't like her." So it's been OK. We had great turnout for our events; we reached fire code at the event yesterday and sadly had to turn away 1,500 people. So the enthusiasm is amazing, and I think if we all do our job we're going to be very happy on election night. But we have to do our job every day and everyone has to keep going and people need to still volunteer, make phone calls, get out to the polls, talk to their friends, make sure we have a huge turnout. I think if we turn out our people, we're going to do very well.

There's a lot of enthusiasm for her. And when you really get on the ground, in the field, and you're talking to real people, none of this stuff you see in the news or on the media really exists. It's people talking about the issues that affect them every day. I think people know her incredible record. People remember the last 35 years; people know what she did as first lady, how hard she worked for health care. When she faced opposition there, she picked herself up and didn't give up. Instead, she reinvented herself and created a children's health care program.

I moved to New York a month after she was elected to the Senate; I was there for 9/11 and watched firsthand how incredibly she handled that. She fought for the state and she fought for the city. Everything she did for the LGBT community, everything she did as secretary of State. People know what she can achieve, and I think it makes people who are struggling feel comfortable that she's the leader they're going to have in January.

People say I'm her biggest supporter, and I'm very proud of that. I idolized this incredible woman for almost my entire adult life, and I truly believed what she did as senator and what an amazing first lady she was, I became determined to do everything I could to make sure she became our president, because I know she'll be one of the greatest presidents we've ever seen. It's interesting to think that in a few days, something I've worked for over a decade on, honestly the focus of my life, will be here. I don't know what I'll do with my intensity -- reelection will be in three years! I think it'll be wonderful to relax and know we'll be in good hands going forward. I've gained 91 pounds. I can't wait to go to the gym!

After the election, I have faith in the good of the American people. I think the majority of the nation will stand behind her. Hillary has a hard time, when she's running, with approval ratings. I don't know what that's all about -- maybe it's because she's a woman with ambition seeking a higher office. Any time Hillary Clinton's in office, her approval rating is through the roof. When she was running for president in '08 she had a terrible approval rating. When she was secretary of State, she had the highest approval rating of any Democrat in the country. When she ran for Senate the first time -- terrible approval ratings. She was reelected with a record-breaking margin, winning every Republican county in upstate New York. If history has told us anything, when she gets into office and does what she does best -- which is get to work and fight -- the American people rally and get behind her, and I'm looking forward to that.

When you look at people who've worked for her, you've never heard a bad word about her. Just the opposite, people go above and beyond -- once you're with her, you're with her for life. The people who have worked for her fall in love with her. It's not like a normal organization. She's so gracious, she's so kind, she's so thoughtful, she's so nurturing; she's just a wonderful presence to be around. She's funny; she has a great sense of humor. I've had the honor of getting to know all these people who have been around her all these years. It's the real deal. Her inner circle loves her. There's so much loyalty, so much love, and I think it's really mutual. From my experiences with her, the word I go back to over and over again is that she's very "gracious."

I'm definitely going to vote in person in New York. I get in around midnight on November 8. I've been dreaming of this moment for a very long time. I'm going to wake up and I'm going to walk in and vote for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Then I'll be in New York for what I hope is a victory party with the president-elect.

TOM D'ANGORA is a theater producer when he's not working for the Clinton campaign, working on shows like Newsical the Musical, Naked Boys Singing, and The Marvelous Wonderettes. Follow him on Twitter @TomDangora.