San Luis Obispo mayor curses at progressive event, gets quoted in Rolling Stone

January 29, 2019

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon traveled to Vermont to attend a gathering of top progressive minds that Rolling Stone suggested had the feel of a campaign rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders. In its coverage of the event, Rolling Stone quoted Harmon as saying her children could “fucking die” over an emergency like climate change.

Speakers at the event talked about climate change and other “dire emergencies spiraling out of control,” the article said. The article quoted Harmon in the following paragraph.

“I have two kids, and they’re going to fucking die if we don’t fix all this. That’s how I look at it,” Harmon was quoted as saying.

The article described Harmon as “the colorful mayor of San Luis Obispo.”

Rolling Stone published the article in December, but Harmon waited until last weekend to share it on social media. Harmon said she hesitated to share the article because she recognizes that “‘prominent woman says curse word’ has become a new genre unto itself.”

Harmon said there is a double standard with regard to perceptions of men and women cursing.

“I’m going to let you in on a shocking secret: sometimes women swear,” Harmon said in an Instagram post. “Here’s another revelation: there is generally nothing newsworthy about a woman swearing.”

Harmon also doubled down, effectively repeating her comments from the Vermont event in the Instagram post.

“Let’s not forget that the fact that we actually have to grapple with the reality that our kids may in fact actually fucking die is the real travesty — not a woman cussing,” Harmon wrote.

Headlined “Yes, Bernie Should Run,” the Rolling Stone article said the event held in Burlington, Vermont was hosted by Sen. Sanders’ wife, Jane Sanders, and her Sanders Institute. The event was called “The Gathering.”

The event featured numerous notable names in progressive politics, including Sen. Sanders, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, academic Cornel West and political commentator Cenk Uygur, according to the Sanders Institute website.