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This article is part of a series—At 250, Who Will America Be?—reporting on threats to American democracy as we approach the nation’s Semiquincentennial, on July 4, 2026.
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In California, Pride month has been a little extra-proud this year, since Will Rollins, a 39-year-old gay Democrat, seems to be picking up steam as he runs for a House seat in the 41st district. Rollins — a former counterterrorism prosecutor — lost the same race two years ago to Ken Calvert, a Republican election denier who endorsed former president and convicted felon Trump. But the race was close; Rollins lost by only 11,100 votes. Since then he’s raised money and support (while avoiding corporate PAC donations), and for many has become a palatable alternative to the anti-gay, anti-abortion Calvert. The Voice spoke with Rollins about why his winning would be better for queens than for a certain wannabe king.
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Michael Musto: Hello, Will. Why do you think you have a better chance to win against Calvert this time?
Will Rollins: I think more people will know me. I had a completely different job — counterterrorism prosecutor — before doing this. The antithesis of that job was self-promotion. I had to go from that job to being a candidate in a short time. It’s almost impossible to convince everybody in the district that they know you in a six-month period. What we saw in the last election was that in Coachella Valley [which includes Palm Springs, where Rollins lives], I beat Calvert by 20 points, but in other places I wasn’t as well known. The big difference between ’22 and ’24 is going to be a 50% increase in turnout. People will show up in presidential years, and more Democrats will show up.
Has Calvert been smearing you?
Yes. He ran some comically false ads talking about my record as a federal prosecutor, implying that I supported criminals selling meth to children. He’s doing that because he has no real line of attack. He’s trying to go after all the biggest accomplishments of my law enforcement resume because he knows they’re popular with voters. He claims I want lesser sentences for drug offenders, when in reality he voted for a bill providing just that.
And he’s an election denier?
Yeah. That’s what got me into the race. I was helping to prosecute those insurrectionists and Calvert was voting to decertify, to drop charges, and against the committee to investigate the attack.
What about gay stuff? I’m guessing he’s not any kind of queer hero.
He started his career by outing Mark Takano [who Calvert defeated in 1992 but who won his current House seat 20 years later]. Mark was not out when they ran against each other. Calvert sent out homophobic flyers. And he’s voted against letting us adopt and against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. I’m excited to beat him, not just because it would be poetic justice and the right rainbow bookend to his career, but because I’ll be the first out gay who worked in law enforcement to work in Congress. This is one of the most competitive seats in the country. We only need four seats to get the majority back. This is not only an attempt to defeat the homophobes but to elect Hakeem Jeffries speaker of the House.
How do you plan to do this?
Whoever can win the independents is going to win the election. They want someone reasonable. Calvert is as right as you can go, not just on LGBTQ rights but on women’s rights. And he’s devoted to defunding the FBI [since agents searched for classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence]. He’s a member of the MAGA coalition in the House, and most independent voters don’t want anyone on the far left and far right representing them in Congress.
Flipping the House would be the last line of defense against a guy who wants to be a dictator.
What type of gay are you?
I’m a boring gay. A gay that reminds people of a used car salesman. I’m a nerdy gay.
Did you ever have a period where you ran around and went to circuit parties?
Unfortunately, no. I came out in my early 20s and I met my partner [experience designer Paolo Benvenuto] when I was 26. You get lucky when you meet somebody quickly. We fell in love pretty quickly. I was in my second year of law school. We met at a mutual friend’s birthday party.
But you’re not married?
We‘ve been too lazy to do that. I keep waiting for him to propose [laughs].
What is at stake here? Especially if Trump wins.
Flipping the House would be the last line of defense against a guy who wants to be a dictator. Our 250th anniversary as a country is coming up in 2026 and it’s ironic that our country broke away from a monarch, a king, and here we are with a wannabe dictator or king who’s convinced members of Congress to bend the knee to him and surrender all democracy, all rule of law, in service of one king. It’s a symbol of how un-American MAGA has become.
And they love to reference 1776, as if they’re the ones fighting tyranny.
I know. I don’t remember our founders rebelling against a king so they could install a king.
The GOP seems to be pushing “illegals” as a more important threat than queers, but I’m sure that’s just temporary, right?
I think they demonize a lot of groups — immigrants, LGBTQs, women. They’re increasingly embracing a country based on a religious government and imposing the view of Christian nationalists on the rest of us, regardless of what our personal religious beliefs might be. The irony of their claiming to be tough on the border is that they deliberately ensure that it’s broken so they can campaign on immigration, and they’ve said that part out loud. Calvert would have secured the border if Trump hadn’t told him not to. It’s something they use as a political tool with no actual goals. Most people who are reasonable and smart want the infrastructure to provide asylum claims for people fleeing horrific circumstances around the world. And most people in my district want more access to labor. There’s a massive labor shortage in the U.S., and our economy does better when we have immigration.
It’s mostly dark-skinned immigrants that the GOP doesn’t seem to like.
Trump rose to power based on the birther lie — that the nation’s first Black president wasn’t actually an American. That there were so few voices in the GOP willing to condemn that racist lie was a preview of where we are today. We’re supposed to be led by extremists and social media stars like Marjorie Taylor Greene. If you’re a social media star, you have more clout than the speaker of the house. There’s a complete lack of courage and moral leadership.
Are you a fan of Pete Buttigieg?
Huge fan. I’m Team Pete, for sure. And Chasten [Buttigieg’s husband].
It’s Pride month. Are you hopeful for our community?
I am, because my argument has always been that equality for our community makes our entire country stronger. An example I give is that a pediatric surgeon in Louisiana [Jake Kleinmahon] was forced to leave the state [in order to continue his practice], because of anti-LGBT legislation. He was one of the few doctors who could provide critical care for children. This caused a massive loss, it hurt every single kid there who needed a doctor. When America sees stories like that, they’re reminded that when our community succeeds, we all succeed. People want this country to be a place where you can succeed regardless of what you look like or who you love. ❖
Michael Musto has written for the Voice since 1984, best known for his outspoken column “La Dolce Musto.” He has penned four books and is streaming in docs on Netflix, Hulu, Vice, and Showtime.
