Before Hillary Clinton's town hall for digital content creators began Tuesday afternoon, "Let's Get Loud" played as a hordes of Millennials in bodycon dresses and fashionable suits took selfies in the audience. The Beautycon Media-sponsored event wasn't unlike a thumping nightclub — both Kylie Jenner's best friend, Jordyn Woods, and Karrueche Tran were in attendance, after all.
The event, which was live-streamed on Clinton's Facebook page, natch, was organized by Beautycon Media with the specific intent of putting Clinton in the same room with a bunch of tech-savvy younger voters. As the CEO of Beautycon Media, Moj Mahdara, told Cosmopolitan.com, the 100 content creators in attendance had a reach of more than 300 million subscribers combined. "We have a bunch of voices here with giant platforms and the fact is, Millennials are the most likely to protest but the least likely to vote. I want to change that."
Speaking of protesters, out front, dozens of anti-abortion protesters wielded giant signs that said things like "Hillary Supports Killing Babies" and "Hillary 2016 = Dead Babies." Children and teens used chalk to write, "Hillary Kills Babies" in pastel pink and yellow on the concrete. A protester who wished to be identified only as Sue said she chose to attend the event because "we know Hillary is very pro-abortion, and so we're here to encourage her and her supporters to love the moms and love the babies by not killing them."
Back inside, Moj Mahdara introduced Clinton to the group, but not before giving everyone the Wi-Fi login info, which was met with the biggest applause of the evening. The questions of the evening ran the gamut of issues that move Millennial voters, including student loan debt, LGBTQ issues, and revenge porn.
Chrissy Chambers, who makes videos with her girlfriend on the BriaAndChrissy YouTube channel, asked Clinton about the latter.
"In 2015, I came out as one of the first public figures who was a victim of revenge porn," she told Clinton. "And ever since have been trying to pursue justice for myself as well as other victims."
Chambers explained that although 34 states have some laws against revenge porn, there is no federal law criminalizing it. She asked Clinton what she would do to ensure that there was a federal law passed so victims can get justice and "perpetrators can be held accountable for sexual assault, digital privacy invasion, and this horrible crime that ruins so many people's lives and almost ruined mine."
Clinton thanked Chambers for her bravery and told her, "I will do everything I can as president, to try and figure out how we can give victims like you the tools you need, and the rest of society should support, to be able to protect yourself and by doing so, protect others."
Clinton also spoke to the audience about the importance of their roles in helping to support victims of these crimes.
"Some of you have kept people alive, because you have been able to communicate with a person who was bullied. Or a young person who was struggling with their sexuality and feeling all alone. And you were able to give that person a sense of survival. And a feeling they weren't by themselves," she said.
Raymond Braun, 26, asked Clinton what she would do to tackle homophobia and transphobia, and keep LGBTQ people safe, especially in light of the recent mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
"The horrifying events in Orlando, which was both terrorism and a hate crime, sent shock waves through America, but the people most affected were those in the LGBT community," Clinton responded. "It's one of the reasons why I went to Pride Parade in New York City because I wanted to demonstrate unequivocally that I would do everything I could to deal with homophobia."
She stressed the need to pass laws to protect LGBTQ people — including employment protection — as well as stricter gun laws. "I can't stop every hate crime, I wish I could, and I am working as hard as I can to keep guns out of the wrong hands, something that I think contributed to the murders in Orlando," she said. "The idea that we can't do more to protect people from the epidemic of gun violence is just so heart-sickening to me that I'm gonna stay on this, take on the gun lobby, and keep fighting for gun safety measures."
After the event, Braun said he was pleased with Clinton's answer. "I'd feel very safe with her as president," he told Cosmopolitan.com. "She is including LGBTQ people in her campaign — we are woven into its fabric."
As to whether an event like this can affect voter turnout, especially among Millennial voters, Braun is optimistic. "These peer-to-peer conversations are super important. I tell my friends, if you can't think of a reason to vote, think of me. I'm part of a group that's routinely discriminated against, and one candidate is fanning the flames of hatred and bigotry, and one candidate who is actively and beautifully advocating for my community, so which do you want to support?"
The town hall ended with Clinton taking a selfie with the entire crowd. "This is gonna be bigger than the Oscars," she joked, to a round of laughter and applause.
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