With little more than 50 days to go before election, we are coming down to the wire in being able to reach out to friends and families about why this election is so crucial to the LGBT community. The information that gets shared here on LGBT for Obama is a great resource to help explain why a vote for John McCain is a vote against LGBT people and our families.
Last Friday, a reporter from the New York Observer asked me what I thought about Sarah Palin. I told her I thought Sarah Palin was honest and real. I believe that. But, that in no way should be viewed as an endorsement of any kind. I oppose many of the positions of Sarah Palin, particularly those tied to the LGBT community. I am supporting Barack Obama and, in fact, I have lent my name to both Women for Obama and the Obama LGBT Steering and Policy Committee.
The Obama campaign recently responded to a series of questions submitted by William R. Kapfer, co-president of Window Media, the Washington Blade’s parent company. In his answers to the questions, Obama committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive national AIDS strategy and emphasized his support for repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act and for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and hate crimes legislation.
Below is an excerpt from the interview. Read the entire interview at the Washington Blade.
Blade: Important gay rights legislation unrelated to marriage has been stalled in Congress for quite some time. The gay community has high expectations for an Obama administration. What are reasonable expectations for a first-term Obama administration: How aggressively would you push for Congress to pass ENDA, the hate crimes bill, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and other gay-related bills in your first year in office, and would you mention those bills in your State of the Union address?
Obama: These bills are all important priorities for me. Senator Biden and I have long committed ourselves to supporting fundamental civil rights for all. In addition to the issues you mentioned, I also support full repeal of DOMA to provide equal federal rights and benefits to LGBT couples. America must live up to our founding principle of equality for all, and it’s wrong to have millions of LGBT Americans living as second‐class citizens in this nation.
I support these efforts because I know that equality is a moral imperative. Back when I was in the Illinois Senate, I co‐sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. The non-discrimination bill has become law in Illinois. If I am honored to serve as your President, I will continue to do what I’ve done throughout my career and in this campaign: speak out on behalf of the cause for equal justice and opportunity for LGBT Americans.
I thought the Log Cabin Republicans would withhold their endorsement of John McCain. Maybe I just hoped they would. After all, they withheld their endorsement of President Bush in 2004. So I thought it was possible.
In making its endorsement today, the group pointed to the Arizona senator’s opposition to a federal constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being a man and a woman. The group also indicated that it had honest disagreements with Senator McCain on the subject of same sex marriage. The Log Cabin gang has traveled to St. Paul to carry the message that Republicans are on the “wrong side of history” when it comes to the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.
In this must see video Joan Garry, co-chair of the Obama campaign’s LGBT Finance Committee and former Executive Director of GLAAD, Log Cabin Republican Executive Director Patrick Sammon and Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff discuss the presidential elections. The video is featured on Logo.
Garry gives an impassioned rationale for why LGBT voters and our friends and families must vote for Sen. Barack Obama. As expected, Sammon made excuses for Sen. John McCain’s failure to include LGBT people in his convention speech or even express any support whatsoever for LGBT civil rights.
One of the things I hoped for when Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic convention, was that she would introduce people to the America that she came from, and that was the setting of her story. One of the biggest shames in the campaign — aside from the fact that political realities required this intelligent, accomplished woman to effectively bite her tongue for the last couple of months — is the lack of any honest discussion about the reality that we don’t all live in the same America. It’s one reality that both progressives and conservatives must grapple with between now and November, and beyond
Delivered on a night that carried the theme “One America,” her speech should serve as a reminder that if we are to be America, we have to first acknowledge that what we have are three America’s: yours, mine, and ours.
Andy Tobias, the openly gay treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, had these words to say to the readers of LGBT for Obama about why LGBT involvement in this election is so crucial.
There was more than a little jaw-dropping political spin flying around last week during the Republican Convention. The blog team at LGBT for Obama is here to help cut through that spin and get to some of the real issues impacting the lives of LGBT Americans during this election cycle.
We are now less than 60 days away from the most important presidential election in a generation. To show your support for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, donate directly to the Obama campaign while having your contribution tagged as coming from the LGBT community.
On Thursday, ABC News’ Bret Hovell and Matt Stuart Report posted on Political Radar a “testy” exchange between Sen. John McCain and a Concord, NH high school student who questioned the senator on his stance on gay rights. Of course, McCain reiterated his opposition to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples.
Here’s a bit of the faceoff:
William Sleaster, a student at Concord High School rose to ask McCain a question about gay rights and, ultimately dissatisfied by the answer he received from McCain, told the Republican presidential contender that he’d come looking to see a leader and didn’t.
McCain first answered the high school student by talking about his support for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military’s policy regarding gays, and about his belief in the sanctity of marriage.
“Discrimination in any form is unacceptable in America today,” McCain said.
“I understand the controversy that continues to swirl around this issue,” McCain said. “That debate needs to be continued.”
Sleaster pressed on. “Do you support civil unions or gay marriage?”
“I do not,” McCain answered. “I think that they impinge on the status and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.”
“So you believe in taking away someone’s rights because you believe it’s wrong?”
“I wouldn’t put that interpretation on my position, but I understand yours,” McCain said diplomatically.
…
“I came here looking to see a leader,” Sleaster said. “I don’t.”
I can’t help but wonder if William Sleaster’s opinion changed at all after watching McCain’s convention speech last night. Not surprisingly, nothing in McCain’s speech addressed any of the LGBT issues raised by the student….
The Obama campaign continues its strong outreach to LGBT voters with Michelle Obama speaking on Wednesday an event at the Los Angeles home of Bryan Lourd, managing partner of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Bruce Bozzi, Lourd’s partner.
Some of the entertainment industry figures who attended the fund raiser were Kevin Huvane, managing partner of CAA, actress Kate Bosworth, actress Helen Hunt, producer Paula Weinstein, actress Salma Hayek, openly gay fashion designer Tom Ford, openly gay producer Bruce Cohen, and actress Reese Witherspoon. Former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle, who was in Los Angeles campaigning for Barack Obama, was also a guest.
Los Angeles gay community leaders who attended the event were Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, West Hollywood City Councilman John Duran, and restaurateur David Cooley, all of whom are openly gay.
Mrs. Obama spoke about her husband’s commitment to advancing LGBT civil rights and urge the attendees to get engaged in the campaign.
