The Visible Vote '08

Presidential campaign history was made Thursday night.

At least that's what people are saying.

The first televised debate devoted to gay issues was held. I believe the more appropriate term is LGBT issues -- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender.

LOS ANGELES -- Democratic presidential contenders Thursday sought to underscore their differences with Republicans on gay and lesbian rights, but leading candidates also faced sharp questions on their reluctance to embrace marriage for same-sex couples.

In a forum focusing on gay issues sponsored by a gay-rights organization and aired on a gay-oriented cable channel, Sen. Barack Obama argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn't be a "lesser thing" than marriage. He disputed that his position on same-sex marriage made him a vestige of the past rather than an agent of change.

Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, but Obama has yet to go that far.

"If we have a situation in which civil unions are fully enforced, are widely recognized, people have civil rights under the law, then my sense is that's enormous progress," the Illinois Democrat said.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the nation was on "a path to full inclusion" but added, "In my judgment, what is achievable is civil unions with full marriage rights."

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed support for civil unions. "I will be a president who will fight for you," she said.

But she also said she made a mistake in March when she steered around a question on whether homosexuality was immoral. She was asked about it at the time after Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he considered homosexual acts immoral and similar to adultery. He later said he should have not expressed his personal views. Clinton later issued a statement saying she did not think being gay was immoral.

"It was a mistake," Clinton said. "I should have put it in a broader context."

Six of the eight Democratic candidates answered questions at an event described as a milestone by organizers. It marked the first time that major presidential candidates appeared on TV specifically to address gay issues, organizers said.

Obama called the event "a historic moment ... for America."

I missed the historic moment.

Oh, well.

Dem presidential nominee wannabes Joe Biden and Chris Dodd missed it, too. They decided not to participate.

Overall, it sounds like the Democrats really pandered.

What exactly is Bill Richardson's position anyway?

He says that the country is on "a path to full inclusion." OK.

But what does this mean?

"In my judgment, what is achievable is civil unions with full marriage rights."

A union with full marriage rights means marriage. So Richardson is against gay marriage but he wants civil unions with full marriage rights.

Talk about going both ways.

...The candidates, who appeared one at a time and sat in an upholstered chair, took questions from a panel that also included singer Melissa Etheridge and Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart.

That's not a debate. That's more of an interrogation.

...All of the Democratic candidates support a federal ban on anti-gay job discrimination, want to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the military and support civil unions that would extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.

A majority of Americans oppose nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage and only two of the Democrats support it — former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, both long shots for the nomination.

The forum brought some of those distinctions into focus.

When Kucinich was asked whether there was anything on the agenda for gay and lesbian rights he didn't support, he paused and said, "All I can say is, keep those contributions coming ... and you'll have the president that you want."

Interesting that the longshot candidates are the only ones willing to support gay marriage.

Kucinich definitely wants to be the candidate of the LGBT population. The problem is if he won the vote of every member of the LGBT community, it wouldn't be enough to win the presidency.

You can watch some video of The Visible Vote '08 here.
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While at the Logo website, I saw this ad:



I wonder if Gay Republicans hesitate to come out to their friends.

If they are honest about their conservative political leanings, are they outcasts?

Better to stay in the closet than risk alienation, I suppose.
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On a somewhat related note, I came across this somewhat interesting, somewhat odd bit of information a while ago.

I can't remember why I was looking at the professed religious affiliations of the members of Congress, but I found that as a member of the 106th Congress (1999-2000), Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin listed GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) as her religion.



Is one's sexual orientation a religion?

I never thought of it that way.

That might have been a good question to ask the candidates.