Out in Politics: June 2008 Archives

As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm still having some trouble transfering my unabashed enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. I even had a dream a few nights ago that I was consoling Hillary as I was helping her clean out dresser drawers. I have no idea what that meant.

So, while I deal with my issues, another Clinton survivor, Barbra Streisand, is moving on to Barack. Streisand confirmed this week that she is willing to help with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's campaign.

Streisand can raise an awful lot of money when she sings for someone - just ask Bill Clinton! So I'm sure the Obama campaign will be happy to have her as a fund raiser!

At last week's Love and Pride event at The Abbey, I had the chance to sit down and have a nice chat with Judy Shepard of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, named after her son who was beaten to death in a senseless hate crime. His remarkable mom has been a tireless advocate for hate crime laws and LGBT equal rights and everytime I see her, I just want to give her a giant hug for being such an inspiration.

Here is our conversation:

Q. Were you surprised at the Supreme Court ruling?
A. "You know, I was surprised. Maybe less surprised because it's California and they're forward thinking but I was surprised. And I think what happened in Massachusetts had a lot to do with that. Everybody thought it was going to fall off into the ocean when they okayed marraige and when it didn't, people were like, 'Well okay. This is their private business and that's great.'"

Q. In the days after the ruling, what is your meszsage to people?
A. "I want everyone to understand that marriage isn't a guarantee of everything. If we think it's going to answer all of our problems in the gay community, it isn't. We still have hate crime to deal with and all the other incremental things. This is not the end all be all, but it's a wonderful thing to have happen."

Q. The ballot initiative to again ban gay marriage just qualified for the November ballot so there's this big fight ahead. Do you think the climate is different from say eight years ago or four years ago?
A: Absolutely. Prop 22, it was hateful. I think if the opponents to this come back in with that same kind of message, it's going to look bad for them because it's a hateful message. Not allowing people to be together and take care of eacn other in a legal way, that's a hateful message.

Q. Do you think it's getting through to people that it's hateful?
A. I do, I really do. I think the more we see it, the more we recognize that it's just people who love each other and deserve to be together like everybody else. The thing that's lacking is federal benefits. I think it's going to have to be a national issue at some point in time. Unlike New York, not every state is going to say, 'Okay, you got married in California and now you move to Montana, you're still married. We've got to do something about that.

Q. What about the politicians? Do you find that anybody is getting any kind of courage toward equal (LGBT) rights. Hate crimes, 'Don;t Ask, Don't Tell,' marriage. Is anybody getting any kind of backbone or are they still waiting or someone else?
A: I think we;ve seen the backbone that's out there and then we still see the wishy-washy stuff going on. Who's going to vote against a hate crimes bill? Still, we didn't have the votes for it. I think that's appalling. Especially when the constituents are telling their representatives, 'We want this to happen." They're just not paying any attention to us."

Q. You're favor of transgendered people being included in the bill?
A. Yes. Included in everything. When it's removed from anything, it's not because of anything we do, it's what the actual representative do. We can lobby for that until the moon turns pink but it's ultimately up to them.

Q. Your thoughts on the upcoming presidential election. I can't imagine you;d be sad to see George Bush out of office. How have the past eight years been for you?
A. Oh, it;s been really hard for the community. I just personally feel like we've been sort of standing in the same place for eight years. I understand that at the grassroots level we've made great strides but at the federal level, we're still right where we started.pretty much. We've educated a lot of legislators and that's good. I'm looking forward to the next eight years."

Q. Where do you get all the energy?
A. I think Matt gives it to me.

My Daily News colleague Rick Orlov had an interesting tidbit in his must-read political column this week about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa who rode in the LA Gay Pride Parade on Sunday.

Rick writes:

Officials across California are eagerly anticipating next week's date when gay marriages will be allowed. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is scheduled to be in Israel when the ban is lifted June 17, said he has taken the steps to allow him to perform weddings.

Before he can do so, however, Villaraigosa needs to fill out a certificate with the California Secretary of State's Office saying he plans to perform weddings.

It's an interesting time for those of us who backed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign which she officially suspended on Saturday. I strongly believe that she was the best person for the job, the smartest and the strongest and the person who would be most effective as president. But, she lost. Yesterday at the Gay Pride Festival in West Hollywood, there were all kinds of Barack Obama supporters out there handing out buttons and stickers and I gotta say, I'm not feeling it yet. Of course I will vote for him - of course - but I just hope my enthusiasm grows once I'm through processing Clinton's defeat. An Obama/Clinton ticket would most certainly help heal these wounds!

Anyway, Obama released a letter to the LGBT community over the weekend. You can read it in its entirety after the jump but here are highlights of his stance on the issues most important to us:

- As president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non- Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

- As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat samesex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples -whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage.

- I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does.

- I have also called for us to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.

The full test of Obama's statement is after the jump...

My biggest disaapointment in Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is that neither of them have had the guts to support same-sex marriage. As a gay person, this is the most important issue of all. So when the California Supreme Court ruling last month lifted the ban, neither of these candidates could change course.

The alternative newspaper LA Weekly has an article coming out this week focusing on Obama and the gay marriage issue. Here is a statement his campaign has released on the topic:

"Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as President. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage."

On the issue of constitutional amendments, Senator Obama has been on record for some time: He opposes all divisive and discriminatory constitutional amendments, state or federal. That includes the proposed amendments in California and Florida."

Gee, thanks.