By Caroline, Family Equality Council
Intern
Disclaimer: This post is my personal
political opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of the
Family Equality Council as an organization.
As of last night, Barack Obama has
clinched the Democratic Party nomination for President.
Regardless of which candidate you originally supported for the
nomination, I believe that it is absolutely imperative that we as a
community rally wholeheartedly behind Obama’s candidacy.
John McCain’s record on LGBT issues, while
admittedly better than some Republicans (he was against the
Constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage), is generally
dismal.
McCain voted for an amendment in Arizona to
ban same sex marriage and deny government benefits to unmarried
couples, supports the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in
the military, voted against including sexual orientation in the
federal non-discrimination act, voted against including sexual
orientation in hate crimes legislation, is against marriage
equality, is ignorant on HIV/AIDS issues, and until about a year
ago didn’t even
know what the acronym “LGBT” meant. This is not a
candidate for whom LGBT people, families, and allies can vote
for in good conscience.
On the other hand, Obama’s record, while not
perfect (he does not support same sex marriage, although he
believes states should be able to legalize it), is very strong. In
February, he
penned an open letter to the LGBT community detailing his
support for things like federal civil unions, and a
non-discrimination act and hate crimes law that include both sexual
orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, he wants to repeal
“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” as well as the Defense of Marriage
Act. He has shown commitment to working
on treatment and prevention of the AIDS epidemic (including
thorough comprehensive sex education). Finally, he supports the
rights of gays and lesbians to
openly adopt.
Our community has real power as a voting bloc.
Let’s come together to support a candidate who supports us in
return.