LGBT Rights Gain Importance in the Democratic Race
Which democratic candidate supports your equal rights?

Until recently, news reports frequently described Hillary Clinton as the “inevitable” Democratic Presidential nominee.  Now, however, the race in Iowa is a “down-to-the-wire”, three-way contest among John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Clinton.

As a result, the campaigns are redoubling their efforts to reach out to voters, including voters in the LGBT community.  All of the major Democratic campaigns have released lists of prominent LGBT supporters and formed LGBT advisory committees.  And they tout their positions on LGBT-related issues.

While the leading Democratic candidates agree on many of these issues, there are also significant differences among them, in both their words and deeds.

Edwards, Obama and Clinton all support inclusive employment non-discrimination (ENDA) and hate crimes legislation, increasing funding to fight HIV/AIDS, and securing equal adoption rights for LGBT families.  They would all repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.  And they all oppose the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment and support federally-recognized civil unions for same-sex couples.

Despite these similarities, the candidates do not agree on every issue. Edwards and Obama support repealing all of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by the Clinton Administration during the 1996 Presidential campaign.  In contrast, Sen. Clinton would repeal only part of DOMA, retaining that part that allows individual states to ignore same-sex marriages from other states.

Edwards also supports the Uniting American Families Act, the leading bill in Congress intended to secure equal immigration rights for LGBT families.  Clinton and Obama oppose the specifics of the Act, but say that they are in favor of it “in principal” (Clinton) or “in concept” (Obama).

Both Edwards and Clinton have proposed universal health care plans for all Americans.  While Obama’s health care plan would expand coverage, it would still leave an estimated 15 million Americans without health insurance.  This is not an exclusively LGBT issue, but it does resonate with LGBT voters given the higher incidence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and breast cancer among gay and lesbian Americans.

While there are clear policy differences among the candidates, for many voters, there also appear to be substantial differences in the approaches that these candidates take toward LGBT rights and the LGBT community.

For example, in March 2007, Gen. Peter Pace, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that homosexual acts are “immoral”.  When the three leading Democratic candidates were initially asked if they agreed with Gen. Pace, they had three very different answers.

Edwards immediately responded, “I don’t share that view.” Later, after their efforts to avoid responding to the question became an issue in the race, both the Clinton and Obama campaigns stated that they disagreed with the General’s comments.

In October, Obama created another controversy when he employed a 2004 Bush campaign tactic by having Donnie McClurkin lead campaign events for Obama in the evangelical community.  McClurkin has incited controversy with his statements that he is in “a war” against gays and lesbians who he claims are a “curse” and are “trying to kill our children.”

Obama compounded the situation by also asking the group “Mary Mary” to headline campaign events for him in South Carolina.  The leader of Mary Mary has equated gay and lesbian Americans to “murderer(s)” and “prostitute(s)”.

Despite calls for Obama to cancel the campaign events or to ask McClurkin and Mary Mary not to participate, he refused and went ahead with the events.

In contrast, in June, Elizabeth Edwards became the first major Presidential candidate or spouse to participate in an LGBT Pride celebration, when she spoke at the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club breakfast in San Francisco.  In questions following her speech, Edwards came out in favor of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans.

John Edwards sums up his values when he says, “LGBT Americans are entitled to equal respect and dignity under our laws.  Discrimination is morally wrong.  All Americans should have the same freedoms and the same responsibilities.”

Along with the American public, the Democratic candidates have all evolved with respect to their support for equal rights for LGBT Americans. For many voters, the issue is less about where the candidates came from with respect to LGBT issues, but rather where are they today and where are they likely to be tomorrow. As society’s values change and politicians change with them, there is a growing likelihood of passing equal rights legislation for the LGBT community.