If Obama is the nominee

[terrya]

Is there a place for GLBT Anericans in his campaign? In his America?

I seriously ask this question because I still don't quite trust him about whether he is really interested in our issues and our concerns. If he is the nominee, he will essentially be writing the party platform before the convention. I know, who cares about the platform, right? But it is the blueprint of what this party is supposed to stand for in this election. Hearing "we need to embrace our gay brothers and sisters" is nice and sweet and cuddly and wonderful. Hearing "they should get a basic set of rights" is quite another. Sorry, but there you go.

[cali]

1. I certainly hope there will be and pressure should be put

on him to ensure it. He has said he wants the repeal of DOMA and DADT, and that he favors federal benefits for gay and lesbian couples. So that would seem to indicate something more than "sweet" and "cuddly".

[terrya]

11. Cali

I know this race is over. Obama will be the nominee. I could especially sense it last night.

I will support and vote for our nominee, Barack Obama. Hell, I'll be the first one in here who will offer my congratulations to him and to his supporters when it's official.

I just have some concerns about where I, as a gay Democrat and American, fit in in his vision of America. I know some people around here practically fall asleep when things relating to GLBT people re: this election are raised. Whatever. But they do ultimately matter.

[bigtree]

14. I don't think you should resign yourself to anything less than total acceptance

. . . from our nominee. NOW is the time to press your concerns with every fiber of your being. Never stop pressing for that acceptance from our candidates and from our eventual nominee.

[cali]

16. I agree that GLBT issues are vital and they are near to my heart

I would have supported Obama far earlier but for McClurkin. And that's still a big black mark for me, but his record and his rhetoric outweighed that. And if he tries to back away from the things he's promised, progressives, gay and straight, will have to pressure him.

[Lerkfish]

2. at least he's shown himself to be responsive to people in general

so I would think so. Kucinich would have been the only candidate I was sure would do so, so this becomes the mission of the GLBT community and others to pressure him to adopt a good platform

[Colobo]

3. There will be. I'm sure.

[Olney Blue]

4. Obama is starting to draw fire from the GOP for being "the most

liberal" in the Senate. Let's hope that is a good sign that he would include GLBT rights in the Dem platform.

[niceypoo]

15. The republicans always say that, said that of Kerry too

And for some bizarre reason, Ted Kennedy is always their measuring point.

[casus belli]

5. In his own words...

"For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been on the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our healthcare system, and in our criminal justice system," Obama said.

And yet, he said, African-Americans have been guilty of anti-Semitism and hostility toward immigrants, and have "scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them."

"If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," Obama said.

"We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/21/at_kings_church_obama_reaches_out_to_black_voters/?page=1

[cboy4]

6. In my opinion, he will be advised to back off on all things

gay out of concern they'll be used as wedge issues for the 2010 midterms and then the 2012 presidential election.

[MadBadger]

8. Sounds like something Bill Clinton would advise.

[Political Heretic]

7. Hearing "they should get a basic set of rights" he's already said that, in this campaign, repeatedly

Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Gays in the Military: Barack Obama believes we need to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. His campaign literature says, "The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve."

Gay & Lesbian Adoption: Barack Obama believes gays and lesbians should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexuals.

Barack Obama did vote against a Federal Marriage Amendment and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

He said he would support civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, as well as letting individual states determine if marriage between gay and lesbian couples should be legalized.

"He supports the complete repeal of D.O.M.A. which is the same position he has held since early 2004," Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt told ABC News.

Obama’s top rival for the Democratic presidential nomination -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton -- wants to equalize benefits for gay couples in state-recognized marriages by repealing the portion of D.O.M.A. which pertains to federal benefits.

"I want to repeal Sec. 3 of D.O.M.A., which stands in the way of the extension of benefits to people in committed same-sex marriages, and, you know, I will be very strongly in favor of doing that as president," Clinton said Thursday during a presidential candidates’ forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign in Los Angeles.

While Clinton supports equalizing the provision of federal benefits, she opposes full D.O.M.A. repeal.

"She believes marriage should be left up to the states," said Clinton spokesman Phil Singer.

Obama, by contrast, views D.O.M.A. as "an abhorrent law" and he has accused those in Congress who passed D.O.M.A. as only having been interested in "perpetuating division and affirming a wedge issue," according to a 2004 statement that he gave to the Windy City Times, a gay newspaper in Chicago. Believing that D.O.M.A. is not needed to protect states from having to recognize marriages that are contrary to their own public policy, Obama has broken with his top-tier rivals in taking the controversial step of calling for a complete D.O.M.A. repeal.

If I had more time I would start linking texts of speeches where he has repeatedly, explicitly called for LGBTQ equality (not by the acronym, he says gays and lesbians should have the same rights and equality of all citizens.

That's what he says.

[KLee]

10. Here is something I found also...

http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2007/11/senator-barack.html



“If you are elected President, what concrete steps would you take to overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?' ”

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):

Fourteen years ago, the Democratic Party faced a test of leadership, and our party failed that test. We had an opportunity to be leaders on the World stage in eliminating discrimination against gay and lesbian service members, to recognize the patriotism and heroism of the hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian citizens who have served our country. Instead, we bowed to fear and prejudice. We were told that American soldiers weren’t ready to serve next to gay and lesbian comrades. We were told that our airmen, sailors and Marines would lose their “unit cohesion” if we implemented a policy of equality. And so, rather than embracing leadership and principle, we embraced Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — a policy that is antithetical to the values of honor and integrity that our military holds most dear. Patriotic gay and lesbian Americans are now told that they may serve their country only if they hide their true identities. They are forced to live a lie as the price of risking their lives for their country.

Fourteen years later, the United States of America lags far behind. We lag behind our military allies, who are repudiating discrimination against lesbian and gay soldiers in ever increasing numbers — in Great Britain, Canada, Israel, nearly every NATO member in Europe — all with no impact upon military readiness and performance. And our politicians lag behind the American people, who now call for the repeal of Don’t Ask,Don’t Tell in super-majority numbers. It is time for a change.

As president, I will work with Congress and place the weight of my administration behind enactment of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which will make nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military. I will task the Defense Department and the senior command structure in every branch of the armed forces with developing an action plan for the implementation of a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And I will direct my Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to develop procedures for taking re-accession requests from those qualified service members who were separated from the armed forces under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and still want to serve their country. The eradication of this policy will require more than just eliminating one statute. It will require the implementation of anti-harassment policies and protocols for dealing with abusive or discriminatory behavior as we transition our armed forces away from a policy of discrimination. The military must be our active partners in developing those policies and protocols. That work should have started long ago. It will start when I take office.

America is ready to get rid of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. All that is required is leadership.

[From The Left]

9. He Has a 20 Year Record of Support on LGBT Issues

There's your answer.

[LostinVA]

12. You know the answer to that already: no

If he threw us under the bus to get the DEMOCRATIC nomination, what do you think he'll do to win the GE? He's against same sex marriage, allowed Ex Gay Clowns to demonize us PUBLICLY at one of his events, and believes we should be tolerate and allowed to have a basic set of rights.

I trust HRC not to stab us in the back. She hasn't one time in this campaign. Senator Obama has.

Fuck it.

[Marrah_G]

13. "they should get a basic set of rights"

NO..........They should get EXACTLY the same rights as every other citizen.

THAT is what I want to hear from our leaders.