Russ Feingold was among the featured guests at the HRC's annual Black Tie Gala in San Francisco. Russ introduced another featured guest, Phil Angelides, a candidate for Governor in California. There is a great article about the event in The Bay Times. Here's a taste:

Feingold said the Senate had a ceremony on June 15 commemorating 2,500 deaths of American troops, and there have been 65 more since then. “Iraq continues to be a mistake; it continues to hurt our national security; and we should withdraw our troops from Iraq within the next year,” he said. “Every one of us should not ask for but demand that every American be guaranteed health care.” He said, “We should also stand up to this national exploitation of attacks on the gay and lesbian community. We should stand up against discrimination every time it rears its head.” He said he has been a legislator for almost 25 years. “When I started I had all black hair,” he said. One of the first things they did was to pass the first consenting adults law in the US. He took to task the administration in 1992, saying it showed weakness when it came time to stand up against the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell law. “That law was a mistake and continues to be a mistake, and I’m proud that I voted against it,” he said. “In 1996, when the rightwing in this country and the Contract with America people smelled the opportunity to exploit this issue, they introduced the Defense of Marriage Act.” He said he was proud to be one of the 14 senators who voted against it. “It was always the wrong thing to do and never should have been passed.” He said, “I don’t feel I’ve been hurt politically one bit for standing up against it.” He said he had the pleasure of being the lead senator on the judiciary committee to oppose writing same-sex marriage discrimination into the Constitution. “I am so proud that they didn’t even get the number of votes this year that they thought they were going to get on that amendment. So we are winning this battle. I think we can put a stake in the heart of this thing.” He added, “I am optimistic about the future of issues affecting the GLBT community.”