Out For Democracy

John Edwards Statement on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Senator John Edwards released the following statement today calling for an end to the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy on gays and lesbians in the military. Earlier today, Congressman Marty Meehan reintroduced his Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.

"It is long past time to end the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy and to allow openly gay men and women to serve in the military. It is critical to our national security that we have the best people in our military. Gay men and women have continually served our country with honor and bravery, and we should honor their commitment and never turn away anyone who is willing to serve their country because of their sexual orientation.

"This is an issue of fundamental fairness - and our military ought to treat everyone fairly. I applaud Congressman Meehan on his important legislation."

For John Edwards Supporters

Do you want to show your support for John Edwards in 2008? Do you have a website? Here are two very easy things you can do.

First, if you know RSS, you can add the Out for Edwards RSS Feed to your website.

Second, I've created this banner graphic to promote the Out for Edwards site. If you would like to add this banner code simply cut and paste the HTML below to your website:

<A HREF=http://www.outforedwards.org><img src=http://www.outfordemocracy.org/images/banners/edwards1.gif width=468 height=60 border=0></a>

Do We Need Democrats Like This?

Reprinted Bulletin exclusive from U.S. News & World Report:

Eaves To Attack Barbour From The Right On Social Issues. The Democratic consultants who have spent the years since 2004 trying to reverse the Democratic Party's secular image and who are credited with Democratic gains among evangelicals and other religious voters in the 2006 midterms have signed onto the campaign of a Mississippi gubernatorial candidate who will test the limits of the Democratic Party's willingness to embrace social conservatives. The Washington, DC-based Common Good strategies, started by the religious outreach director for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, will be working to elect John Arthur Eaves, who announced today that he will be challenging Republican Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour in 2007. Eaves is an outspoken evangelical Christian who is anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage and whose internal campaign literature includes an emphasis on reintroducing school prayer to public schools. "When we took prayer out of school," the document says, "we denied our children the ability to explore one of the most important questions they should be asking: why do we exist and what is our purpose in being here?" A source close to the campaign says Eaves will also work to take advantage of evangelical discontent with Barbour over allowing casinos to come on shore.

For Hillary Clinton Supporters

Do you want to show your support for Hillary Clinton in 2008? Do you have a website? Here are two very easy things you can do.

First, if you know RSS, you can add the Out for Hillary RSS Feed to your website.

Second, I've created this banner graphic to promote the Out for Hillary site. If you would like to add this banner code simply cut and paste the HTML below to your website:

<A HREF=http://www.outforhillary.org><img src=http://www.outfordemocracy.org/images/banners/hillary1.gif width=468 height=60 border=0></a>

For Barack Obama Supporters

Do you want to show your support for Barack Obama in 2008? Do you have a website? Here are two very easy things you can do.

First, if you know RSS, you can add the Out for Obama RSS Feed to your website.

Second, I've created this banner graphic to promote the Out for Obama site. If you would like to add this banner code simply cut and paste the HTML below to your website:

<A HREF=http://www.outforobama.org><img src=http://www.outfordemocracy.org/images/banners/obama1.gif width=468 height=60 border=0></a>

An Open Letter to Rosie

John Edwards One Corps

Are you supporting John Edwards in 2008? Well then in addition to signing up for the Out for Edwards Yahoo Group, you'll want to register at One Corps. One Corps is John Edward's online organizing tool for offline action. Check it out

* Click here to get started, and be sure to list Out for Edwards as one of your friends on One Corps!

Team Obama

Are you supporting Barack Obama in 2008? Well then in addition to signing up for the Out for Obama Yahoo Group, you'll want to register on the official Barack Obama website. And when you signup be sure to add 'Out for Obama' on your list of friends.

* Click here to register on the official site
* click here to register & make a donation.

Team Hillary

Are you supporting Hillary Clinton in 2008? Well then in addition to signing up for the Out for Hillary Yahoo Group, you'll want to be sure to register on the official Hillary Clinton website.

* Click here to register on the official site
* click here to register & make a donation.

Andrew Sullivan on HRC

Read the whole piece here.

"Gays should not expect any bipartisan attempt at progress for gay couples or people from the Human Rights Campaign, Steve Miller argues. He's right; and anyone who has followed gay politics for a while knows it. HRC is a patronage wing of the Democratic party, designed primarily to get its members jobs in future Democratic administrations or with Democrats on the Hill (even while Howard Dean treats them like the help). The idea that they would even consider endorsing a pro-gay Republican on a national level is absurd.

I've watched the military battle and the marriage battle for almost two decades now. HRC has been AWOL on both. For much of the 1990s, they were an active force opposing the fight for marriage equality, because the Clintons gave them their marching orders. The current leadership are Hillary-bots, and if she becomes president, they will go back to their role in the 1990s: as spin-meisters for the Democratic establishment. If you're for gay rights, do yourself a favor. Give your money to groups that actually care about gay rights. Off the top of my head: Freedom To Marry, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Immigration Equality. If you want to give to HRC, just give it directly to Hillary. It's more efficient."

GLCC Members Respond to DNC Op Ed

I'm including this response to Donald Hitchcock's Op Ed by request. There are some things that I take exception with. Among my concerns: these GLCC members (a group which was originally for the $2,000+ donors to the DNC) maintain that Brian Bond's main focus on the DNC is political outreach, despite the fact that this is not reflected either in his job title or in the organizational structure of the DNC), and despite the fact that we don't have concrete GLBT outreach plans I (that I know of) in place as we did under Eric Stern.

To the Editors:

Re: “Howard Dean continues to disrespect gay voters” (letter to the editor by Donald Hitchcock, Feb. 9)

For many of us who are supporters of the Democratic National Committee, we were surprised by Donald Hitchcock’s letter published last week.

As donors and community activists we have a completely different take on the recent Caucus meeting, Gov. Howard Dean’s remarks and most importantly DNC progress as a whole.

First, Dean, due to a very tight schedule, was unable to attend all caucus meetings. However, he spent as much or more time with our caucus as he did with any other caucus.

Second, he did open up the floor to questions. While there were no questions, one person from Wisconsin said, “I don’t have a question but a statement … thank you for sending money to Wisconsin to fight the anti-LGBT marriage ballot initiative.”

Third, the letter is just wrong on the number of DNC finance staff. Also, Brian Bond does only political work and no fundraising.

Fourth, Dean has treated the LGBT community extremely well. Under his leadership our community is represented at the most senior and visible levels of the party. In addition, Dean has consistently fought Republican efforts to use a federal marriage amendment to scapegoat our community.

Fifth, the attacks on DNC contributions are misleading. Let’s be clear, the primary mission of the DNC is to fund and elect Democrats. However, we encourage and applaud Dean’s willingness and leadership to invest limited federal dollars in a strategy to try and keep anti-gay referendum off the ballot.

Dean’s 50-state strategy worked. We took control of both houses of Congress and won hundreds of seats at the state and city level.

Because Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, there will be no more FMA votes and we can expect real progress on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and hate crimes legislation.

Democrats won 10 new state legislatures, meaning there are 10 fewer legislatures from which anti-gay ballot initiatives will emerge.

We now have LGBT Convention Delegate Inclusion Plans.

The DNC is helping Stonewall Democrats build their infrastructure, training state parties in LGBT outreach and coordinating with allied organizations to create an LGBT summit.

There has been and there will continue to be real progress. It is important to push our party on our issues, but as we do so, we need to be honest, accurate, and balanced in what we say, otherwise we not only lose credibility but become counterproductive to our own goals. Let us now all move forward.

BARBRA ‘BABS’ CASBAR
JERRY CLARK
JOHN KLENERT
BRUCE LEHMAN
CLAIRE LUCAS
BABAK MOVAHEDI
Washington

2008: Three Emerge, War Top Issue for LGBT Voters

Lisa Keen has a great article in the Bay Area Reporter, in which she notes two important trends in the 2008 presidential campaign. First, LGBT voters are looking closely at three candidates: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards. LGBT issues continue to be important to our community. Much like the rest of the country, however, the War in Iraq is a defining issue.

Hillary Clinton on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Kathy Belge from About.com has posted the following review of Barack Obama on Gay and Lesbian Issues.

Hillary Clinton as New York's Senator: Hillary Clinton sits on the following committees: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension and Senate Special Committee on Aging. She has been criticized by liberals for her support of the Iraq war, but praised for her support of abortion rights, education support and health care.

Hillary Clinton and the United States Senate: Every two years the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay and lesbian organization, issues a scorecard for members of the Senate based on their sponsorship and voting on key issues of importance to gay and lesbian citizens. Hillary Clinton scored 89 out of 100% in the 2006 scorecard. Here's how HRC rated Hillary Clinton:

Federal Marriage Amendment: Hillary Clinton voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment (S.J. Res. 1) which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and included language which could have prevented recognition of civil unions and domestic partnership benefits. The amendment failed by a vote of 49-48.

Confirmation of Judge William Pryor : HRC opposed the confirmation of Judge William Pryor to Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals because of his opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians. Hillary Clinton voted against Pryor's nomination, but Pryor was nominated in June 2005.

Judge Samuel Alito Confirmation : HRC opposed the nomination of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court and so did Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton was part of an attempted filibuster to keep the Alito vote from taking place. Despite Hillary's no vote, Samuel Alito was confirmed for the Supreme Court.
Co-Sponoring Legislation: Hillary Clinton, in line with HRC, co-sponsored legislation to bring Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive Americans and the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act which would expand federal jurisdiction to reach serious, violent hate crimes perpetrated because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability of the victim. She did not co-sponsor Uniting American Families Act that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens the same immigration benefits legal spouses of U.S. residents enjoy.

Hillary Clinton and Gay Marriage: Some gay and lesbian voters don't feel like Hillary Clinton has done enough to support gay and lesbian rights, while others believe she is the best candidate for gay and lesbian issues. Clinton opposes gay marriage but supports civil unions between members of the same sex.

During her husband's administration, she supported the Defense of Marriage Act, a law preventing the federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
"Marriage has got historic, religious and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage always has been, between a man and a woman." - Hillary Clinton, opposing same-sex marriages, quoted in The New York Daily News.

However, in October 2006 Hillary Clinton was quoted by 365gay.com as saying,"I believe in full equality of benefits, nothing left out. From my perspective there is a greater likelihood of us getting to that point in civil unions or domestic partnerships and that is my very considered assessment."

John Edwards on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Kathy Belge from About.com has posted the following review of Barack Obama on Gay and Lesbian Issues.

Employment Non-Discrimination: Edwards supports a federal bill that would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Employment: Edwards is undecided on a federal bill to outlaw workplace discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

Hate Crimes: Edwards supports expanding federal Hate Crimes Law to include sexual orientation.

Marriage Equality: Edwards opposes same-sex marriage, but he does not think the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

On 2/24/04 Edwards said in response to President Bush's proposed Constitutional amendment, "I am against the president's constitutional amendment on gay marriage...I don't personally support gay marriage myself. My position has always been that it's for the states to decide."

Family Medical Leave: Edwards is undecided on extending Family Medical Leave Act to same-sex couples.

Same-Sex Immigration: Edwards is undecided on legislation that would allow American citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration into the country.

Gay and Lesbian Adoption: Edwards supports giving same-sex couples the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Edwards supports the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in the United States Military.

Edwards Comments:

On Don't Ask, Don't Tell: "As the recent discharge of Arabic language specialists demonstrates, the current policy does not serve our national interests and should be changed."

On Hate Crimes: "I am an original cosponsor of the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, which adds protections based on sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation."

Barack Obama on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Kathy Belge from About.com has posted the following review of Barack Obama on Gay and Lesbian Issues.

Barack Obama and Gay Rights in Illinois: Barack Obama supported gay rights during his Illinois Senate tenure. He sponsored legislation in Illinois that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Barack Obama in the United States Senate: Every two years the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay and lesbian organization, issues a scorecard for members of the Senate based on their sponsorship and voting on key issues of importance to gay and lesbian citizens. Barack Obama scored 89 out of 100% in the 2006 scorecard. Here's how HRC rated Barack Obama:

Federal Marriage Amendment: Barack Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment (S.J. Res. 1) which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and included language which could have prevented recognition of civil unions and domestic partnership benefits. The amendment failed by a vote of 49-48.

Confirmation of Judge William Pryor : HRC opposed the confirmation of Judge William Pryor to Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals because of his opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians. Barack Ombama voted against Pryor's nomination, but Pryor was nominated in June 2005.

continue reading this article at about.com

DNC Not Ready to Make Nice

The following op-ed was written by Donald Hitchcock, the former Director of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee

After attending the recent Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus meeting, it reaffirmed for me my reasons for standing up to Gov. Dean’s reluctance to treating our community with dignity and respect, an action for which I was fired. I claim that firing as a badge of honor.

Gov. Dean barely addressed the LGBT caucus with only 5 minutes worth of comments, and no questions from the floor. And unfortunately, his talking points had shifted from the comprehensive plan to address the anti-LGBT state ballot measures offered last year to throwing only “a little bit of money” into the states at the end of the fight. So much for the strategy to combat them that he touted in the LGBT press prior to the elections. A recent survey shows that the DNC gave states less than $20,000 in-total, despite having raised almost $2 million from the LGBT community in 2006. But we will never know the exact amount given to state groups since the DNC is embarrassed to officially release the numbers.

The most shocking revelation during the meeting was that Gov. Dean misspoke by claiming that there were no 2006 LGBT exit-polling numbers, stating that “people won’t admit that they are gay” to pollsters while walking out of the voting booth. However, as many of us know, there are indeed exit polls reporting that approximately 80% of LGBT voters voted Democratic. Obviously, either his staff still does not have access to brief him on our issues, or he is not listening. I wonder if he would address any other constituency group, not knowing this basic information.

At the meeting, LGBT finance staff and key fundraisers did sit at the Caucus table, as before, but what is different is that lately we seem to be treated solely as an ATM for the party, with our civil rights seeming an afterthought or burden. After Gov. Dean became Chair of the DNC, two LGBT political positions were abolished, and two finance positions were added, for a total now of four positions in Finance and zero in Political. Given the meeting, it’s obvious that we continue to be invited to the table, pay for the meal, but we are not allowed to eat.

I have great faith in the community to continue to ask questions, and hold our party accountable. That is the only way real progress can be made.

Sincerely,

Donald Hitchcock
Washington, DC

Clark Williams on Hillary Clinton

Clark posted the following on the Out for Hillary Discussion YGroup. Clark is one of the moderators of this group.

While I wish that the Clinton administration would have rejected DOMA, I believe that Hillary Clinton remains committed to equal rights for all LGBT Americans.

As a LGBT political leader in Silicon Valley - and as a parent - I am proud to support her presidential campaign because of her long record of support for a range of progressive causes. On several key policy matters important to the nation's LGBT community, Senator Clinton has been a strong advocate including:

* HIV/AIDS: a strong supporter of the Ryan White CARE Act, supports extending Medicaid eligibility to more Americans disabled by the disease, supports greater funding for HIV prevention programs;

* LGBT military service: opposes 'don't ask: don't tell', supports LGBT military service;

* Equal marriage rights: Opposes federal marriage amendment, supports equal marriage rights on state level, supports civil unions and domestic partnerships;

* Employment discrimination and hate crimes: Supports ENDA and supports adding sexual orientation and gender identity to hate crimes legislation;

* Women's rights: Promotes women's rights as human rights, supports abortion
rights;

* Adoption and parenting: Supports making adoption and foster parenting easier for all Americans.

* Human Rights Campaign Scorecard: 89 (2006), 88 (2004), 100 (2002); and

* Focus on the Family Scorecard: 0 (2006).

I would hope that the LGBT community would examine Hillary Clinton's entire record of support for a range of issues important to our community. Not only has she been a supporter of these issues but she has been a trusted leader that we can count on.

Clark Williams
San Jose, CA

Edwards Answers Marriage Equality Question

During an appearance at Dartmouth College, John Edwards answered a question about Marriage Equality for same sex couples. According to this article ........

Edwards, 53, said he would support civil unions and laws to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians, but said his roots in the Southern Baptist church left him uncomfortable with supporting gay marriage.

"I grew up in that faith, and I grew up in rural North Carolina. I feel personally conflicted about some of these issues because of my own life, and my culture," Edwards said.

"So I am not personally for gay marriage, but it troubles me that I would use my personal experience in life as a basis for establishing a policy for the United States of America, and I feel conflict about that."

I wish Edwards could just answer the question without giving the offensive justification. Imagine if someone said "I grew up in that faith, and I grew up in rural North Carolina" to justify their racism?

Argh.

Edwards: If you're not going to come out in full support of marriage equality, then just answer the question without your offensive 'I love jesus more than the gays' explanation. And please, use these opportunities to clearly and articulately state what you DO stand for in regards to LGBT Equality like ENDA, Hate Crimes Legislation, and letting service members serve honestly.

LGBT Leaders Look to Obama, Edwards

The Blade has an article this week in which John Edwards and Barack Obama are singled out among the Democratic Presidential Candidates.

According to the article DNC LGBT Caucus Chair and others feel that "Edwards and Obama have quickly outshined a crowded field of other White House hopefuls because they’re prepared to sincerely discuss gay issues."

Read the whole article here

Out for Hillary Yahoo Groups

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender supporters of Hillary Clinton for President in 2008 are invited to join one of these two lists to begin networking:

Out for Hillary Discussion List
Out for Hillay Announcement List

Out for Edwards Yahoo Groups

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) supporters of John Edwards for President in 2008 are encouraged to join one of these two yahoo groups to begin networking.

Out for Edwards Announcement List
Out for Edwards Discussion List

Barack Obama & Chuck Schumer Work for Fair Elections

From the National Campaign for Fair Elections: Forty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Americans across the country continue to be targets of deceptive practices and intimidation as they attempt to cast a ballot. Over the past two election cycles, Election Protection has documented attempts to influence voters through dirty tricks from across the country. Voters deserve better. And now you have an opportunity to do something about it.

Today, Senators Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer, responding to the evidence provided by the National Campaign, introduced comprehensive legislation to provide real solutions to the deception and fraud Americans face when they attempt to vote. Act now to urge your Senators to co-sponsor The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007.

Voter harassment and intimidation is not a thing of the past. Since 2004, Election Protection collected reports of deceptive practices or voter intimidation from more than 30 states. Over the past four years, voters had to endure:

• fliers distributed in Milwaukee telling voters they can't vote if they didn't pay their parking tickets;
• reports of armed gunmen intimidating, mocking and misinforming voters at heavily Latino precincts in Arizona;
• deceptive flyers in Maryland misleading voters about the party affiliation of candidates for key state wide officials;
• phone calls telling voters they were no longer eligible to vote; and
• emails sent to voters in Virginia providing false information about where to vote.

These attempts deliberately mislead or intimidate voters in an effort to alter the outcome of an election, undermining the right to vote for countless Americans across the country. But, surprisingly, intentionally misleading voters is not against the law.

American voters need the Senate to pass Senator Obama's bill so we can put a stop to these despicable practices.

The National Campaign worked closely with Senator Obama to create effective solutions to the problems we witnessed as the lead legal partner in Election Protection. The bill introduced today includes provisions that address many of the new tactics reported to Election Protection during the 2006 elections.

The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act:

• provides comprehensive definitions of what constitutes a deceptive practice;
• criminalizes such practices and states appropriate penalties;
• outlines an innovative system to help disseminate correct information to voters who have been victims of these practices;
• creates a reporting structure for incidents that will help citizens to address grievances; and
• calls on the Department of Justice to work with leading civil rights and voter protection organizations, other Federal agencies, and state officials to develop the most effective way to address this problem.

Help make elections more open, fair, and honest by supporting the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act today.