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National Stonewall Democrats |
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“Even before his first year in the Senate almost twenty years ago, Senator Kerry has been a friend to gay and lesbian families,” said Dave Noble, NSD Executive Director. “There has never been a presidential nominee who has held such a strong record of support for our community.” “Our community will face a critical choice this election,” Noble continued. “We are faced with an incumbent who is actively campaigning and governing against our families. With this endorsement, we hope to begin the process of uniting our community behind a candidate who respects our families. We all need to work to elect John Kerry President." National Stonewall Democrats will now use its resources to create a coordinated campaign among its membership to elect John Kerry and the Democratic ticket. While NSD deferred presidential endorsements to its local chapters during the Democratic primaries, the organization used the period to create a strong structural framework for a campaign that will mobilize the LGBT community to elect fair-minded Democratic candidates. As part of its national efforts, NSD recently named Chrissy Gephardt as Director of its Grassroots Campaign Corps. As Director, the former presidential candidate’s daughter will lead grassroots efforts to educate the LGBT community about Senator Kerry’s record. The Grassroots Campaign Corps will also focus on registering voters, creating voter files, training activists and building coalitions for the Democratic ticket in targeted states and will run aggressive, get-out-the-vote efforts in November. “Senator Kerry will move us forward on issues important to our community,” said Gephardt. “We disagree with his decision to support a Massachusetts amendment that would ensure civil unions but bar recognition of same-sex marriages, and we will fight to defeat any such amendment. However, like I did with my own Dad on the campaign trail, we will continue to educate him about why full marriage equality is crucial. In Senator Kerry, we have a candidate who will fight for equality in workplace protections, tax fairness, immigration policy, military service and society at large. While George W. Bush is actively campaigning against our families, we know a Kerry Administration will be a partner in our progress.” Bush’s strong opposition to gay and lesbian families has even encouraged numerous Republicans to work with the National Stonewall Democrats to defeat him in November. “Amending the U.S. Constitution for a discriminatory purpose is morally wrong,” said John Farina, a former Republican activist in Ohio. Farina resigned his positions with the Republican Party shortly after President Bush endorsed the federal amendment. “There are many life-long Republicans like me who have left the party and will now work with the National Stonewall Democrats to elect John Kerry this fall. We should respect our families enough to defeat a Republican President who doesn’t.” "Our entire community realizes that our families are threatened by George W. Bush," added Noble. "This administration continues to promote anti-gay judicial nominees, political appointees, legislation, and now a constitutional amendment, that threatens our children and undermines the stability of our families." Senator John Kerry has a long record of support for LGBT families. In 1985, his very first year in the U.S. Senate, Senator Kerry authored the Senate version of the Civil Rights Amendments Act, a comprehensive equal rights bill for gay Americans. Since then, Senator Kerry has used his leadership to promote issues such as workplace protections and equal prosecution of hate crimes. Senator Kerry has pushed for increases in HIV/AIDS funding and has fought against anti-gay measures in the U.S. Senate. In 1996, Senator Kerry was the only Senator facing reelection who voted against the discriminatory "Defense of Marriage Act" which denied federal marital rights to same-sex couples. |
Sen. John Kerry won the backing of the Stonewall Democrats, who say they will now mobilize their members to support the Democratic candidate