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200+Openly Gay Delegates Patricia Ireland of NOW Stumps for Same-Sex Marriages Hillary Rodham Clinton Addresses the Gay/Lesbian Caucus |
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By Rex Wockner
Los Angeles--As the Democratic National Convention got underway here Aug. 14, party officials said there were more than 200 openly gay delegates and alternates.
"We don't care ... what gender you want to hold hands with -- as long as you want to hold hands, you are welcome in the Democratic Party," he said. Indeed, the Democratic platform supports the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, hate-crimes legislation and lifting the military gay ban. It also calls for "full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of the nation" with "an equitable alignment of benefits." This is understood to be an endorsement of Vermont-style civil unions, which provide gay couples every right of marriage except the right to call their union "marriage." The Republican platform denounces gay rights, gay adoption, gay marriage and gay Boy Scouts. A poll of Democratic delegates found that 52 percent support civil unions and spousal benefits for gay people. Seventeen percent do not and 16 percent were unsure of their opinion. With the platform endorsing everything gay activists want except marriage, some wondered what the convention's gay caucus planned to do all week.
"In this election, everything is at stake," Clinton said. "All the achievements we've made in the past eight years are at risk. We are going to either take a step forward or were going to make a U-turn and go back to the days of deficits, discrimination and derision." Gays at the podium The Human Rights Campaign, America's biggest gay organization, came to L.A. because "it's essential that Al Gore be elected president," said spokesman David Smith.
"As long as a young man can be left on a fence to die, our American family is fractured. As long as gay parents live in fear that their children might be taken from them, our family is torn. As long as hardworking Americans can be fired in 30 states simply for being gay, our family is not whole. As long as gay people are barred from serving openly and with dignity in the armed forces of the United States, our family is not just. As long as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are at risk for suicide, until there is a cure for AIDS for men, women and children here and around the world, then the American family we celebrate tonight is not yet healed." Other gays scheduled to address the convention included Rep. Frank, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., San Francisco school- board member Juanita Owens, New Mexico activist Gloria Nieto and Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andy Tobias. Marriage National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland said she was in town to support full-fledged gay marriage. In an interview during a party at the L.A. gay center, Ireland said: "We're at that beginning stage with the issue of marriage and of long-term, loving, committed relationships that should actually fit very well with the current political climate. So, as a caucus, inside and outside, we have to keep bringing that message forward." Ireland said that when she first heard about gay marriage, she thought to herself, "Why would anybody want to buy into that patriarchal, hierarchical relationship where one person essentially, traditionally, owned the other person? "Then, of course, I had to be educated -- remember all the legal and tax and other benefits that go along with legal marriage," she said. "There's also a benefit in having the community recognize your relationship, take concern for your relationship, be supportive. That means something. So, while a lot of people say: 'OK, civil unions, that's all we need. That's the legal, that's the economic, that's the tax benefits,' I think we should push for marriage. We need the ceremony, the symbolism, the celebration, as well as the legal and economic." Victory Fund Blowout
"It is very important to recognize the contributions that gay and lesbian public servants are making to improve the quality of life for all Americans, and I am glad that the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is out there to help openly gay and lesbian office seekers get the fair chance at election that they deserve," Gephardt said. As the convention got underway, gay support was generally strong for Joseph Lieberman, the man Al Gore selected as his running mate. As a U.S. senator, Lieberman has sponsored the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, gay-rights legislation and AIDS-funding bills. He banned anti-gay discrimination in his Senate office and opposes the military gay ban. Gay groups have lamented his votes in favor of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and against allowing HIV- positive people to immigrate to the U.S. |
