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Compiled By GayToday
 GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes (right) says he won't support equal rights for gay marriages. His father, Malcom (left), was reported by The Economist as being 'The world's biggest closet queen.' |
Washington, D.C.--Several Republican candidates have signed an anti-gay pledge
sponsored by religious political organizations. The signing of the pledge
marks the first shift towards anti-gay rhetoric so far in the presidential
race, and is the initial test for frontrunners on how they will handle gay
issues.
"This is the first time the frontrunners have been tested, and if they
want to appeal to mainstream voters they will avoid falling into this
perilous right wing trap," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg.
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"Most serious candidates have so far avoided overt, gratuitous gay
bashing, because the 1998 elections taught them that pandering to the
extreme right is a losing strategy."
The GOP candidates who have signed the pledge are : Dan Quayle, Steve
Forbes, Gary Bauer, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Alan Keyes and Pat Buchanan.
The other GOP candidates, George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole, and Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., have not signed the pledge.
The two Democratic candidates, Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill
Bradley, have also not signed the pledge. The pledge was first unveiled
last week in a full-page ad in The Des Moines Register preceding the straw
poll. The ad asked that all presidential candidates sign a pledge to
discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans.
"As president, I will resist all attempts to provide the benefits and
privileges traditionally accorded married couples to unmarried domestic
partners - as such efforts diminish the unique role of marriage as the
bedrock of family and society," read part of the pledge.
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The pledge continued, "As president, I will honor the spirit and intent of
nondiscrimination policies and law by opposing federal legislation that
would expand them to include special protections based on sexual behavior
or preference."
At a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa last Friday, HRC released a new
report, Y2K Presidential Candidates & Gay and Lesbian Equality, detailing
where the current crop of presidential candidates stands on gay and
lesbian issues.
The report is designed to inform voters on where the
candidates stand on crucial gay and lesbian issues. HRC has not yet
endorsed a candidate for president. The report is intended to be an early
snapshot, cataloguing some of the candidates' past statements and
positions.
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Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Republican Leaders Declare War on Gay America
Religious Right and Republicans Shoot at Own Feet
Republican Leaders Beat War Drums in Congress to Demonize Gays
Related Sites:
Forbes for President
Dan Quayle for Pope
GayToday does not endorse related sites.
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