Columnists :: Guest Opinion
Edwards for president
by Mo Baxley
contributing writer
Thursday Jan 3, 2008
While we in New Hampshire are proud of the Democratic candidates’ across-the-board public support for LGBT issues, John Edwards has worked harder to earn and win our vote and has demonstrated that he will stand up and fight for our community. As a result, we believe that John Edwards is the best candidate for the LGBT community and encourage all of New Hampshire’s LGBT and allied voters to vote for him on Jan. 8.
The leading Democratic candidates (Edwards, Clinton and Obama) agree on many of the issues important to LGBT voters in New Hampshire and across the country, like enacting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and repealing the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Indeed, our community would fare much better under the Administration of any one of these candidates as opposed to that of any of the leading Republican candidates.
Edwards, Clinton and Obama all support inclusive versions of the ENDA and hate crimes legislation, increasing funding to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic and securing adoption rights for LGBT individuals and families. They would all work with Congress to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And they are all opposed to the anti-LGBT "Federal Marriage Amendment" and in support of federally-recognized civil unions for same-sex couples in committed relationships. Yet there are also meaningful and personal distinctions.
Both Edwards and Obama support full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), while Clinton supports amending only the portion of the bill her husband signed that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions. Clinton also has a strong platform on issues of importance to the LGBT community, but her support for only partially repealing DOMA and her past involvement in the passage of two of the most damaging pieces of anti-gay legislation ever (DOMA and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) have us yearning for a leader like Edwards who can help us move beyond these moments in history and begin anew on our quest for equality under the law. It is worth noting that Senator Clinton was the only major candidate not to hold an LGBT event or speak to the NH LGBT community. Rule one of politics is, "If you want someone to vote for you must ask them to vote for you." Evidently, Senator Clinton does not want our votes. Her campaign does not even include an LGBT link on its web page!
Obama lost the support of many in the LGBT community when he featured anti-gay entertainers at campaign events in South Carolina and then went ahead with the events even after being personally informed of the entertainers’ very public and virulently anti-gay remarks - making him the only Democratic candidate to be protested by members of our community. While Obama certainly has a pro-LGBT platform, in this circumstance, his actions speak louder than his well-intentioned words and we can not support a candidate that harmed the LGBT community in South Carolina in his quest to become president.
Edwards has worked hard since announcing his candidacy for President to earn our support. He was the first candidate to publicly release the candidate questionnaire for the Human Rights Campaign; the first to publicly announce an LGBT steering committee; the first to release a comprehensive plan for addressing the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis; and the first to visit a gay and lesbian community center. The dynamic Elizabeth Edwards also became the first spouse of a candidate to speak at a gay Pride weekend - the San Francisco Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club - an event at which she declared her support for marriage equality. Edwards has also proudly and publicly dispatched high-profile LGBT supporters (like former National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Eric Stern) to talk to LGBT voters in key early states like Iowa.
Edwards has not only demonstrated through these actions that our community is a vital part of this campaign whose support he is working hard to earn, but he has also proven that he will stand up for our community as our next president. When General Peter Pace (who was also then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) called gays and lesbians "immoral," Edwards was the only candidate to immediately denounce and disagree with Pace’s attack on millions of hard-working, tax-paying LGBT Americans. Neither Clinton nor Obama were able to do the same when initially asked to respond to Pace’s hateful and very public remarks. Edwards spoke from his heart in defending our community from this vicious attack and he will do the same as our president.
By observing how the candidates run their campaigns, we learn how their administrations will run and the level of commitment they have to us as a community.
We are voting for John Edwards on Jan. 8 and we would encourage and welcome all of New Hampshire’s LGBT and allied voters to join us.
Mo Baxley is a representative in the New Hampshire state legislature and the executive director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition.
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