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National News |
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| National News | |
| OBAMA SUPPORTS STATES' OK
OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,
HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENCES
WITH CLINTON ON DOMA In a February 28 open letter to the LGBT community, presidential candidate Barack Obama stated his support for full same-sex marriage in states that choose to go that route. To date, only Massachusetts has done so. Bills legalizing same-sex marriage have passed California's legislature twice, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed them. "As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws," Obama said. "I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for Gay and Lesbian couples - whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage." Obama also said he's better on the issue than Hillary Clinton. "Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) - a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate," he said. "I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against Gay and Lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does." But achieving full equality for Gay people will not be easy, Obama said. "If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones," he said. "I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign - from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. ... I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary." DOMA, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, says, "No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship." The law's second part says, "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Hillary Clinton has said she supports repeal only of the second part of DOMA. In effect, that means Clinton supports same-sex couples' having access to federal benefits but wants to continue granting states extra legal cover for rejecting other states' same-sex unions. She also has suggested that the first part of DOMA helps reduce the nation's appetite for amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Opponents of Clinton's position say that, among other things, it hinders same-sex couples' freedom of movement by encouraging nonrecognition of their legal same-sex unions when they enter most U.S. states. The vote for DOMA was 342-67 in the House of Representatives and 85-14 in the Senate. ACTIVISTS PICKET HRC DINNER Some 50 activists, including members of the Radical Homosexual Agenda, picketed the Human Rights Campaign's annual Midtown Manhattan dinner February 23, Gay City News reported. They were upset over HRC's support for a version of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act that omits protections for Transgender people. The bill has passed the House of Representatives and awaits action in the Senate. The dinner also apparently was boycotted by every GLB elected official in New York City and many other prominent Democratic officials, GCN said. In his address to the diners, HRC President Joe Solmonese commented: "When did we all become so impatient? When did we say to ourselves, 'OK, that civil rights thing, I'll give it a year, maybe two, then I'm done'? Let me be very clear: No, we are not done. We are in the grueling, blinding middle of this fight and the middle of this fight is the hardest part." Many of the protesters carried pink signs in the shape of a hand flipping off HRC while others banged on drums. They chanted: "What do we want? Liberation. Fuck that assimilation." "Time and time and time again, HRC ignores the community and ignores the wishes of local community groups," Allen Roskoff, an organizer of the boycott, told GCN. In November, HRC supported a Gay-only version of ENDA after Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said ENDA would pass the House only if "gender identity" was left out of the bill. Hundreds of other national, state and local LGBT groups refused to support the "Trans-free" ENDA, leaving HRC nearly alone in backing Frank's version. Inside the Manhattan dinner, Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhelmina Slater, accepted an HRC award and expressed strong support for same-sex marriage. "Marriage equality for Gay and Lesbian couples is another barrier that's falling, and I couldn't be happier about that," Williams said. "I have several friends that have outlasted both of my marriages, that are raising wonderful children together, that have been together in Gay unions for over 25 years, so they're doing a better job than I am." "When my children look at a loving, committed relationship, some of their finest role models are the Gay and Lesbian couples that they have had in their lives," she said. For GCN's full report, see tinyurl.com/2ayjmh. With assistance from Bill Kelley |
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