Trans friendly President?

[bat1]

Which one will be best for the transgender community

Hillary or Obama?

[Ecstatic]

They are pretty close, but Hilary has gone a bit further in her supportive stance towards transgendered people. On another forum, a poster cited the following:


Clinton / Obama Issue Lawrence King Statements

on 02-25-2008 12:00

The outrage continues over the murder of 15-year-old High School student Lawrence King with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama having issued statements about the poor kids death. King was shot to death by a fellow student because he was gay and effeminate.

In her statement, Hillary Clinton said:

"I was deeply saddened by the recent death of 15-year-old Lawrence King who was killed at his school in Oxnard, CA. No one should face intimidation or violence, particularly at school, because of their sexual orientation or the way they express their gender identity.

"We must finally enact a federal hate crimes law to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender Americans are protected against violent, bias-motivated crimes. We must send a unified message that hate-based crime will not be tolerated."

Barack Obama said:

"It was heartbreaking to learn about Lawrence King's death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. King's senseless death is a tragic example of the corrosive effect that bigotry and fear can have in our society. It's also an urgent reminder that we need to do more in our schools to foster tolerance and an acceptance of diversity; that we must enact a federal hate crimes law that protects all LGBT Americans; and that we must recommit ourselves to becoming active and engaged parents, citizens and neighbors, so that bias and bigotry cannot take hold in the first place. We all have a responsibility to help this nation live up to its founding promise of equality for all."


Clinton directly referred to "transgender", while Obama didn't. Obama did refer to LGBT, but so many people don't know what the T is and just think of this group as "gays and lesbians.

http://www.bgay.com/news/index.php?o...=225&Itemid=23

[Nikka]

I will run for president

[BeardedOne]

Notice Clinton said "transgender", Obama didn't.

True, but what spin doctor wrote the statement?

It's a sad truth that a lot of what comes out of the mouths of our modern day politicians is little more than stage play by some person or persons with a word processor. Do we say 'transgender' and pigeon-hole the concept or do we say 'LGBT' to encompass an entire culture of disenfranchised voters?

This whole scenario is too close to call.

[BeardedOne]

I will run for president

I'd vote for you, and I don't even live in Florida!

[Willie Escalade]

On a lighter note, that picture (or whatever it is) behind Obama looks suspiciously like spread legs with the nutsac hanging low.

[Felicia Katt]

This is directly from Obama's official website.

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported.
Obama co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes law to include crimes perpetrated
because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Fight Workplace Discrimination and Promote Rights
Obama believes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should be expanded to include sexual orientation
and gender identity. Obama sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples
Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples equal legal rights and privileges as
married couples, including the right to assist their loved ones in times of emergency as well as equal
health insurance, employment benefits, and property and adoption rights. Obama also believes we need
to fully repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal
legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex
couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions.
Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have defined marriage as between
a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried
couples. (emphasis added)

Here is a direct quote from him

As President …. I will also place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. I have supported fully inclusive protections since my days in the Illinois legislature, when I sponsored a bill to outlaw workplace discrimination that expressly included both sexual orientation and gender identity.

FK

[alpha2117]

Truth be told the 3 people left in the race (including McCain) are relativly small L liberal in regards to these sort of matters. Obviously McCain is hamstrung by his party but whomever becomes pres will be considerably more freindly towards minority interest groups compared to the current far right govt.

[Ecstatic]

Here's an interesting snippet:

Presidential Candidates in First Ever Gay Debate!
July 10, 2007 in Barack Obama, Debate, Gay Rights, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards by gdancik

I wish I could take credit for that headline, but the truth is that I can’t. In all seriousness, though, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards are confirmed for participating in a debate dealing exclusively with LGBT issues. With the democratic race currently as close as it is, the importance of this debate cannot be overlooked.

Or maybe it can be. Afterall, Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are all against same-sex marriage, although Clinton and Obama both opposed a constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage while in the Senate.

Interestingly, there are no current candidates that support gay marriage. Third party candidates, where are you????

While no longer a candidate, Dennis Kucinich has the strongest pro-LGBT stance of any Presidential contender; regarding same sex marriage:

Same-Sex Marriage: Kucinich supports same-sex marriage. On his campaign website he says, "I believe that equality of opportunity should be afforded to all Americans regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation. For that reason I support the right of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons to have the full protections and rights afforded under civil law including the right to marry the person of their choice."

Mike Gravel also supports same sex marriage as "a civil rights issue" and has spoken out strongly on the issue:

"Marriage is a commitment between two human beings and love. ...What the world needs is a lot more love, and that's what they [homosexuals] are talking about. For me, it's a civil rights issue."

and:

Stop and think. What is marriage? I resent religion saying that it's a religious term. It's not. Marriage preceded all forms of religion in civilization. Marriage is a commitment between two human beings in love. And understand me; I'm saying two human beings. They can be heterosexual. They can be two lesbians. They can be transgender. They can be two gays. What it is, it's a commitment of human beings in love. And if there's anything we need in this world, it's more love.

Q: Why do you think Obama and Edwards and Clinton do not support full same-sex marriage rights?

A: Well, it's because they're playing it safe. They're not going to lose any votes over not being for marriage, whatever their excuses are. They're going to win. This is costing votes for us. I don't care. I don't want those votes. So you want to know the difference? A good politician can tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip. We see a lot of that.

Elizabeth Edwards, however, significantly took a stand for same sex marriage, contrary to her husband's stance:

(06-24) 11:26 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Elizabeth Edwards, starring at the kickoff event of San Francisco's signature Gay Pride Parade, came out in support of legalized gay marriage today -- taking a position which she acknowledged is at odds with her husband, presidential candidate John Edwards.

"I don't know why somebody else's marriage has anything to do with me,'' she said. "I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage.''

Edwards comments came after her keynote address before a standing room only breakfast of 300 at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, an organization which is central to the powerful gay political base in San Francisco.

The breakfast appearance by the candidate's wife -- witnessed by a score of politicians, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, District Attorney Kamala Harris, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera -- was hailed as a milestone in the 30 year history of the Gay Pride event, which had never been visited by a major presidential candidate or spouse.

But Edwards went one step further in a speaking to reporters after the event, and became the first major Democratic candidate or spouse to openly support gay marriage.

But that position differs markedly from her husband, the former North Carolina Senator. Edwards said her husband, though having a '"deeply held belief against any form of discrimination,'' supports gay civil unions, but does not support gay marriage.

"John has been pretty clear about it, that he is very conflicted,'' she said. "That's up against his being raised in the 1950's in a rural southern town. I think honestly he's on a road with a lot of people in this country are on....They're struggling with this. Most of the gay and lesbian people I know... have seen their friends and family walking down that same road.

"It's frustrating, I know,'' she added, "but it's a long distance from where we are now to the pews of a Southern Baptist church. So, John's been as honest as he can about that.''

She said that she has come to the conclusion that the marriage of another couple "makes no difference to me,'' just as it would make no difference in her views of a neighbor if he painted his house a different color.

"If he's pleasant to me on the street, if his children don't throw things in my yard, then I'm happy,'' she said. "It seems to me we're making issues of things that honestly... don't matter.''

Many at the breakfast, where Edwards was enthusiastically received, noted that there are stark differences between Democrats and Republican presidential candidates on issues that matter to gay and lesbian voters.

All Democratic candidate support the overturn of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, while none of the Republican presidential candidate said they would support such a change.

All Democrats also support a measure recently passed in New Hampshire which allows civil unions. But among major presidential candidates -- Edwards, New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama, the Democrats remain opposed to same sex marriage.

Only Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio, and former Sen. Mike Gravel, Alaska support such an issue, but as long shots, they are considered to have virtually no chance of taking the Democratic nomination.

Since both Kucinich and Gravel have dropped out of the race and Elizabeth Edwards was never a candidate, we are left with either Obama or Clinton. Both are huge improvements on the past; neither goes far enough. But do they go far enough to get elected and move the process forward?

[Felicia Katt]

Truth be told the 3 people left in the race (including McCain) are relativly small L liberal in regards to these sort of matters. Obviously McCain is hamstrung by his party but whomever becomes pres will be considerably more freindly towards minority interest groups compared to the current far right govt.

John McCain is not a small L liberal, he is just not as hard a conservative as others in his party. But he can't even do straight talk on gay rights. He does not support same-sex marriage. From his website,
" The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation."
McCain voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage and provides that no state is required to legally recognize same-sex marriages that are performed in states that do recognize such marriages. However, he opposes a Federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, but said he supported an Amendment to Arizona's Constitution that would ban gay marriages and deny government benefits to unmarried couples.

McCain does not support gays and lesbians serving in the military. He thinks "...open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline." He also stated on Meet the Press in November 2007, "I do believe the don't ask, don't tell policy has been very effective. We've got the best military we've ever had...I think it's logical to leave this issue alone."

McCain has also indicated he does not beleive there is a Constitutional right to privacy in a person's sex life by questioning the decision in Texas overturning its anti-sodomy laws.

FK