The gay debate by JENNIFER VANASCO - See it Live at Sidetrack upper deck on August 9
The gay debate by JENNIFER VANASCO
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press and Jennifer Vanasco
July 18, 2007
On August 9, the top Democratic contenders for president will duke it out in a televised forum on gay rights for the first time ever.
Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and LOGO (full disclosure: my day job is associate editor of 365Gay.com, which LOGO owns), the candidates—Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Christopher Dodd and Dennis Kucinich—will answer questions put forth by Joe Solmonese, executive director of HRC, Melissa Etheridge and members of the public.
Well, I’m a member of the public. And I have a few questions I’d like to ask the candidates:
1. Civil unions are continuing to be a disaster for New Jersey, because citizens had the gall to believe that officials were truth-telling when they said that civil unions would confer the same rights as marriage in that state. Unfortunately, private companies don’t seem to agree. What are the lessons we should take from New Jersey’s situation? Could it mean that civil unions aren’t the equivalent of marriage after all?
2. Most of you say that you believe in civil unions for gays and lesbians, but not marriage (Kucinich is the notable exception). Do you believe in civil unions for straight people as well? Shouldn’t straight people have the option of a non-religious, state ceremony like a civil union? Or are civil unions one of those “special rights” reserved for gay people we hear so much about?
3. How will you end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” What will you do to ensure full respect of gays and lesbians once we can openly serve?
4. What do you think is the most important issue facing GLBTs today?
5. The gay issue is dividing up America’s (indeed, the world’s) churches. Though a separation of church and state is mandated by our Constitution, what separation entails, exactly, seems to be difficult to determine. Many of you have publicly professed your faith, and are relying on faith communities to support your presidency. Many of you have turned to your faith to explain political positions you hold.
To those who think it’s important that the president be a moral and spiritual leader as well as a political and military one, what message will you give about gays and lesbians? Will you assure the religious public that you believe that being gay is as moral as being straight? Or will you say that just as being straight is not a moral issue, being gay is not a moral issue either, but a biological one?
6. The rights of gay families need to be protected. Would you consider supporting something like a Gay Families Act, similar to Bush’s misguided Healthy Marriage Initiative, which directed federal funds toward keeping poor married people married? Such an act or Initiative could go toward keeping intact those families who are unjustly struggling due to the lack of federal recognition of gay marriage.
Additionally, it could disseminate research showing that gay parents make good parents, help eliminate barriers to the adoption or fostering of children by gays and lesbians, and educate the public about the normalcy of gay family life.
7. Will you support the Uniting American Families Act, which seeks to keep bi-national gay couples from being separated due to immigration law?
8. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act must be passed. It simply must. We are past the point in history when it is acceptable for a man to be thrown out of a restaurant, or a woman to be fired, or for two teenagers to be kicked off a bus simply because he is gay, she doesn’t “look like a woman” or they are kissing someone of the same sex. How will you use your political capital and lobbying savvy to help ensure such an outcome?
9. President Bush has a history of anti-gay appointments: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace said that being gay was immoral; current Surgeon General nominee James Holsinger equated homosexuality with a disease. What will you do to make sure that gays and lesbians are well represented in your administration?
10. Will you support and increase funding for HIV/AIDS research?
That’s just a sampling. I have many others.
I need to say, though, that in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to choose a president on gay issues. In an ideal world, every candidate would be an equal rights candidate—every candidate would start with the premise that being gay is normal and moral, that gays should be allowed to marry and serve in the military, that being gay should have no bearing on whether or not one can keep one’s natural or adopted children.
But we do not live in such a world. And so a forum like this is important. Let’s hope the candidates are asked the right questions.
Jennifer Vanasco is an award-winning, syndicated columnist based in New York City. Email her at jennifer.vanasco@gmail.com; read her occasional blog at jennifervanasco.com.
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press and Jennifer Vanasco
July 18, 2007
On August 9, the top Democratic contenders for president will duke it out in a televised forum on gay rights for the first time ever.
Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and LOGO (full disclosure: my day job is associate editor of 365Gay.com, which LOGO owns), the candidates—Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Christopher Dodd and Dennis Kucinich—will answer questions put forth by Joe Solmonese, executive director of HRC, Melissa Etheridge and members of the public.
Well, I’m a member of the public. And I have a few questions I’d like to ask the candidates:
1. Civil unions are continuing to be a disaster for New Jersey, because citizens had the gall to believe that officials were truth-telling when they said that civil unions would confer the same rights as marriage in that state. Unfortunately, private companies don’t seem to agree. What are the lessons we should take from New Jersey’s situation? Could it mean that civil unions aren’t the equivalent of marriage after all?
2. Most of you say that you believe in civil unions for gays and lesbians, but not marriage (Kucinich is the notable exception). Do you believe in civil unions for straight people as well? Shouldn’t straight people have the option of a non-religious, state ceremony like a civil union? Or are civil unions one of those “special rights” reserved for gay people we hear so much about?
3. How will you end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” What will you do to ensure full respect of gays and lesbians once we can openly serve?
4. What do you think is the most important issue facing GLBTs today?
5. The gay issue is dividing up America’s (indeed, the world’s) churches. Though a separation of church and state is mandated by our Constitution, what separation entails, exactly, seems to be difficult to determine. Many of you have publicly professed your faith, and are relying on faith communities to support your presidency. Many of you have turned to your faith to explain political positions you hold.
To those who think it’s important that the president be a moral and spiritual leader as well as a political and military one, what message will you give about gays and lesbians? Will you assure the religious public that you believe that being gay is as moral as being straight? Or will you say that just as being straight is not a moral issue, being gay is not a moral issue either, but a biological one?
6. The rights of gay families need to be protected. Would you consider supporting something like a Gay Families Act, similar to Bush’s misguided Healthy Marriage Initiative, which directed federal funds toward keeping poor married people married? Such an act or Initiative could go toward keeping intact those families who are unjustly struggling due to the lack of federal recognition of gay marriage.
Additionally, it could disseminate research showing that gay parents make good parents, help eliminate barriers to the adoption or fostering of children by gays and lesbians, and educate the public about the normalcy of gay family life.
7. Will you support the Uniting American Families Act, which seeks to keep bi-national gay couples from being separated due to immigration law?
8. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act must be passed. It simply must. We are past the point in history when it is acceptable for a man to be thrown out of a restaurant, or a woman to be fired, or for two teenagers to be kicked off a bus simply because he is gay, she doesn’t “look like a woman” or they are kissing someone of the same sex. How will you use your political capital and lobbying savvy to help ensure such an outcome?
9. President Bush has a history of anti-gay appointments: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace said that being gay was immoral; current Surgeon General nominee James Holsinger equated homosexuality with a disease. What will you do to make sure that gays and lesbians are well represented in your administration?
10. Will you support and increase funding for HIV/AIDS research?
That’s just a sampling. I have many others.
I need to say, though, that in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to choose a president on gay issues. In an ideal world, every candidate would be an equal rights candidate—every candidate would start with the premise that being gay is normal and moral, that gays should be allowed to marry and serve in the military, that being gay should have no bearing on whether or not one can keep one’s natural or adopted children.
But we do not live in such a world. And so a forum like this is important. Let’s hope the candidates are asked the right questions.
Jennifer Vanasco is an award-winning, syndicated columnist based in New York City. Email her at jennifer.vanasco@gmail.com; read her occasional blog at jennifervanasco.com.
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