Hillary doesn't talk about gay issues to straight audiences. Obama does

[yesthattom]

http://www.americablog.com/2008/04/hillarys-gay-problem.html

My friend Phil Attey asks why Obama keeps mentioning gays and lesbians in his speeches - speeches he makes to the public at large, not just gay audiences - and Hillary never does. Phil writes:

Last month, a gay Philadelphian LGBT publisher raised the issue that Senator Obama, though often addressing LGBT issues and including us in his major speeches, was not granting his publication an exclusive interview. Senator Obama quickly addressed the issue and granted an exclusive interview to the national LGBT publication, The Advocate.

Tonight, following the Pennsylvania Primary, Senator Obama once again showed his commitment to our community by including us in his address to the nation. Senator Clinton, speech, once again, did not include us, and it brings up the issue that hers never do.

Phil is right. And he’s not the only one to notice:

But Obama speaks movingly of gay equality, and not just before gay audiences. He has raised the issue among white farmers and in black churches, where the message is both unwelcome and needed.

Clinton, by contrast, rarely raises the issue on her own, never does so before unfriendly audiences, and seems reluctant even to say the word “gay.”

Obama “gets it” in a way that no previous candidate for president has. Part of this is generational, but it is nonetheless real.

Comments

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

Gay rights (or maintaining a lack thereof) is a huge get-out-the-vote issue for Republicans. I'm kind of thinking that the fewer mentions we get during a presidential campaign, the better.

[kimuchi.livejournal.com]

I do think a lot of it is generational.

[jenn-girl.livejournal.com]

That is one of the main reasons I voted for him. On the Obama website, I could easily find his stand on our community. I couldn't find it on Hillary's. I was rather puzzled that the Phily LGBT Democratic club supported her. In the end, though, I'l support anyone who's not John McCain.