Democrats To Discuss Gay Rights Movement
In politics every controversial subject will be touched. Between taxes and abortion nothing is off limits. This week the Gay Rights movement will be talked about during a Democratic presidential forum that citizens will be able to watch on TV. Naturally because the country is divided among this subject it is obvious that some people will like it and others will not.
Though pleased that all the candidates of a major party are courting their votes and endorsing the bulk of their political wish-list, they are frustrated that none of the front-runners is calling for legalization of gay marriage.
The forum, which will be held in Los Angeles, is co-sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group that has become increasingly influential in Democratic politics, and by Logo, the gay-oriented cable channel that will provide a live telecast and Internet simulcast. Every Democratic candidate except Joe Biden and Chris Dodd plans to participate.
Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese will serve as a panelist, along with singer Melissa Etheridge and Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart. “I hope we can get genuinely heartfelt answers,” said Solmonese, who wants the leading candidates to explain why they remain wary of gay marriage. Organizers say the forum marks the first time that major presidential candidates will appear on TV specifically to address gay issues.
“Simply seeing the candidates step on a stage to speak to a national gay television audience may be as moving as anything they say,” said Logo’s president, Brian Graden. Logo, available in about 27 million homes, offered to hold a second forum for Republican candidates, but the GOP front-runners, less supportive of gay-rights initiatives than the Democrats, showed no interest, said Logo general manager Lisa Sherman.