John Edwards and the Gay Marriage Issue

Recently I received an email from a commenter who said something to the effect of "I just can't support a candidate who doesn't support gay marriage." I whole-heartedly agree with the commenter that who a person marries is none of my business, and I fully support gay marriage.

John Edwards does not.

But neither do Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Obama says because he is a Christian he cannot support a practice that goes against his fundamental beliefs. Hillary has been a little more muddled on the issue saying in the past that children are "better off if they have a mother and a father" and that traditional marriage should be "strengthened." Hillary supporters should also note that during her husband's presidency, she supported the Defense of Marriage Act.

Dennis Kucinich supports gay marriage but it's not enough for me to vote for him, at least not at this point in my life. Vote for Nader and you get burned. I've learned this. Plus, he loses me on the "I've been visited by aliens" issue.

So where does John Edwards stand on gay rights? Here is what you need to know:

Edwards opposes same-sex marriage, but he does not think the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He supports civil unions.

On 2/24/04 Edwards said in response to President Bush's proposed Constitutional amendment, "I am against the president's constitutional amendment on gay marriage...I don't personally support gay marriage myself. My position has always been that it's for the states to decide."

Edwards supports the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Edwards supports giving same-sex couples the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples. He also says both members of a same-sex couple should be able to form a legal relationship with their children.

Edwards supports the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in the United States Military. He says, "The military ought to treat all service members equally and in a way that promotes national security, without regard to sexual orientation."

Though John Edwards doesn't support gay marriage, Elizabeth does.  Kicking off this year's San Francisco Gay Pride Parade she said:

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

I wish John Edwards shared his wife's view, but knowing Elizabeth feels differently makes a difference for me. She may be at odds with her husband, but for me, knowing that helps to "soften the blow."

Comments

[Chuck]

Check out this great new attack ad on Hillary at thirdrailradio.com

[LawyerMama]

I'm so glad you pointed out that HRC and Obama don't support gay marriage either!

[Sheila BD - xiaolinmama]

I agree with you Lawyer Mamam, thanks for pointing out how the other candidates felt too. I had NO idea. Funny, how that is downplayed by everyone else.

[Dan (Fitness)]

I support Edwards too, but this position of his is utter bullshit. He's not gaining any potential voters, he's just alienating his base.

I still support him, but damn, do I wish his wife was running! Everytime I hear her speak I think there's our candidate!

On every other issue, he's pretty solid.

[Stephen]

The thing about Edwards, for me, is that his opposition to gay marriage doesn't seem to be coming from a hateful place. I feel pretty certain that he doesn't "personally support gay marriage" *publicly* because he fears the consequences; I bet in private, when it can't hurt him, he would not say this. It may not be the most honest, integruous response to the issue (or to politics, or even life, in general), but it could be argued that it is pragmatic. And even if I'm way wrong about this, I can somewhat happily sacrifice my own pet issue in this case, since I think he will be a better president than any of the others would be. (IMHO.)

[Tom]

The following is a letter signed by many leaders of the LGBT community on why they support John Edwards:

Dear Friends:

The 2008 Presidential elections offer our country and our community a chance to make history, by fundamentally restructuring American politics from the White House to the statehouse. That is why we are supporting Senator John Edwards for President and hope that you will consider joining us.

As the Democratic presidential nominee, John Edwards would represent nothing less than the chance to alter the conventional foundations of American politics. Edwards demonstrates strong leadership, not only on the critical issues facing the LGBT community, but also by offering bold ideas like guaranteeing universal health care to every man, woman and child in this nation, ending poverty in this country during our lifetime, and stopping global warming while creating hundreds of thousands of quality American jobs in a new energy economy. As the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Edwards will run a 50-state campaign- helping to strengthen Democratic officials, not only in traditionally “blue” states, but also in “battleground” and “red” states.

Edwards’ “policy ideas are shaping the Democratic presidential race.” -- The Economist, July 19, 2007

Edwards’ bold leadership on the critical issues, both on those unique to our community and those that transcend all communities, has set the policy agenda for this election, making it safe for others to follow. Edwards was the first candidate to offer a truly universal health care plan, the first candidate to offer a comprehensive global warming proposal, and the first to offer a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy. Early on, Edwards accepted responsibility and apologized for his vote to invade Iraq, and he has consistently called upon Congress to stand up to President Bush to force an end to the war.

"I am the candidate running for president on the Democratic side who’s actually won an election in a red state running against the Jesse Helms political machine." -- John Edwards, “Meet the Press” October 7, 2007

Edwards is the Democrat with the best chance to regain the White House against all of the top Republican candidates and offers the best chance to help Democrats get elected in some of the toughest races in the country because of his appeal in traditionally “red” areas. According to Doug Shoen, former pollster for President Bill Clinton, Edwards is “the strongest individual match up” against Republicans in the general. Edwards puts into play states where Democrats running for president have not competed in years. For example, his strength in places like Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma, will help
Democrats competing in tight races, including for control of governorships and legislatures, control of which may mean more to LGBT Americans than most.

While members of the LGBT community are by no means single-issue voters, you may be asking yourself what all of this has to do with the LGBT community and our agenda. As most of us now realize, almost all of the victories for our community have been at the state and local level. These victories are largely due to the hard work, persistence and talent of LGBT statewide organizations and their allies. Because these activists devoted their lives to educating their neighbors and elected representatives, we have marriage in Massachusetts, civil unions in New Jersey, Vermont, California, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and laws providing workplace equality, safe schools, protection from hate crimes and domestic partnership registries in dozens of states and local municipalities.

As members of the LGBT community, we are supporting John Edwards for President because if we want to continue to see this kind of progress in the states and to see the bills that we all have worked so hard to get enacted, we need to maintain the majorities Democrats hold in statehouses and build new ones. And there is only one candidate with a 50-state plan who can ensure that we capitalize on the opportunities we have across the nation. That candidate is John Edwards.

Eric Stern, Former National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director
David Mixner, Former Bill Clinton for President Adviser
Dan Hinkley, Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus President
John A. Pérez, Democratic National Committee Member
Linda Elliott, Human Rights Committee Board of Directors Member
David Tseng, Kerry-Edwards 2004 National LGBT Advisory Committee Co-Chair
Skip Paul, Corporate Executive
Jenny Durkan, Washington LGBT Community Leader
Scott Benson, Majority Leader Minneapolis City Council
Kenda Kirby, former Executive Director of North Carolina Human Rights Initiative
Ian Palmquist, Equality North Carolina, Executive Director
Eric Marcus, Author and Gay Activist
Scott Wiener, Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors Member
Ken Keechl, Broward County Commissioner; Former Dolphin Democrats President
Ron Ginsburg, LGBT Community Activist
Gregory G. Simoncini, Commissioner of Illinois Human Rights Commission
Jeff Gardner, Vice Chair of Garden State Equality
James Duff, TV Producer
Robert D. Horvath, Mautner Project Board of Directors Member
Patrick J. Lyden, LGBT Community Activist; Homeland Security Advisor
Kevin Jennings, New York LGBT Community Activist
Stephen Handwerk, Board Member of National Stonewall Democrats
Jeff Anderson, Former Co-Chair of John Kerry for President National LGBT Finance Committee
Jeff Soukup, Former President and COO, PlanetOut Inc.
Andy Szekeres, Former Colorado Stonewall Co Chair
Sean Kosofsky, Michigan LGBT Community Leader
Mark Periello, Former Human Rights Campaign staff member
Kyle Bailey, Board member of National Stonewall Democrats
Hans Johnson, President of Progressive Victory
Todd Elmer, Former Clinton Administration Commerce Department Official
Les Krambeal, Board member of National Stonewall Democrats
Leslie Giblett, Washington LGBT Community Leader
Alexis Pontikis, Washington LGBT Community Leader Gregg Gallo, National Stonewall Board Members
David Mariner, Former Out for Howard Dean Co-Chair
Matt Comer, LGBT Journalist

*Organizations listed for identification purposes only

[Tarotlaydee]

Dennis Kucinich never said he was visited by aliens. He said he viewed an unidentified flying object. So have 14% of all Americans including myself. When I was in the AF our pilots used to see unidentified flying objects all of the time while flying their missions. So to quote you, DK "being visited by aliens" is something you tacked on and words you inserted into his mouth.

Dennis Kucinich is the ONLY presidential candidate that supports marriage equality, by the way. Plus, the words that Edwards says about ending the war are just not true, he has every intention of keeping it going until 2013. He has said he would keep the war going while speaking to AIPAC.

[Tarotlaydee]

Dennis Kucinich has co-authored universal, single payer, not for profit healthcare for all with HR 676. This legislation is the ONLY healthcare legislation that Michael Moore, film maker and creator of SICKO endorses.

[Meetzorp]

The fellow I'm backing this time around (Mike Gravel) seems to be raising an eyebrow at Clinton's stance:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-mike-gravel/hillary-chooses-states-ri_b_60351.html

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/NEWS09/710300384/-1/archive

My Favorite Senator in the Nation, Russ Feingold is fully in support of gay marriage.

http://www.ovaloffice2008.com/2006/04/russ-feingold-same-sex-marriage-stance.html

I sincerely and enthusiastically hope Feingold runs in 2012