I am not a very good lesbian. I never have been. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to toe the party line. And it's always been that way. My friend Leyla can attest to that; the first time we went to a gay bar together (we were grad students at Michigan State together), I had long hair and wore a bow, a la Pam Smart. In my defense, it was the 80s and the bow wasn't that big, but any dyke worth her salt had short hair then, and certainly NO bows.I'm not a one-issue LGBT voter, either. Gay marriage would be nice, but it's just not my top priority right now. "The cat is out of the bag" as my republican/lawyer brother-in-law says regarding gay marriage, so I think it will happen eventually and therefore I don't want to make it a polarizing campaign hot button issue and risk another four years with a republican president. I just don't need it to happen right now. Other issues--more global issues--are more important to me than marriage: Universal Health care, global warming, poverty, Darfur, repealing NCLB, and THE WAR.
So, as soon as Edwards announced his candidacy & I announced that he was at the top of my short list, I immediately got crap about his stance on gay marriage (not in favor) and was considered a traitor. Luckily, it's a position I've held before so I didn't care much, but I did secretly cross my fingers and hope JRE didn't say or do anything to embarrass me in the next 12 months.
Here we are, 12 months later. No embarrassment whatsoever. Edwards is the ONLY first tier candidate to meet in person with the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition, as reported in Bay Windows. Edwards released a list of list of endorsements from the gay community. He has released policy statements on HIV/AIDS. Cate Edwards and her mom Elizabeth have come out in favor of gay marriage and publicly disagree with the candidate.
His recently released 80-page policy booklet has a 2-page spread dedicated to LGBT issues. He has an LGBT section of his much-praised website. And then I found this blog: Out For Edward, making me feel even better.
And, to add frosting to my cake, the campaign staff embraced me & welcomed me. On my own I founded the LGBT Friends & Allies for John Edwards group on Facebook. As I began to get more involved, I met other members of the gay community at events or volunteering on the campaign.
As Obama defends his decision to campaign with a homophobic entertainer, and Hillary continues to be haunted by Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I'm feeling pretty good about my choice.
So, if you want to be a one-issue voter, you can support Kucinich. But as I recently heard somewhere in regard to this very issue (paraphrasing here:), "you can vote your feelings, or you can vote in a way that can create consequences."
It's nice to have the rest of the gay community catching up with me for once, sorta.
