Thursday, February 07, 2008

Hillary Commits to Inclusion on ENDA

Posted on OurChart.com under her own name, Senator Hillary Clinton has stated for the record that she supports a fully inclusive ENDA:

"We have so much work to do. When I am President, we will work together to make sure that all Americans in committed relationships have equal benefits and that nothing stands in the way of loving couples who want to adopt children in need. We're going to expand our federal hate crimes legislation and pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and assure that they are both fully inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. And finally, we will put an end to the failed policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Courage, honor, patriotism and sacrifice – the traits that define our men and women in uniform – have nothing to do with sexual orientation. "

The underline is from her text, and was added, along with the words "sexual orientation and gender identity and expression" after it's initial publication, to clarify her meaning.

See Pam's House Blend for the full story.

Followup 1/8: Marti Abernathy points out that Obama has already stated support for trans inclusion. Thanks for the correction, Marti.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Raucous cheering!

Heidi. said...

Actually Obama already has an almost identical statement on his website and it's been there for quite some time.

Eileen.

Unknown said...

Also amazing is how she managed to make this claim without ever using the words "gay" or "transgender" even once in doing so.

Make no mistake: Hillary's campaign staff may have felt she needed to make some sort of real statement on the issue after being called out on her completely dodging the question during her recent LOGO interview by myself and many others on the blogs, but she's still running away from us and our issues at full speed.

Barney Frank and 3/4 of the HRC Executive Board are part of her campaign, and that should tell you what her real politics are when it comes to our issues. Trust her not.

Becky Juro

helen_boyd said...

Becky, how about getting us some links on that?

I'm a little frustrated about how mealy-mouthed all of the dem candidates were on LGBT issues.

Unknown said...

Helen, here's some choice ones:

Barack Obama:

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5518/1/270/
7/3/07: Sen. Barack Obama co-sponsored the Matthew Shepard Act (federal anti-hate crimes law) and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. When asked if he supports transgender inclusion, Obama said, "Absolutely. The transgendered community has to be protected. I just don’t have any tolerance for that sort of intolerance. And I think we need to legislate aggressively to protect them.”

http://www.bilerico.com/2007/11/a_call_for_full_equality.php
11/10/07: "I will also place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. I have supported fully inclusive protections since my days in the Illinois legislature, when I sponsored a bill to outlaw workplace discrimination that expressly included both sexual orientation and gender identity."

Hillary's LOGO Interview (2/1/07):
http://www.365gay.com/?bcpid=232551216&bctid=1400530925#

I think those just about say it all.

Becky

mynameisalice said...

http://www.ourchart.com/content/a-message-lgbt-americans-%E2%80%9Ci-want-be-your-president%E2%80%9D

Thats STRAIGHT out the horse's mouth. Anyone that is lead to believe that Hillary is not an advocate for human rights (including LGBT) has been lead astray. I talked personally with Chelsea Clinton and she with a compassionate genuine strong response looked me in the eyes and said "my mom is the only candidate who is putting her words to action on transgender inclusion in the senate." There are 4 trannys serving on her LGBT steering commitee. http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=2196

She's the real deal. I'm a queer with a tranny girlfriend endorsing Hillary Clinton.