White House hopefuls seen more attuned to gay issues

The Human Rights Campaign says that White House contenders are a more “gay friendly” bunch than in 2004 and that nearly all the Democratic hopefuls plan to attend the homosexual rights group’s televised forum next month.

Democrats seeking their party’s nod in the 2004 cycle were hesitant to pledge that they would fight for homosexual rights, and Sen. John Kerry drew boos at the Human Rights Campaign’s forum in 2003 for his stance on traditional marriage.

Mr. Kerry, of Massachusetts, has said that the marriage protection measure on the ballot that year cost him thousands of votes in Ohio and ultimately his bid to unseat President Bush.

The three Democrats now leading in the polls — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina — also have said that same-sex couples should not be allowed to legally exchange “wedding” vows. But each front-runner, along with the other contenders, supports civil unions and is giving unprecedented attention to homosexual rights on the campaign trail.

Several have “LGBT advisers” who help them advocate issues of importance to “lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender” people, and have hosted events to hear from such voters. So far, the three leading Democrats have said they will attend the Aug. 9 forum in Los Angeles, along with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio.

“They are willing to stand publicly and talk about their support of equality and that’s a good sign for us,” said Brad Luna, spokesman for the D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign. “Candidates are able to speak more freely about being able to be supportive about our issues and extending rights and equality for all Americans instead of being caught in the middle of divisive issues.”

Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, agreed and said candidates who used traditional marriage as a wedge issue during the last election were all defeated.

Mr. Sammon is not surprised that none of the Republican presidential candidates has accepted the forum invitation, and he stressed that a recent New Hampshire poll showed same-sex unions ranked No. 17 on a list of the issues most important to Republican primary voters.

“Two thousand eight is going to be a very tough election for Republicans, so we need to nominate a candidate who can bring together a wide group of people,” he said. “No matter what someone’s views are on same-sex marriage, if they are worried about their kid who is serving in Iraq or if they are worried about health care, I don’t think they will be focused on whether the two men who live across the street from them are going to get domestic partner benefits or not.”

Already, the tone among the Democrats is different this time around.

All the Democratic candidates said they would repeal former President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy forbidding homosexuals from serving openly in the military.

Elizabeth Edwards recently spoke at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club the weekend of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, saying she believes same-sex couples should be able to legally exchange vows, a position her husband does not share.

“I’m completely comfortable with gay marriage,” said Mrs. Edwards, who will speak at a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) dinner tonight in San Francisco.

The Democratic candidates all support legal recognition of civil unions, a measure that was just approved by New Hampshire legislators.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 2003 did a study showing candidates then were “less supportive than the general public” on “freedom to marry.”

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