News & Politics Articles

Leading Democratic candidate - Barack Obama - released an open letter to LGBT Americans this week concerning his steadfast commitment to our equal rights.

In his message, he reaffirms his respect for our relationships and families by stating (among other things):

"As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws".

Here's his entire letter:

A year ago Janice Langbehn's partner of nearly 18 years was pronounced brain dead after being stricken with a brain aneurysm. While at Jackson Memorial Hospital - in Miami - she was met with prejudice and apathy. Janice and her family were consistently denied visitation and didn't see her partner, Lisa Pond, until many hours after she was admitted. Lambda Legal has officially sent a notice of intent to sue to the hospital on Janice's behalf.

New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer does a good job exploring reasons for Hillary Clinton's popularity among lesbian and gay citizens. In a piece called Why Barack’s Mojo With the Gays Can’t Match Hillary’s, Sean Kennedy writes:

Fair-minded citizens of Florida must get themselves to a voting booth this November. The plan to ban same-sex marriage - via a constitutional amendment - has generated anxiety and action for a growing number of Florida voters.

And the plan is moving forward. The Associated Press is reporting, the same-sex marriage ban was certified with 649,346 signatures - 38,337 more than the minimum.

Signature collection is getting more difficult for right-wing extremists on both coasts. A group in California has failed to garner enough support to remove civil rights protections provided by SB 777.

And now the Orlando Sentinel reports that a conservative group backing the gay-marriage ban has failed to collect the appropriate amount of signatures necessary to place a constitutional amendment - to ban gay marriage - on the 2008 ballot.

In an email sent exclusively to KnowThyNeighbor.org - Greater Boston PFLAG President Stan Griffith shared his personal views about Hillary Clinton's position on same-sex parenting. KnowThyNeighbor.org posted the email on it's website. PFLAG is the acronym for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Nine out of ten lesbian, gay, and bisexual U.S. citizens will vote in the Democratic primaries - and 63% of them will vote for Hillary Clinton. Only twenty-one percent say that lesbian and gay rights will be the most important issue influencing their vote in 2008.

Promising Democratic Presidential contender, Barack Obama was recently interviewed by David Brody - at The Christian Broadcasting Network.

Brody asked Obama about special rights for lesbians and gays.

The deeply religious Obama explained:

From the blog at HillaryClinton.com:

Bill O'Reilly took time during one of his recent shows to discuss the Illinois lesbian couple voted "cutest couple" at their high school.

O'Reilly believes the students at the school voted for the girls because the student body - as a whole - wanted to play a prank on the teachers and administrators of the school.

He said, "the kids voted...this couple the cutest couple to tweak the adults...to cause trouble, to make an issue of the yearbook."