'08 Presidential candidates

Tanene Allison [pictured] offers an overview for those who are still undecided or [gasp] supporting John McCain for president.

Her latest blog entry at Huffington Post points out that McCain is not our friend. Tanene's compiled everything homophobic about John McCain and compares the list to all things progressive about Barack Obama. For example:

"I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination."

Read the full speech.

8/23/2008
Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden believes same-sex unions are inevitable. But he does not support gay "marriage"

John McCain - the presumptive Republican presidential nominee - said in an interview with The New York Times [published Sunday] that he opposed allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

An estimated 65,000 children have been adopted by gays and lesbians. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the National Association of Social Workers, among other groups, have expressed support for gay adoption.

Barack Obama's campaign hosted a conference call Friday evening with about 1,200 GLBT supporters. The meeting was an effort to bridge the gap between Clinton and Obama supporters - and allowed the campaign to announce some impressive appointments to the team.

Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff shares his notes from the gathering on the Houston Voice Blog:

This week Hillary Clinton told Ellen DeGeneres that she will "defend gay rights as President and eliminate inequality for same sex couples in federal law".

She shared a story about a gay male couple [who lived next door to her parents] denied hospital visitation because they weren't considered "family" under current legislation. One of the men got sick, and they were faced with a horrible situation. See the video below.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ellen and Hillary talk about the possibility of quitting the race for the Democratic presidential nomination because she's behind.

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:

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: