Ultra-huge props to Presidential candidate Barack Obama for taking a fabulously pro-gay stance for a front-runner. Barack just released this statement with regards to Pride Month. He’s stopping shy of actually advocating gay marriage, or explicitly encouraging all states to pass civil union laws, but it’s a solid start:
Pride Month is a reminder that while we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do.
Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.
It’s time to turn the page on the bitterness and bigotry that fill so much of today’s LGBT rights debate. The rights of all Americans should be protected — whether it’s at work or anyplace else. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” needs to be repealed because patriotism and a sense of duty should be the key tests for military service, not sexual orientation. Civil unions should give gay couples full rights. And those who commit hate crimes should be punished no matter whether those crimes are committed on account of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
This Pride Month, let’s make our founding promise of equality a reality for every American.
Thanks to Perez for the heads-up.