Gay People Have To Vote ALL THE TIME For Candidates Who Disappoint Them

[ruggerson]

Generalizing, of course, many, if not most, gay voters support full marriage equality.

But, there is not one leading candidate on the Democratic side who supports gay marriage.

Feingold does, but he isn't running. Kucinich and Sharpton do, but my dog has more of a chance of being elected President than they do.

So, realistically, if our choices are between Hillary, Edwards, Obama, Gore, Biden, Dodd and Kerry, there is not ONE of them that supports gay marriage. Without fact checking, I'd venture that more than a few of them supported the odious Defense of Marriage Act, which Hillary's husband signed into law. lGore was the Vice President of the administration that signed this into law, and I don't remember him objecting at the time.

But, you know what? Most gay voters know that politics is the art of compromise and that civil rights move incrementally and that eventually we will win this war, because we have right and goodness on our side.

One could make the case that nearly ALL the Democrats running for President privately support full marriage equality, but do not express those sentiments publicly because they do NOT FEEL THE COUNTRY IS THERE YET.

Are all the Democratic candidates hypocrites?

Are they just as wrong as those who voted for the IWR?

Since many, if not most, DUers support full gay marriage equality, why are they willing to give all their candidates a break on this issue, but whine constantly about candidates who were wrong on the Iraq war four years ago?

For many gay people and their families, these are life and death issues as well. Gay people are routinely killed in the Mid east and viciously oppressed in other parts of the world. For those of us who have a partner overseas, the fact that we cannot marry them and find safe harbor for them in the US is a very personal life and death issue.

Many gay voters, however, know and deal with the fact that they must compromise on issues they hold dear when they cast their ballots. They find candidates who they agree with on 70, 80% of the issues and they cast their vote, knowing full well that the most important issue to them personally is being opposed by the candidate for whom they vote.

Does this forced ability to make rational decisions and hard choices about leaders in this country perhaps give them a broader view about what politicians can and cannot do on some of the most divisive and pressing issues of the day?

As a gay man, I find it perplexing and sad to see all the candidates who voted for the IWR berated here time and again by people who question their "judgement" or people who are imposing an ideological test.


For those of you who support gay marriage, and most of DU does, why is it ok for you to overlook your candidates lack of support for gay marriage, a basic HUMAN RIGHTS concept, while bashing candidates who voted for the IWR?


Politics is the art of the possible. Maybe, just maybe, it's also the art of redemption.

I heartily welcome those who change their minds and support marriage equality.

I welcome those who make the journey and find the political courage to admit error and do what's right, whether it's concerning the war in Iraq or on issues of basic human rights.

Do you?