The Presidential Candidates on Gay Rights

October 7 marked the 10th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard. This tragic event would become one of the most famous examples of a hate crime in recent history.

On the night of October 6-7, 1998, 22-year-old Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence, beaten within an inch of his life and left for dead in the near freezing temperatures. Eighteen hours later, he was found by two passing motorcyclists who thought at first that Shepard was a scarecrow because of the way he was positioned on the fence. Shepherd died six days later as a result of his injuries.

The heartbreaking story hit the national circuit when gay rights groups everywhere started calling attention to the Matthew Shepard case as a demonstration of the need to adopt hate crime legislation. Anti-gay groups started fighting this because they believed this meant gays would have some sort of “special rights.”

Today there is still no federal law against hate crimes based on sexual orientation (while similar laws are on the books for gender, race, disability, religion, etc.).  One was finally passed last year by both houses of Congress but vetoed by President Bush. 

In honor of Matthew Shepard, Do Something is giving you an inside on where the candidates stand on issues of special concern to the GLBT community.

Employment Non-Discrimination

Legislation

The Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed U.S. federal law that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation.

Obama’s stance

  • Supports ending employment discrimination against the entire GLBT community.
  • Obama’s running mate, Senator Joe Biden, voted for ENDA.

McCain’s stance

  • Cast a deciding vote against ENDA. During an interview in 2000, McCain said: "I think that the present laws that clearly prevent a discrimination of any kind certainly [apply] to gays and homosexuals as well. That's why I voted the way that I did. I think that enforcement of existing law could work rather than passing special laws for special categories of people."
  • In response to Gubernatorial Candidate question, "Do you support the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that spousal benefits for state employees should be given to same-sex couples? Why or why not?", Governor Palin replied, "No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution."

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

The policy requires that as long as gay or bisexual men and women in the military hide their sexual orientation, commanders are not allowed to investigate their sexuality.

Obama’s stance

  • Opposed the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
  • In response to the Human Right Campaign's question: "If you are elected President, what concrete steps would you take to overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?'", Biden responded: "I would end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It is antiquated, unworkable and wrong."

McCain’s stance

  • When asked about the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, McCain said: "I don't think there's any doubt that there are evolving attitudes in America about many issues, including this one, but every military leader that I talk to, I say 'Should we change it?' They say, 'It's working.' And right now we've got the best military we've ever had -- the most professional, best trained, equipped and the bravest. And so I think it's logical to leave this issue alone. I really do."
  • Palin’s position is unknown.

Relationship Recognition

Legislation

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a federal law passed in 1996 which defined the word “marriage” as the union between a man and a woman. The law specifically says:

  • No state need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.
  • The Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) (also referred to by proponents as the Marriage Protection Amendment) is a proposed amendment to the Constitution which would limit marriage in the U.S. to unions of one man and one woman, thus denying marriage rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.

Obama’s stance

  • Opposes same-sex marriage, but also opposes a constitutional ban.
  • Says states and local governments should set their own marriage policies.
  • Supports repeal of DOMA.
  • Voted against FMA.
  • As stated on the Obama campaign Web site, he supports full civil unions that "give same-sex couples equal legal rights and privileges as married couples, including the right to assist their loved ones in times of emergency as well as equal health insurance, employment benefits, and property and adoption rights."
  • Biden voted for DOMA and against FMA.
  • In a Meet the Press April 2007 transcript, Biden is said, “I think [gay marriage is probably inevitable] because social mores change... I think government should not be able to dictate to religions the definition of marriage, but I think, on a civil side, government has the obligation to strip away every vestige of discrimination as to what individuals are able to do in terms of their personal conduct."

McCain’s stance

  • Voted for and supports DOMA, denying couples all protections.
  • Voted against FMA.
  • Campaigned for a state amendment that would have banned civil unions and domestic partnerships.
  • Does not support family benefits for partners of federal employees.
  • Opposes allowing civil marriage for same-sex couples.
  • On her Sarah Palin for Governor Web site, Palin wrote: "I believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman."
  • During the vice presidential debate on October 2, Palin said, "No one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, visitations in a hospital or contracts being signed, negotiated between parties."
  • According to a New York Times report, Palin supported an amendment to the Alaska state constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage, but, during her tenure as governor, she vetoed a bill that would have denied health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees on grounds that it was unconstitutional.

Hate Crimes

Obama’s stance

  • Supports inclusive legislation to protect the entire GLBT community against bias-motivated violence.
  • Joe Biden has voted to expand the federal hate crimes law to include both sexual orientation and gender identity.

McCain

  • Voted against hate crimes legislation three times.
  • In response to a question in the 2006 Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire, "Will you support an effort to expand hate-crime laws?", Governor Palin replied, "No, as I believe all heinous crime is based on hate."

HIV/AIDS

Legislation

The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act was a law named in honor of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS through a tainted hemophilia treatment in 1984, and was expelled from school because of the disease. The act is the U.S.’s largest federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS, and sought funding to improve availability of care for low-income, uninsured and under-insured victims of AIDS and their families. The act passed in the House by a vote of 402 to 4.

The Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA) gives states the option of extending Medicaid coverage to include uninsured, pre-disabled poor and low-income people living with HIV. ETHA addresses a cruel irony in the current Medicaid system — that under current Medicaid rules people must become disabled by AIDS before they can receive access to Medicaid provided care and treatment that could have prevented them from becoming so ill in the first place.

Obama’s stance

  • Supports Ryan White CARE Act and ETA.
  • Supports comprehensive sex education aimed at preventing disease.
  • Senator Biden supports comprehensive sex education as well as syringe exchange to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission among intravenous drug users.
  • Most recently, Biden helped craft a reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that repealed the statutory entry ban for people living with HIV/AIDS. It also promotes prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM), along with research on HIV incidence among MSM.
  • Senator Biden cosponsored of the Prevention First Act, which would provide our nation’s youth with accurate information about abstinence, contraception and condom use in order to reduce unintended pregnancies, abortions, and disease transmission.
  • Biden cosponsored both the Early Treatment for HIV Act and the Ryan White CARE Act.

McCain’s stance

  • Has never co-sponsored Ryan White or ETHA.
  • Voted for a Jesse Helms strategy to remove funding aimed at protecting the community from HIV/AIDS.  When asked about his stance on funding treatment for AIDS/HIV, Helms said, "If homosexuals would only stop doing what they're doing, there wouldn't be any more AIDS.” Helms held that the government shouldn't fund treatment for people with AIDS because they became ill by "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."
  • Supports abstinence-only education that leaves out GLBT people and has been found to be ineffective in combating the spread of HIV.
  • Governor Palin is a staunch opponent of sex education and a supporter of abstinence-only-until-marriage. Her position on other HIV/AIDS policy issues is unknown.

Adoption

Obama

  • Both Obama and Biden oppose bans on adoption by same-sex couples.

McCain

  • The McCain campaign states that gay adoption is a state issue and does not endorse any federal legislation.

Sources:

Human Rights Campaign

CNN

Lesbian Life

PEW Forum

Eagle Forum Alaska

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