By WILLIAM R. KAPFER | Sep 10, 1:52 PM
Editor’s note: Barack Obama’s presidential campaign this week agreed to respond in writing to a series of questions submitted by William R. Kapfer, co-president of Window Media, the Blade’s parent company.
Washington Blade: What personal experiences or friendships in your life have shaped how you view gay issues?
Barack Obama: Michelle and I have been blessed with many openly gay and lesbian friends and colleagues whom we have been close to for many years. While that fact has made the issue facing the LGBT community more personal, the fundamental reasons I have for supporting equality are greater than any individual. I am running for President because I believe that we as a nation need change. We need to end the divisive politics of George W. Bush and pursue policies that treat all of us, regardless of identity or background, with dignity, equality and respect.
Blade: Do you have any role models who are openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender?
Obama: A college professor of mine helped me to see the lives of LGBT people from a different perspective. He was the first openly gay professor that I had ever come in contact with, or openly gay person of authority that I had come in contact with. And he was just a terrific guy. His comfort in his own skin and the friendship we developed helped to educate me on a number of these issues.
Blade: Would you decline to nominate a qualified Supreme Court justice, cabinet member or other appointed position just because the person is openly gay?
Obama: No. If elected, my appointments will be made on the actual qualifications of the candidates for office, and nothing else. In my administration, my first criteria will be competence and capability.
Blade: Would you decline to nominate a qualified Supreme Court justice or cabinet member who had a history of anti-gay rulings?
Obama: I would have to consider the totality of the candidate’s record and qualifications. However, I think someone who has an established record of failing to support equal opportunities for all Americans would not fare well in an Obama-Biden administration.
Blade: President Bush has been praised for his AIDS relief efforts in Africa, but many domestic AIDS service providers say the U.S. focus on the epidemic abroad ignores growing infection rates here at home. How would your AIDS policies differ from President Bush’s and would you put a greater focus on the domestic problem?
Obama: President Bush has done a good job with international AIDS programs, but I think we need to do more, especially domestically. If elected, during my first year in office, I will develop and implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. That strategy will reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Congress should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And, as President, I will continue to confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
Blade: Would you resume the practice started by President Clinton but discontinued by President Bush of creating a high-level White House staff position serving as liaison to the GLBT community?
Obama: I will make sure the voices of LGBT people are heard in the White House and I thought it was wrong that the Bush White House eliminated this position.
Blade: Important gay rights legislation unrelated to marriage has been stalled in Congress for quite some time. The gay community has high expectations for an Obama administration. What are reasonable expectations for a first-term Obama administration: How aggressively would you push for Congress to pass ENDA, the hate crimes bill, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and other gay-related bills in your first year in office, and would you mention those bills in your State of the Union address?
Obama: These bills are all important priorities for me. Senator Biden and I have long committed ourselves to supporting fundamental civil rights for all. In addition to the issues you mentioned, I also support full repeal of DOMA to provide equal federal rights and benefits to LGBT couples. America must live up to our founding principle of equality for all, and it’s wrong to have millions of LGBT Americans living as second‐class citizens in this nation.
I support these efforts because I know that equality is a moral imperative. Back when I was in the Illinois Senate, I co‐sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. The non-discrimination bill has become law in Illinois. If I am honored to serve as your President, I will continue to do what I’ve done throughout my career and in this campaign: speak out on behalf of the cause for equal justice and opportunity for LGBT Americans.
Blade: What is your advice to gay rights activists as to what they should pursue and realistically expect to pass in 2009 with regard to the issues listed above?
Obama: A large part of what I can do for LGBT Americans depends on what actions Congress takes. That is why we need greater Democratic majorities in both chambers. I can say that if elected, I will work with the leaders in Congress to enact legislation that will better protect the rights of LGBT Americans. I know ENDA has been stalled in Congress for many years, and I will work to pass a fully inclusive version of it as President.
Blade: You have called for the full repeal of DOMA. If elected president, will you introduce legislation calling for its repeal during your first year in office?
Obama: I have long been on record opposing DOMA, and an Obama-Biden administration will work hard to ensure that we can pass a repeal of that law as soon as possible.
Blade: Do you think repeal of all of DOMA would, in fact, prompt Congress to strongly consider and possibly pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage?
Obama: Again, I think this issue ties in to who controls Congress. And a Democratic Congress that enacts a repeal of DOMA would not be likely to pass a Constitutional ban on gay marriage — partly because our party rejects enshrining discrimination and divisive distinctions among citizens into our founding documents.
Blade: If DOMA is repealed fully or in part, the federal government most likely still could not recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships performed by states. Would you ask Congress to pass federal enabling legislation that would require the federal government to recognize civil unions and/or domestic partnerships performed by states so that same-sex couples joined in civil unions or domestic partnerships could obtain the same federal rights and benefits of marriage that you have called for?
Obama: I support the notion that all people — gay or straight — deserve the same rights and responsibilities to assist their loved ones in times of emergency, deserve equal health insurance and other employment benefits currently extended to heterosexual married couples, and deserve the same property rights as anyone else.
If elected, I would call on Congress to enact legislation that would repeal DOMA and ensure that the over 1,100 federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally recognized unions.
Blade: As your administration moves past abstinence-until-marriage sex education initiatives, will it craft a replacement program that provides safe-sex messages specific to gay youth?
Obama: While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense and provide our children with information to protect them from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
That is why I am an original co-sponsor of legislation to expand access to contraception, health information and preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies and diseases. The Prevention First Act will increase funding for family planning and age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education that teaches both abstinence and safe sex methods.
Blade: You and other senators are on record supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, but the act has not yet been introduced in the Senate. If John McCain wins in November, would you agree to introduce ENDA as a senator in 2009?
Obama: Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts has traditionally been the original Senate sponsor of ENDA. I would, without hesitation, list myself as an original co-sponsor, but given his years of work on the issue, would defer to him on the actual introduction of the bill.
Blade: Del Martin died on Aug. 27 — she and Phyllis Lyon, her partner of 55 years, got married in the first legal gay union in California in June — affording Phyllis many of the basic protections and rights granted to married couples, such as hospital visitations and estate planning issues. Do you envision a time when all GLBT citizens will have similar basic rights? During your administration?
Obama: Michelle and I were extremely saddened to learn about Del’s passing. Del committed her life to fighting discrimination and promoting equality.
As I have said before, I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all — a promise that certainly extends to the LGBT community. I do envision a time when we all enjoy that promise, but we have to work hard to get there. LGBT Americans deserve real change, and they deserve it now. Certainly as a nation we can all agree that discrimination has no place in our America. Same-sex couples face legal discrimination every day — that we can, and must, end — by repealing DOMA, providing federal rights and responsibilities to same-sex families, and supporting LGBT parents, to start. And we need to remember that it’s not just couples that need protection — we need to pass long overdue legislation that ends employment discrimination, enhances hate crimes protections, and repeals “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Blade: What are your thoughts on the Matthew Shepard Act?
Obama: As a state senator, I passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law. Currently, I am a co-sponsor of the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, which would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes perpetrated because of the race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or physical disability of the victim. And as President, I will place the weight of my Administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes.
Note to readers: William R. Kapfer is not affiliated with any campaign and has not donated money to anyone running for president.
The following three questions were submitted, but not answered:
• If the full repeal of DOMA forces all states to recognize same-sex marriages passed by just a few states, aren't you, in effect, supporting same-sex marriage in the United States? As a former law professor, do you believe the repeal of DOMA would force all states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in Mass. and Calif. under the Constitution's full faith and credit clause?
• How would you handle institutions such as the Boy Scouts and Salvation Army — which have been known to engage in discriminate against gays — to underscore your message?
• If the D.C. City Council approves a same-sex marriage bill as many expect next year, would you support a move to allow Congress to debate it and possibly overturn it?
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