by Rex Wockner [Photos]
[story filed May 1, 2007]
SAN DIEGO --
Gay issues stayed mostly in the background at the California
Democratic State
Convention held April 27-29 at the San Diego Convention
Center, but
the two leading Democratic presidential candidates did make
brief references
to LGBT people in their speeches to delegates.
"When we try
to have an honest debate about the crises we face, whether
it's on the
Senate floor or a Sunday talk show, the conversation isn't
about finding
common ground, it's about finding someone to blame," said
U.S. Sen. Barack
Obama, D-Ill.
"We're divided
into red states and blue states, and told to always point
the finger at
somebody else -- the other party, or gay people, or
immigrants."
U.S. Sen. Hillary
Clinton, D-N.Y., in her address to delegates, promised
to treat all
Americans equally, regardless of "who you love."
"Are you ready
for a president again who actually respects science and
believes we
ought to listen to scientists on -- oh, let's say, global
climate change
and stem cell research?" Clinton asked. "Are you ready
for a government
that treats all Americans with dignity and equality no
matter who you
are and who you love? Are you ready to replace cronyism
with competence
again?"
Former U.S. Sen.
John Edwards, D-N.C., did not refer to gays during his
address.
Clinton and Edwards
held press conferences following their speeches.
Some gay reporters
in attendance raised their hands to ask questions but
neither candidate
called on them.
Local gay activist
Doug Case, a board member of the LGBT-oriented San
Diego Democratic
Club, said about 250 to 300 of the convention's 2,400
delegates came
from the gay community.
Gay Dems Caucus
On the convention's
first evening, about 150 people attended a meeting
of the LGBT
Caucus of the California Democratic Party. They elected new
officers and
heard from representatives of the presidential campaigns,
openly gay members
of the California Legislature, and gay and lesbian
candidates for
public office.
San Diego's Jess
Durfee, a convention delegate and chair of the San
Diego County
Democratic Party, was elected male co-chair of the caucus.
Laurie McBride
of Sacramento was elected female co-chair.
Durfee said the
caucus "advocates for inclusion of LGBT issues in the
party's platform,
resolutions and policies; promotes involvement by LGBT
Democrats in
the party apparatus; promotes LGBT Democratic candidates;
and advocates
for party support on LGBT issues."
Delegate Jeri
Dilno, who is political director of the San Diego
Democratic Club,
said any differences in the positions of Clinton,
Edwards and
Obama on gay issues are "fairly subtle."
SDDC's Case agreed,
saying: "There's no clear distinction between any of
the major candidates
with regard to their positions on our issues. ...
They support
equal rights for gay and lesbian families and civil unions
but don't go
so far as to support same-sex marriage."
Dilno suggested
that Clinton's comments on gays tend to be "those nice,
progressive
'Everybody should have equal rights but I think domestic
partners are
the way to go; I'm not ready to say marriage; gays are my
best friends'
sort of things."
"What I did want
to ask Hillary, or someone from her campaign -- and I
never got to
-- was, Does she support Gov. [Eliot] Spitzer's same-sex
marriage bill
that's been introduced in New York?" Dilno said. "She's a
New Yorker,
she's a senator, and that's a legitimate question I don't
think she's
answered."
Dilno agreed
with many others who "felt electricity in the room" when
Obama addressed
the convention. But Dilno asked: "What did he really
say? What is
his plan?"
"Obama is the
most motivational," agreed Case, "but there wasn't enough
substance to
his proposals. Hillary and Edwards gave more specifics."
Dilno also noted
that Edwards was the first one out of the gate to
clearly disagree
with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace in
March when he
said that "homosexual acts between two individuals are
immoral."
Clinton and Obama
both initially evaded the question when reporters
asked them if
homosexuality is immoral. After complaints from their gay
supporters,
both later directly stated that it is not.
Local activist
Bob Nelson, a frequent major donor to LGBT causes, said
"all the major
candidates are focusing on mainstream issues and not
giving a lot
of focus to what I'll call minority issues."
"They're all
talking about big themes: Iraq, the poverty divide,
universal access
to affordable health care," he said. "These are issues
that play to
broad, middle-of-the-road audiences. So, my observation is
that the candidates
are trying not to get off on any sidetracks that
might be really
important to me as a gay man, but maybe are second- or
third-tier issues
to 80 or 90 percent of America."
Nelson said Edwards
and Clinton seem to have a better grasp of "the
legislative
and regulatory issues that separate LGBT people from full
access to our
federal rights."
"I don't get
the impression that Obama has really focused on the 1,300
or so discriminations
that exist in federal law and, because of that, I
think that while
all three will be ultimately sympathetic to most of the
issues that
I care about, I feel more comfortable with Edwards and
Clinton in getting
into the nuts and bolts."
Case said most
of the convention's LGBT delegates probably haven't
selected their
candidate yet.
"I'm looking
at who has the ability to win the White House, given that
they're all
similar," he said.