Saturday, January 26, 2008

Ask Hillary 2

This is a really interesting video that comes from Hillary Clinton's website, where a young voter asked her about the high suicide rate and depression among gay teenagers. She took on the question and really put her foot down on where she stands on GLBT issues. The video is about 6 minutes...and the question is a few minutes into it.

Finally able to Blog!!!

Obviously it has been a while since my last post, and there is a decent explaination as to why. I ended up moving from St. Louis to Iowa to work on a Presidential Campaign. Blogs are strongly discouraged while employed by a candidate for President...especially when it is someone like me who tends to speak rather candidly.

To say the least it was a BIG move for me. I was very comfortable in my job and life there, but I knew I wasn't following my passion. I am a political nerd...not just because it's fun or exciting, but because I believe being involved in the process is the only way to bring about real change. This may come as a shocker, but I am NOT pleased with the current administration and the scary direction it is leading us.

I have posted previously that I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton. I believe with all my heart that she is the candidate that can best deliver the changes we need, whether it be the economy, Iraq, healthcare, etc. I believe the other two candidates are notable candidates as well with their own strenghts; however, there are some issues that I believe Hillary has addressed that the others ignore.

Something that Sen. Obama did that really showed me he didn't understand the importance of recognizing the ignorance that is the ex-gay ministry really opened my eyes. As we all remember, Barack was doing a evangelical swing with misisters, preachers, etc. It was brought to his attention quickly that one of the ministers was a "successful" product of the ex-gay movement. Well...Obama decided to keep him on and bring on a gay preacher to balance it out. Fair enough, right??? Not at all. When you look at the GLBT community, most all of the advocacy for advancement and equality comes from the Democratic Party. By keeping a vocal supporter by your side who believes that gays are choosing this and spreading lies about the possibility of change is a kick in the face to a demographic that overwhelmingly supports the Democratic Party. With that said, I realize there are gay republicans...whether or not it is an oxymoron, it is the truth. Anywho...we all know what the ex-gay movement believes: 1.) Homosexuality is a sin 2.) You don't HAVE to be gay, if you don't want to...you just have to work for it 3.) If it doesn't work and you are still gay, it is your fault.

Well, I found myself a bit upset by this. Knowing the pain I went through, I really wish the Candidates would all speak on this issue, as it is a very big issue.