By CHRIS CRAIN
All the Democrats running for president back full federal recognition of gay couples and repeal of the half of the Defense of Marriage Act that blocks the U.S. government from recognizing gay married couples. The commitments came in response to the Human Rights Campaign’s candidate questionnaire, released today by the Washington, D.C.-based gay rights group.
The public commitment represents significant progress for several of the leading candidates, including the frontrunners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who until now had not specified what level of federal recognition they would support for gay couples who are married or enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships.
“These candidates have expressed a unified belief and echoed the majority of the American people by stating that same-sex couples deserve federal recognition,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a written statement. “It is extremely encouraging to finally see the focus of the debate around the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans center around extending the American value of equality to all people. 2008 is not 2004, and the American people have already put out the warning that divisive, wedge politics that pit neighbor against neighbor will not be tolerated.”
All seven candidates also support civil unions for gay couples, which would extend all the rights and benefits of marriage at the state level but without using the word “marriage.” Only Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio Democrat who trails all the other candidates in the polls, backs full marriage rights for gay couples. The HRC "report card" shows the marriage issue is the only one on which the seven candidates disagree.
The commitment for federal recognition amounts to “extending federal benefits, rights, privileges and responsibilities to same-sex couples and their children,” including:
* equal tax treatment
* Social Security survivor benefits
* immigration rights for gay Americans in relationships with non-Americans
* inclusion under the Family & Medical Leave Act
* domestic partner health insurance and other workplace benefits for gay federal employees
For the federal government to recognize gay married couples for full benefits requires the repeal of one-half of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by the Republican Congress and signed by then-President Clinton in 1996. All seven candidates backed that action, although HRC does not indicate whether any support repeal of DOMA’s other half, which allows one state to ignore marriage licenses issued to gay couples by other states.
In addition, recognition for gay couples, all seven candidates support inclusion of both sexual orientation and gender identity of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit workplace bias, and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Until now, Clinton and Obama, along with several of the second-tier candidates, had resisted adding protections for transgender workers to ENDA. The questionnaire did not ask the candidates to join HRC and other national LGBT groups in vowing to withdraw support for ENDA if gender identity is stripped as a protected category from the bill.
The support for immigration rights also represented a significant step forward. The Uniting American Families Act, reintroduced in Congress last month, extends to gay Americans the same right that straight Americans have to sponsor their non-American partners for residence and, ultimately, U.S. citizenship. Before today’s release, only Edwards, Richardson and Dodd had committed to UAFA’s passage; in fact, Clinton, Obama and Biden had resisted requests that they sign on as co-sponsors.
On other issues, all seven candidates also commit to the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in the military, and oppose banning adoption based on sexual orientation. All seven also back passage of the Responsible Education About Life Act that would “create a federal grant program to channel money to states that choose to teach comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education,” including “science based prevention methods.”
On HIV/AIDS, all seven also support increased funding for prevention, treatment and research into the virus, as well as the Ryan White Care Act, which funds treatment to low-income Americans with HIV and AIDS. They also backed federal legislation to allow states the option of using Medicaid funds to help low-income HIV-positive Americans with their health care; currently only those with full-blown AIDS are eligible.
Here are links to each of the seven candidate questionnaires, as provided by HRC:
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