Democrats Cautious on Gay Rights Issues
But Candidates Have Taken Positions Exceeding Mainstream of a Few Years Ago
Perry Bacon Jr., Washington Post
After Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly declared in March that homosexuality was immoral, gay supporters of Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York were furious when neither presidential candidate was very critical of Pace.
They let both campaigns know it, and the next day Clinton and Obama said they do not consider homosexuality immoral.
The tentative reactions suggest the caution with which the two leading Democratic contenders approach gay rights issues when they are publicly debated. “The antenna goes up,” acknowledges Ethan Geto, an informal adviser to Clinton on gay rights issues. “It’s a measure of how volatile gay rights issues are in national politics.”
Tags:Barack Obama, Democrats, Gays, Hillary Clinton
