The Visible Vote at Work

Well, this was fun. Billed on the morning AOL welcome screen as "Lesbian Rocker Confronts Democratic Candidates," or something to that effect (the headline is completely different now), there evidently was a to-and-fro yesterday between a small panel of queers and most of the Democratic candidates on a cable channel that I don't get, and haven't even heard of: LOGO, which evidently mostly carries programming geared toward the gay communiy. The "lesbian rocker" in the photo was our most visible political lesbo, Melissa Etheridge, and I would have greatly enjoyed seeing her go mano a mano with Hillary. NPR had a less tabloid sort of headline: Democratic Candidates Share in Gay Rights Forum.

The event was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, which notes on its website that the forum is available for video viewing online right here. So, okay, I'm gonna go check out the aforementioned mano a mano as soon as I sign off here. The forum is also being rebroadcast tonight and Monday, but I still don't get that channel, so it will have to be video clips for me.
Any of our TBV readers, or other TBV writers, see this event? I'd love to hear some takes on it if so. Even if this was just carried on a channel that only dedicated gay TV heads actually get, I think it is a landmark occasion of sorts. To line up that many candidates to address the issue of gay rights - (and only the two guys who don't have an adobe rowboat's chance of getting the nomination: Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, had a totally open and upfront stance on these issues, the others seem to have done the usual skating and flopping) is something big and new on the political horizon. Perhaps in some ways, after all, the times they are achangin'. As a guy (one Jeffrey Prang) quoted in the NPR coverage said: "It's extremely disappointing to gay and lesbian people that they aren't with us on (gay) marriage, but when you think about it, they're with us on everything else. Years ago, we were just hoping they would show up at the pride parade,"

The Republican candidates were also approached, but - oh surprise surprise!! - were thoroughly not interested. They know we're not gonna vote for 'em anyway, so why should they even pretend?
Technorati Tags: democratic candidates forum, gay issues, human rights campaign, melissa etheridge

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