Who Will Speak First?

As presidential candidates begin to make their moves on the White House, members of the LGBT community are waiting to see who will bring it up first? Who will show the first sign of support for LGBT folks? Dennis Kucinich, the U.S. representative from Ohio, is the only presidential candidate who is in full support of all issues gay. Kucinich is the only candidate supportive of gay marriage. The problem is the very question you are thinking: “Who is Dennis Kucinich?” Kucinich has no name recognition and absolutely no way to fund a 20 month campaign for the Presidency. So we members of the LGBT community must find support from another candidate. It seems as though that support will obviously not come from Sam Brownback, Mitt Romney, or John McCain. What about the republican forerunner, Rudy Giulliani? As of February 14^th, Giulliani was ahead of McCain by 40% to 24%, according to the Gallup Poles. Giulliani supports civil unions but not gay marriage. Could this be a possibly be a gay friendly Republican? These words are almost never placed into a sentence together and are somehow making an appearance in the early stages of the 2008 campaign. Is gay marriage the only issue concerning LGBT politics? Of course not! It would be catastrophic if the LGBT community only cared for gay marriage. Other issues such as the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, AIDS, and HIV immigration are major issues concerning the LGBT community and not limited to these. So as we begin our long journey of deciphering political campaigning, false campaign promises, and political symbolism, we should keep in mind who will be strong enough to speak first in support of the Gay Rights movement: this could be our man, or woman.