Who will get the LGBT Vote?

Alright fellow lesbians, election day is upon us, let's go out and make history or maybe I should say herstory!

If your still having difficulty choosing which presidential candidate to vote for, below are some facts about where the main candidates and their running mates stand on issues of importance to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans community. And no matter what you decide, be sure to get out there and VOTE!

Barack Obama (Democratic Presidential Candidate):

• Being gay or lesbian is not a choice. (Nov 2007)
  
• Decisions about marriage should be left to the states. (Oct 2007)
• Homosexuality no more immoral than heterosexuality. (Oct 2007)
• Ok to expose 6-year-olds to gay couples; they know already. (Sep 2007)
• Has any marriage broken up because two gays hold hands? (Aug 2007)
• We need strong civil unions, not just weak civil unions. (Aug 2007)
• Legal rights for gays are conferred by state, not by church. (Aug 2007)
• Disentangle gay rights from the word "marriage". (Aug 2007)
• Gay marriage is less important that equal gay rights. (Aug 2007)
• Gay rights movement is somewhat like civil rights movement. (Aug 2007)
• Let each denominations decide on recognizing gay marriage. (Jul 2007)
• Supports health benefits for gay civil partners. (Oct 2006)
• Opposes gay marriage; supports civil union & gay equality. (Oct 2006)
• Marriage not a human right; non-discrimination is. (Oct 2004)
• Include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws. (Jul 1998)
  

Joe Biden (Democratic VP Candidate):

• Nobody asks if you're gay in a foxhole. (Jun 2007)
• Civil unions ok; gay marriage is probably inevitable. (Apr 2007)
• Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
• Voted YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
• Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
• Rated 78% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
  

John McCain (Republican Candidate):

• Don't ask, don't tell is working; don't tamper with it. (Jun 2007)
• Leave gay marriage to the states. (Jan 2007)
• 1994: No Senate hiring discrimination by sexual orientation. (Jan 2004)
• Would be “comfortable” with a gay president. (Dec 1999
• Ban on same-sex marriage is unRepublican; leave it to states. (Nov 2006)
• Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006
• Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
• Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
• Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
• Rated 33% by the HRC, indicating a mixed record on gay rights. (Dec 2006)

Sarah Palin (Repulican VP Candidate):

• Opposes same-sex marriage.
• Supported 1998 Alaska state constitution amendment banning gay marriage.
• Vetoed a bill that barred same-sex partners from receiving state employee benefits under grounds of the constitutionality of the measure.
• Ties to conservative anti-gay groups like Family Research Council
  

If your looking for more information on qualified, committed, openly GLBT candidates running in your state, check out the Victory Fund.




Source:OnTheIssues.org

Did you check out Sarah Palin on SNL????

As most of you know I NOT a Sarah Palin fan, however, I have to admit, she really was a good sport for doing her part on SNL the other night. If you didn't get a chance to see the skits, check out the videos below, you will get a chuckle, especially in the second one with Amy Poehler doing the Sarah Palin Rap.

HRC Video on Alaskan GLBT reaction to Gov. Sarah Palin

The Human Rights Coalition PAC recently released a video of Alaskan lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered residents' views on Gov. Sarah Palin.

What are LGBT Alaskans saying?

• Sarah Palin and her church turned their fundamentalist ideaology into a political mission.
  
• Mayor Sarah Palin installed church associates into political positions.
  
• Her religious values intersected with her role at the state.
  
• Sarah Palin's church was picketing to remove gay children's literature from Wasilla library at the same time that Mayor Sarah Palin was "asking rhetorical questions of" (aka intimidating) the local librarian about banning books.
  
• Sarah Palin's church sponsored a gay conversion through prayer conference.
  

HRC President President Joe Solmonese says:

"Sarah Palin used the oldest trick in the book, citing her gay friend as a show of support for our community. I wonder how her friend feels about Palin being against hate crimes legislation, relationship recognition for same-sex couples, or Palin's belief that her sexuality is a choice. "

HRC PAC urges everyone to Come Out Against Sarah Palin!

Drill, Drill, Drill

As election day get closer, the possibility of having Sarah Palin as our next VP, or worse yet, our next President, becomes less of a joke and more of a reality.

The following letter was written by Eve Ensler, (Playwright/Performer/Activist and award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues) and posted on www.huffingtonpost.com, it sums up many of my own fears and I felt compelled to share it.


"I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, 'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?"

Sarah Palin Action Figures Now Available

Does anyone really want to see Sarah Palin's bare midriff? Well, if your answer is yes, now you can at HeroBuilders.com.

In their newest line of offbeat action figures, Sarah Palin can be purchased for a little under $30, with your choice of a businesswoman, a superhero or a schoolgirl. (a school girl version with a 40+ year face on it...yikes!)

The Palin action figures have only been on the market for about a week, and the phone will not stopped ringing at Herobuilders.com.

“I don’t think I’ve slept more than six hours since Sunday,” says Emil Vicale, the owner of the small company in Oxford, Conn.

And for those of you who may be interested, Herobuilders.com is working on a Joe Biden figure, but already has a Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain figure.

Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin

Actress Gina Gershon nails a Sarah Palin impression in the second of a series of FunnyOrDie's political ads starring high-profile celeberties.

Check it out!