Well, this is an interesting turn of events!
Sen. Clinton now pledges to smash down civil rights barriers for gay men and Lesbians, promising to sledgehammer everything from "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to discriminatory immigration policy.
Whoa!
Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy.
Clinton said states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts are extending rights to gay couples "and the federal government should recognize that and should extend the same access to federal benefits across the board. I will very much work to achieve that."
...
Clinton also said she would ... Eliminate her husband's policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. Asked if she could do so by a signing order connected to a military appropriations bill, Clinton said she didn't think that is possible but she would look into it and do it if it were legal.
I hope that Barack Obama, who declined to be interviewed by the leading Philadelphia gay newspaper, will rise up and meet Sen. Clinton on some of these positions.
As a gay person, I'm actually a bit uncomfortable with someone campaigning for president on civil rights promises to me. I don't think that I can explain this to someone who is not part of a minority group, but ... There is a lot at stake here and when these promises are later broken, it sets us back further than if they were never made. I don't expect any top-down action from the president when it comes to my civil rights for quite some time.
So, in this sense, I would not require Barack Obama to make similar statements, but I hope that Sen. Clinton's pledges here work to "mainstream" these kind of positions for all of our elected officials, including Sen. Obama, if he is our next president. (And, even if he is not.)