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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE October 24, 2008 •

www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

letterstotheeditors

Obama, McCain distinctions are clear To the Editors:

In an October 10 article, "Palin and Biden have same idea for full marriage: No" Eric Resnick states that the question about marriage at the vice presidential debate "blurred the distinction between the campaigns for many with regard to LGBT rights." I would like to help Mr. Resnick and, by his assertion, the "many" in our community who may be questioning which ticket will offer true leadership on LGBT issues. There is no blurriness, the distinctions are quite clear.

While it is true, and unfortunate, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not support full marriage (the same position held by Hillary Clinton and the other leading Democratic primary candidates, except Dennis Kucinich), Obama supports civil unions with equal federal benefits for same-sex couples.

While this position stops short of full marriage equality, it is far ahead of what McCain and Palin would ever even consider. Obama and Biden are in favor of

Gay Games

Continued from page 1

public transportation system. He then introduced Mayor Frank Jackson's chief of staff, Ken Silliman.

Silliman pointed to the Euclid Corridor, for which the city is currently seeking tenants, noting that it would be a "wonderful greeting environment" for athletes from across the globe.

He also cited the "walkable and compact downtown" as a major draw for the city.

David Gilbert, the president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, threw his organization's weight behind the effort.

"There's so much programming that can take place that would make Cleveland a better place for having hosted it," he said of the Gay Games' sporting competition and the cultural festival that surrounds it.

Positively Cleveland vice president Sharon Kobayashi also endorsed the endeavor. Positively Cleveland is the city's convention and visitors bureau.

All three organizations offered letters of

Gay-baiting

Continued from page 3

When contacted for this report, Schlichter said, "Your readers have nothing to do with my district" and hung up the phone.

Ohio Republican Party officials are refusing to comment, too, as they are in the suburban Columbus 22nd District, where they also paid for anti-LGBT mailings.

That open race is to replace Republican incumbent Jim Hughes. It is another seat where Republicans are having more trouble than they expected.

Republican Mike Keenan, an insurance salesman and Dublin city councilor, is touting his "faith in God" and belief in "strong values" as the reason why he should defeat Democrat John Carney, an attorney.

Carney is endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio and the Equality Ohio Campaign Fund.

"Our families are the bedrock of society," says Keenan's campaign literature. "Michael Keenan will strengthen families by keeping marriage between a man and a woman."

Keenan also claims that he will "make sure our government maintains respect for our Creator." He did not respond to requests for comment.

With both a marriage ban law and constitutional amendment in place, it is not clear what either candidate could do to further limit marriage. But an adoption ban bill, stopped in 2006 by House Speaker Jon Husted, could return in a new form.

repealing the Defense of Marriage Actwhich McCain voted for in 1996 and are against all efforts to amend state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage. They also voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In addition, Obama and Biden support full adoption rights for same-sex couples.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the clear choice for a better future for LGBT families, while John McCain and Sarah Palin merely offer their "tolerance."

Family issues are not the only ones where the distinction is clear.

One of the most overlooked and possibly most important areas of distinction for the LGBT community is the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama and Biden support the appointment of fair-minded justices to the court. This is critical for marriage equality as well as many other issues facing the LGBT community.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also fight to repeal the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a discriminatory law that should never have been passed. Obama and Biden support a fully-inclusive Employ-

support for the Cleveland Synergy Foundation to take with them to the Gay Games annual meeting, this week in Cape Town, South Africa.

Anderson and Tavolier are attending the meeting, speaking on behalf of Cleveland's bid.

Anderson noted the volleyball league's North Coast Invasion tournament and the rotating Midwest Invitational Softball Tournament as examples of the LGBT community's embrace of sporting events.

Gilbert noted that the city has already hosted the Children's Games, the Gravity Games, the AST Dew Tour, NCAA Women's Final Four and will host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships next year and the Senior Games in 2013.

Following a question about the city's image with LGBT people nationally, Anderson pointed to North Coast Invasion and MIST.

However, neither he nor Kobayashi noted that the city also hosted an annual convention for the international gay square dancing association this year, the National Assocation of People with AIDS and the

Schlichter was not a co-sponsor of the 2006 bill to "prohibit an adoptive or foster child from being placed in the private residence of a homosexual, bisexual, or transgender person."

Ray Pryor

Supporte lay i loption,

At the time, however, it was understood that more palatable parts of State Rep. Ron Hood's proposal could come up later.

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tn, Teli Kay Pryor

Phat Chiligan Deserve The Best

vo Liberal Bay Pryor supports gay adoption,

RAY PRYOR: Re-defining the American Family

Husted is term limited out of the House and did not return calls for comment. As the leader of the Republican caucus, he oversees how campaign money is spent.

Husted's former chief of staff Scott Borgemenke is now the chief Republican strategist, charged with winning House races. Borgemenke did not return calls for this

ment Non-Discrimination Act, protecting hard-working LGBT people, and passage of the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act, strengthening the law to fight these horrible acts against our community. The Obama/ Biden administration will develop and implement a comprehensive national HIV and AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies a strategy will reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. John McCain and Sarah Palin stand in opposition to all of these efforts.

Each presidential election brings us a more inclusive candidate and a candidate that is an even stronger leader on LGBT issues than the last. Barack Obama is by far the most supportive of LGBT issues of any other nominee of either party-ever. The track record of the two men vying for our vote is clear there is no blurring the distinction between Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin. A vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden is a vote for a flourishing future for the LGBT community.

Pad by

John Farina Lakewood, Ohio

National Association of Black and White Men Together.

In addition, the Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend, which will hold its eighth gathering next April, is one of the premier leather events in the country, and consistently brings international visitors to the city.

This year's leather weekend filled two large downtown hotels, and the overflow took up many rooms in two more.

The first step in the process of securing the Gay Games, sending in letters of intent, has already taken place. So far, Cleveland is joined by Boston and Miami.

Before the last British election, a number of London's mayoral candidates said that bringing the Gay Games there in 2014 was a priority, but the victory of conservative candidate Boris Johnson brought a far less gay-friendly face into power, and no committee has yet presented a bid from the U.K. capital.

Final bids are due on March 1, and Federation of Gay Games officials are expected to visit Cleveland next summer to begin assessing the possibilities.

report either, but told the Columbus Dispatch, "We didn't need to run the [gaybaiting] ad last time," referring to Schlichter's victory over Pryor two years ago.

"Nobody wants to use it. I don't like it," Borgemenke said. Ohio Republican Party spokesperson Scott McClelland also refused to comment.

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In January, McClelland told the Gay People's Chronicle the GOP was planning to "do a better job reaching out to the LGBT community."

"We're not attempting to drive wedges between communities," McClelland said then.

One of the written questions to McClelland for this story was, "What changed?"

Democrats were not quiet, how-

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ever.

Governor Ted Strickland told an October 13 Chillicothe rally that Borgemenke is "behind all these ads."

"It is not good to have these negative attacks used to divide people and to divert attention away from the things that really matter," Strickland said. Democratic House Caucus spokesperson Scarlett Bouder called the ads a "shameful response and one that reflects the GOP is choosing to scrape the bottom of the barrel instead of solutions to challenges that people are facing, like jobs and the economy."

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