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CHRIS JOHNSON
Friday, August 15, 2008
As
the
Democratic
National
Convention
fast
approaches,
former
supporters
of
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton’s
presidential
campaign
are
joining
Sen.
Barack
Obama’s
gay
steering
and
policy
committee.
Among
the
most
prominent
new
members
of
Obama’s
campaign
is
U.S.
Rep.
Tammy
Baldwin
(D-Wisc.),
the
only
openly
lesbian
member
of
Congress.
The
Obama
campaign
recently
invited
Baldwin
to
join
the
committee
as
co-chair
alongside
sitting
chair
Tobias
Wolff,
a
law
professor
at
the
University
of
Pennsylvania.
Baldwin
served
as
the
head
of
Clinton’s
gay
steering
committee
during
the
senator’s
bid
for
the
presidency.
Baldwin
told
the
Blade
that
she
was
interested
in
joining
Obama’s
committee
because
“the
contrast
is
stark”
between
Obama
and
Republican
presidential
hopeful
John
McCain
on
gay
issues.
“It
matters
to
LGBT
people
in
America
who
wins
the
next
election,”
she
said.
Baldwin
said
she
feels
“a
special
role”
in
communicating
the
difference
between
Obama
and
McCain
to
the
gay
voters
—
and
highlighting
this
contrast
will
be
a
primary
goal
of
Obama’s
committee.
The
committee
currently
has
about
100
members
and
is
still
growing.
An
expanded
roster
is
expected
to
be
announced
at
the
Democratic
convention
at
the
end
of
this
month.
Wolff
said
the
committee
consists
of
“community
leaders
and
people
with
substantive
expertise
on
LGBT
issues.”
The
policy
committee
was
formed
in
June
2007,
but
was
recently
renamed
the
steering
and
policy
committee
with
the
shift
in
focus
to
the
general
election.
Wolff
said
the
committee
provides
policy
input
to
the
Obama
campaign
on
gay
issues
and
alerts
the
campaign
to
important
events
and
state
and
local
developments.
In
a
letter
published
Aug.
6
on
the
Obama
campaign
web
site,
Baldwin
says
she
is
working
to
get
Obama
elected
as
president
because
they
both
“share
a
commitment
to
equality
for
all
Americans.”
Baldwin
emphasizes
that
she
is
working
to
elect
Obama
as
president
not
because
she
wants
to
keep
“toeing
a
party
line”
but
because
she
thinks
Obama
will
be
an
effective
leader.
Baldwin
told
the
Blade
that
if
McCain
were
elected
president,
gay
Americans
would
not
have
an
ally
in
the
White
House
and
would
“see
the
same
sort
of
impasse
on
important
issues
that
we
have
seen
for
the
last
many
years
of
Republican
control.”
Other
former
Clinton
supporters
who
have
joined
Obama’s
gay
policy
committee
include
Mandy
Carter,
a
lesbian
North
Carolina
activist;
Jesse
Garcia,
president
of
the
Dallas
Stonewall
Democrats;
and
Peter
Rosenstein,
a
gay
D.C.
activist.
Obama
campaign
spokesperson
Ben
LaBolt
said
Clinton
attracted
strong
support
from
gay
leaders
during
the
primaries.
The
Obama
campaign
is
“grateful
that
so
many
of
those
supporters
have
joined
our
efforts
to
bring
the
change
to
Washington
that
we
desperately
need,”
LaBolt
said.
Baldwin
said
Obama’s
decision
to
bring
so
many
Clinton
supporters
on
board
“is
clear
sign
of
unity
in
the
party
and
momentum
building
behind
Sen.
Obama’s
campaign.”
Not
all
the
recent
additions
to
the
gay
committee
came
from
the
Clinton
camp.
Marsha
Botzer,
a
former
co-chair
of
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force
board
of
directors,
supported
Obama
through
the
primaries.
Botzer,
who
is
transgender
and
a
Seattle-based
gender
identity
consultant,
said
she
was
interested
in
climbing
aboard
the
committee
because
Obama’s
candidacy
was
“a
historical
moment”
and
represents
“an
opportunity
for
change
not
only
for
the
LGBT
community
but
for
the
larger
community
as
well.”
Botzer
said
she
expects
an
Obama
presidency
would
bring
“the
opportunity
for
every
citizen
to
be
treated
equally.”
The
expansion
of
Obama’s
committee
is
not
the
only
recent
move
that
Obama
has
made
to
engage
gay
voters.
The
presidential
hopeful
also
expressed
a
commitment
to
gays
in
a
recent
letter
to
the
Family
Equality
Council,
an
advocacy
group
for
gay
families.
In
the
Aug.
1
letter,
Obama
says
he
intends
to
“do
more
to
support
and
strengthen
LGBT
families”
such
as
repealing
the
anti-gay
federal
Defense
of
Marriage
Act
and
extending
“equal
treatment”
in
adoption
laws.
Family
Equality
Council
also
requested
a
letter
from
McCain,
but
the
campaign
has
not
replied.
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