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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination this week in Denver, days after naming Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. The convention saw a record number of openly gay delegates, 277 out of 4,400. (Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: JOSHUA LYNSEN COMMENTS
 
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her big speech and all the media were following her around, she came to an LGBT event,” said Michael Huerta, a 22-year-old gay delegate from New Mexico. “That’s pretty cool.”
Huerta, a former Republican who switched parties in December, said he also appreciated the political risk Michelle Obama took by appearing at the luncheon.
“Even though we’re in the general election and the right is out to get her and her husband, she still showed up,” he said. “That more than anything is what impressed me.”
Gays ‘critical’ to election
Many other speakers joined Michelle Obama in asking gay Democrats to recommit themselves to political engagement at the national and local levels.
Alice Germond, the convention’s secretary, told gays at the LGBT Americans Caucus meeting Monday that their support could be key in deciding whether battleground states go red or blue in November.
“You will make that critical difference,” she told the crowd. “That one percent, that two percent, that three percent that we so often win states by — and you know that. And that one percent, that two percent, could well mean the difference in target states all over this country. And not just to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden — and we will elect them — but also we shall re-elect governors, senators, members of Congress, so that we don’t have the kind of hateful legislation proposed that we have seen in the last four and eight years. We will change that.”
Tim Gill, the wealthy and notoriously reclusive gay founder of Gill Action Fund, asked caucus members to join him in helping anti-gay politicians find new jobs.
“Rick Santorum was a wonderful example of a man who needed a change in career,” he said to laughter and applause. “All of us banded together to make it happen. And there are thousands of people in this nation that are really in need of a new career.”
Gill told the convention’s 275 openly gay delegates they were right to push for change at the national level. But the man who’s poured millions into the campaigns of pro-gay state legislators said change must also be sought at the local level.
“By doing it at the local level, you give the national politicians the courage to realize that they can get elected again, voting pro-gay,” he said. “They don’t have to be afraid of being pro-gay. They can actually stand up and take a vote on gay people’s rights and it’s not a career-ending move.”
Gill noted that he did not begrudge the gay delegates enjoying the receptions and parties thrown for them this week in Denver.
“This week is fun, it’s important,” he said. “But what
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