Dems cautious on gay issues (Logo/HRC forum) [View All]

[Newsjock]

Source: Chicago Tribune

LOS ANGELES—The leading Democratic presidential candidates struck a delicate balance Thursday evening between showing commitment to expand the rights of gay people and justifying their opposition to same-sex marriage during the campaign's first-ever televised forum focused on gay issues.

... Perhaps the most personal question of the evening was posed to Sen. Hillary Clinton by Etheridge, who told Clinton that she had felt personally hurt and abandoned by the Clintons after President Bill Clinton's inauguration.

... "We certainly didn't get as much done as I would have liked," Clinton said, "but there was a lot of honest effort."

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson waded into the contentious debate over whether homosexuality is innate or a personal choice.

When asked the question, he responded, "It's a choice."

... Like all the Democratic candidates except Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel, who both support gay marriage, Obama supports only civil unions for gay couples. He cited the need to "disentangle" the issue of legal rights for gay couples from what "has historically been the issue of the word marriage, which has religious connotations to some people."

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-debate_10aug10,1,3822021.story