We are fortunate to have two candidates with a record of supporting
gay rights running for the Democratic nomination.

Unfortunately, there has been an underhanded smear campaign waged to
portray one of them, Senator Barack Obama, as anti-gay. Besides the
sheer wrongness of painting a friend of LGBT rights this way, I think
it is important to reject divide-and-conquer politics rooted in
distortion. Let us set the facts straight (so to speak).

Both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton received the exact same score
from the Human Rights Campaign in the most recent congress. In his
time in the Illinois State Senate, Senator Obama was also known as a
friend of LGBT rights.

Senator Obama has worked for expanded hate crimes statutes. He
supports civil unions with rights equal to anything called "marriage."
He has promised to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and opposed both
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Unlike Senator Clinton, he was never a part of making "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell," and the Defense of Marriage Act part of American Law. As
Melissa Etheridge said of the Clinton administration, whose record
Senator Clinton is running on, "We were thrown under the bus. We were
pushed aside. All those great promises that were made to us were
broken."

Senator Obama has taken a relentless beating from some in our
community for having had an "ex-gay" minister, Donnie McClurkin, speak
at campaign events. Not only has Senator Obama specifically repudiated
and disagreed with the minister's views on LGBT rights, but at the
very same event, he was joined on stage by the openly gay Rev. Andy
Sidden. Senator Obama has shown an ability to bring together gay
activists and anti-gay religious leaders together on common issues,
and is committed to promoting an open, honest, and civil dialogue.

Senator Clinton has accepted the endorsement and donations of
prominent anti-gay ministers Eddie Long and Harold Mayberry, even
publicly praising the latter for his "commitment to civil rights and
equality." She has never specifically repudiated or disagreed with
her anti-gay supporters. It's true that you'll never agree 100% with
all of your supporters, but for Senator Clinton, there is no dialogue,
just trying to be all things to all people.

So let us be clear. We have two avowedly pro-gay rights candidates
running for the nomination. They both have had their moments we may
disagree with, but both have a strong voting record in the Senate. Let
there be no further distortion of the record by partisans of one or
the other.

So vote this primary season, and if gay rights are a big part of your
decision, keep in mind the history of these candidates, including who
is more likely to bring moderates and republicans around to a more
progressive position, and is more likely to stick to their
commitments, rather than abandon them to political expediency.