Sen. Harry Reid's move to have Senate vot on gay and immigratn issu uld backfire on him sce appears to have further disappoted his base. Also, may have further fired up his opposn.
Contents:
- HARRY REID SAYS HE SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
- EASTENRS GAY KISS: HARRY REID 'UPSET' AT HOMOPHOBIC REACTN TO BEN MCHELL AND PL COKER SCENE
- REID CHANG STANCE, BACKS GAY MARRIAGE
- SEN. HARRY REID'S GAY RIGHTS, IMMIGRATN BOOMERANG?
HARRY REID SAYS HE SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
When Republins blocked a vote on Obama’s feral judicial nome, cludg an openly gay nomee, Reid simply forced the vote. Who else uld have been a vout Mormon, yet eventually prs for gay marriage, even speakg at a gay staffer’s weddg? In September, Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young ma news when he urged tolerance and acceptance of the LGBT muny at a nference for gay acrdg to The New York Tim, Hatch cid to support ENDA part through nversatns wh former Sen.
The srerd rat members of Congrs on their posns on LGBT-related Human Rights Campaign is Ameri’s largt civil rights anizatn workg to achieve lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr equaly. Washgton • Senate Majory Lear Harry Reid says gay Amerins should be able to get married, a new posn that shows Print Barack Obama isn't the only polician whose views are evolvg.
Ernment and up until now has said he agre wh his fah's opposn to gay marriage, but on Wednday, Reid aligned himself wh Obama's newfound embrace for the legalizatn of same-sex unns. On Thursday, reporters asked Reid if he would vote to legalize same sex marriage if was on the ballot Nevada and he nodd y, even though he prevly voted for the state's nstutnal ban on gay marriage.
EASTENRS GAY KISS: HARRY REID 'UPSET' AT HOMOPHOBIC REACTN TO BEN MCHELL AND PL COKER SCENE
Reid's stance is far om the stated posn of the LDS Church, which nsirs homosexual behavr a s and has repeatedly mpaigned agast attempts to sanctn same-sex relatnships, though recent years has supported polil efforts to provi some legal protectns to gay people. " On more than one ocsn, Reid has found his views on issu surroundg gay marriage partg om those of his fah, not that this would any way threaten his standg the church.
" Church lears have argued the legalizatn of gay marriage would unrme the centuri-old stutn sanctned by God. Wickman said the argument that gay marriag have no effect on heterosexual marriag is "the ultimate sophistry of those advotg same-genr marriage.
It was jt one example of Reid takg a posn on gay issu that ran unter to his fah. In 2009, Reid told gay activists a private meetg that he thought the LDS Church should have stayed out of Proposn 8 fight California, the ballot measure that banned gay marriage, bee the public relatns backlash hurt missnary efforts. " Dpe the differenc, Reid voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, the feral law that regniz marriage as between a man and a woman and allows stat to ignore gay marriag sanctned other stat.
REID CHANG STANCE, BACKS GAY MARRIAGE
And he also voted for Nevada's nstutnal amendment banng gay marriage. Jim Mathon, D-Utah, who uld not be reached for ment earlier, said Thursday he feels no need to revis his views on gay marriage, which he says e om his Mormon fah and nversatns wh Utahns. Amid the crowd of some 1, 400 people gathered at the California Science Center was a handful of activists om a recently formed pro-LGBT direct actn group lled group’s members were trated wh the Whe Hoe’s foot-draggg on gay issu, particularly after the many promis Obama had ma to LGBT Amerins on the mpaign trail 2008.
Repealg the ary’s ban on openly lbian and gay service members, a 17-year-old law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” was foremost on their mds. Obama, flummoxed, stepped away om the podium and out of ame om the meras entirely to privately ask Boxer how she had voted on the gay ban the early ’90s. Natnal Democrats need gay support both at the ballot box and to le their fundraisg ffers, but they had also grown wary of hot-button LGBT issu that had given Republins a divisive cudgel to wield the last several electn cycl.
SEN. HARRY REID'S GAY RIGHTS, IMMIGRATN BOOMERANG?
For that reason, natnal Democrats had veloped a hab of urtg gay voters durg electn season while liverg next to nothg for them once the vot were unted. But wh the benef of hdsight, ’s difficult to image the high urt liverg that cisn whout at least some monstratn of pro-gay polil will servg as a down payment on those eedoms.
From Bill Clton’s ial handlg of the ary’s gay ban to John Kerry’s bungled handlg of the 2004 state gay marriage bans and his subsequent loss the printial race, Democrats perceived polil battl over gay rights as stg them a lot wh ltle to no payoff. Not long after Obama’s guratn, the Whe Hoe announced planned to work wh the ary to study the issue of repealg “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” which purportedly allowed gays to serve as long as they hid their sexualy. Whatever might happen on the gay ban, wasn’t gog to happen quickly and probably not for a year or even more.