Candidate Will Stand Up For LGBT Community
Submitted by Quilljunky on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 9:44pm
With my birthday looming ahead at the end of this week, I've found myself looking back over my youth and the adventures I've both willingly and not-so-willingly participated in over the years. I've also been spending quite a bit of time analyzing my personality. Turns out, I'm a fighter. I stand up for what I feel needs changing.
In early high school, I stood up against skateboarding harassment. In college, I protested war and publicly spoke against a same-sex marriage amendment. Ideally sitting by and nonchalantly watching the world pass has not worked well for me. If you want something changed, you fight for it.
That inner fighter has led me to volunteer this winter and spring with the Cal Cunningham for U.S. Senate campaign. I want to see my state represented by an individual who will actually care about his constituents - their jobs, their education, their environment and their civil rights.
Last week, I attended Triad Pride in Greensboro on behalf of the Cal Cunningham campaign. The rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals are of utmost importance to me because I have a close LGBT family member.
I truly believe that Cal will stand up for the rights of LGBT individuals unlike current senator Richard Burr and his House replacement, Virginia Foxx. Both individuals voted against the Matthew Shepard Act. Had Mr. Cunningham been in the U.S. Senate when it came time to vote for or against this important measure of hate-crime legislation, he would have supported it.
Cal Cunningham has been vocal about his stances on equality and civil rights elsewhere. As an Iraq War veteran and military prosecutor, Cal feels that discrimination should not play a role in our military. America's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy has cost our country the service of more than 13,000 members merely because of questions of sexual orientation. Cal has stated that the DADT Policy is "inconsistent with America's values and our military's values."
Beyond the modern problem of discrimination in national service, there also remains the disturbing issue of workplace discrimination in private business. As Senator, Cal Cunningham will make it a priority to uphold the rights of individuals from all walks of life to live and work free of oppression. This includes supporting legislation that criminalizes actions that negatively, and disproportionately, impact LGBT individuals in hiring and promotion.
Progressive Americans should unite in our politics and elect a representative who will fight for the rights of individuals regardless of their sexual orientation. Today, shouldn't voting for everyone to have civil rights be second nature? You would think no one would want their fellow man oppressed.
Since Senator Burr supports discrimination against LGBT Americans, let's take a step in the right direction by electing an individual who will always stand up for everyone's civil rights.
That individual is Cal Cunningham.
Great points
I think you've made some really solid points, and that you are right about the need to take action when we want to see change, rather than just waiting for it to happen.
I think Cal is a wonderful candidate for a variety of reasons, including his stances on LGBT equality issues, on Voter Owned Elections, and others and would be a vast improvement over Burr.
I think Elaine would be a great improvement over Burr as well, and due to a number of reasons including her willingness to take on DOMA repeal & UAFA publicly on her website, I ended up casting my vote for her.
As an Elaine voter, I recognize the positives of Cal's candidacy and I plan to fully support him if he wins the primary runoff, and I'd ask that you take a similar stand on supporting Elaine if she wins the primary. And I imagine, based on this statement, you will be willing to take such stand:
In the end, if we want to see positive change, it will take not only action, but a coalition of those willing to act, so I think we need to focus on building the bridges now it will take to unite those supporting both campaigns come this time next week.
You're right!
Thank you so much for reading the blog and for your comment. I, of course, will support Elaine Marshall against Richard Burr if she wins the nomination tonight. I appreciate your opinion! Thanks again.
Cal's actions do not support this assertion
Actions and assertions two different things
Former senator Cunningham has been shown (even here on BlueNC) to not act on this very item.
No matter what a candidate tells you on the campaign trail, look at their past actions.
You’re right to look at
the track record, not just the campaign trail. But I also recognize that NC politicians with perfect records on LGBT equality issues are too few and far between, and that there is a very real need to help those who are running to become able allies through education, advocacy, and support.
I'm still willing to extend some faith to Cal and his team, and to try to work with them to craft better stance on LGBT equality issues.
Same letter
This same letter was featured in the Lexington Dispatch with the campaign worker's name attached: http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20100615/LETTERS/6154033?Title=Candi...
Just wanted to point it out.
As usual, I am not affiliated with any campaign.
Yup.
Yes, that's my letter-to-the-editor in The Dispatch. I wanted to post my writing as a blog to spread the message to a larger readership.
Thanks for reading!
Cal please put your UAFA stance on your website
On PamsHouseBlend Mr. Cunningham said this on April 25:
http://pamshouseblend.com/upload/liveblog/cunningham.html
I recognize the end of April was crazy with being close to the midterm, and the runoff thrown into the mix probably made things even crazier. But this statement is already out there and public so I see no reason for it not to go on your website. Both your team, Elaine's teams, and even Ken's team did updates to their LGBT sections of their websites as the campaign progressed. Here is the language the Elaine campaign used:
You could go a similar route, or just put up the sentence Cal said on Pam's House Blend. I see your website change all the time, so I know you have people working on it. This would be a good faith act to show you aren't afraid to stand up publicly for LGBT issues.