I’ve been following the race for the US presidency fairly closely and I am thrilled that it looks like the next president will be a Democrat… fingers crossed.
The problem I’ve had is deciding which candidate I want to win. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? And so I thought, what is the one issue that is most important for America to evolve? The most important thing is human rights and, more specifically, the one area that the US has always ignored is gay-rights.
The LGBT community is the last group of people in society who are still routinely discriminated against and treated like second-class citizens. In the US they still do not allow gay marriage in most states. Same-sex partners are not given equal rights as straight couples and some states don’t even let gay couples adopt.
America is the most powerful country in the world and everything they do sets the standard for the rest of the world. If they equalize rights for all, the rest of the world will begin to follow suit and that is why it is so crucial to have a president who believes everyone is equal.
It seems both Obama and Clinton want to make a change. For the first time ever, the candidates are actually reaching out to the LGBT community and both Obama and Clinton have sections on their websites dedicated to gay Americans. And both Obama and Clinton have released open letters to the gay community detailing the change they hope to make for gay Americans including making away with the “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
For the last eight years Republicans have been in the Whitehouse. Republicans have disgracefully suppressed the gay community throughout American history. Vice-President Dick Cheney, whose own daughter is a lesbian, repeatedly voted against gay marriage is the US.
In the US 40 states have laws banning same sex marriage. Gay marriage became legal in Canada on July 20th, 2005. I remember the day very clearly. We were unsure if the law would pass and Carlos and I were scared of what might happen. It’s moments like that that remind me of how proud I am to be a Canadian. I couldn’t imagine living in a country that thought that my love was illegitimate or that I was a second-class citizen. Oh Canada!
So to all you Americans, I ask you to do your research and vote for change! And do not vote for this guy!
