Democrats are gay (friendly)

In the Uncomfortable Silences department, six of the eight Democratic candidates for president participated last Thursday in a two-hour forum on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues sponsored by MTV’s LOGO Network and the Human Rights Campaign (Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd were unable to attend, due to “prior engagements”).

The forum, held in Los Angeles and attended by Rex Lee from HBO’s “Entourage” and the tall chick from “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” was moderated by journalist Margaret Carlson and featured a panel made up of Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, HRC President Joe Solomonese and lesbian extraordinaire, Melissa Etheridge. Rather than using the traditional debate format, the organizers decided instead to pick the candidates off one by one in 15-minute segments. Needless to say, the Republican candidates all declined a similar invitation because, well, they hate gay people. Here are a few observations:

-Not to stereotype, but was this the most stylish debate so far? I think so.

-I love that whenever Barack Obama said something about the civil rights movement, the producers cut to black people. Way to be culturally sensitive, LOGO.

-John Edwards is sleazy. I don’t know if it’s the smooth Southern accent or the boyish good looks, but Edwards strikes me as the kind of guy who used to “run out of gas” a lot on dates. I guess it’s about par for the course for a personal injuries lawyer with a $400 haircut, but I had to keep looking down to make sure his hand wasn’t sneaking up MY skirt, and I don’t even wear skirts. I wear pants.

-It turns out that Dennis Kucinich is something of a god in the gay community – the panelists told him that he was “evolved” so many times I thought he was going to start moving things with his mind. He’s also really short.

-Mike Gravel hasn’t been an elected official in 26 years, which makes me wonder what in the hell suddenly possessed him to run for president. That being said, I’m glad he did because this race was in dire need of a cranky old man who wants to decriminalize drugs.

-Bill Richardson was so uncomfortable it made me sort of uncomfortable, and I was watching on my computer. My favorite part of the debate was when he told Melissa Etheridge that he thinks being gay is a choice, and she had to ask if he had understood the question because that was so clearly the wrong answer.

-I’m not a big Hillary Clinton fan but she is looking kind of sexy these days, with her coral pantsuits and low-cut tops. She better watch herself around Edwards…

All kidding aside, I’m glad that the Democrats are finally stepping up to the plate on the gay marriage issue (well, sort of – only Gravel and Kucinich actually support gay marriages, while the rest support “civil unions” with full marriage rights), rather than letting the Republicans just shove it down their throats. I’m not sure why people are so scared of gay people getting married but, then again, I’m pretty much terrified of the concept of marriage in general, so I guess I’m not really one to talk.

The debate airs again Monday at 7 on Logo, and you can watch it in full here: http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com/2007/08/10/video-the-presidential-forum/


Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/08/10/cq_3261.html