Open letters from 26 gay men and lesbians.
Dear President-elect Obama,
Your election as president represents the most profound sense of hope and promise that our community has experienced in decades. For LGBT Americans, the years of Congress and an administration working against us -- literally working to enshrine discrimination into the Constitution -- have come to a close. Our years in the wilderness are over -- and this really is a change we can believe in.
On many occasions throughout this campaign you took the opportunity to directly confront homophobia before religious leaders, and you openly condemned the role that stigma based on sexual orientation continues to play in fueling the devastating spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly within minority communities. You even took that message to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. King once stood and called for equality, and declared, “We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them.”
When you appeared at our Logo/HRC Foundation presidential forum on LGBT issues in August 2007, you reaffirmed your commitment to the LGBT community. You acknowledged that our community’s fight for equality is part of what prompted you to get involved in politics. During that forum you told us, “It’s the job of the president to talk about these issues in ways that encourage people to recognize themselves in each other.”
We know you face enormous challenges on critical issues that affect everyone in our country. The magnitude of those challenges cannot be overstated. You face the daunting task of putting our country back on the right track.
We look forward to working with you during the transition period and, as your administration begins, working to put America on a better path. For us, that path means full equality. You can rely on us to help build the support for strong policy that will improve the daily lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Congratulations, President-elect Obama. We are ready to work with you on the challenges that lie ahead.
Truly,
Joe Solmonese
President of the Human Rights Campaign
More Letters to the President-elect:
Tammy Baldwin, Democratic member of Congress from Wisconsin
Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day
Evan Wolfson, Executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry
Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign
Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter
Michelangelo Signorile, radio host and author of Queer in America
Tammy Bruce, radio talk-show host and author of The New American Revolution
Kenji Yoshino, professor at New York University School of Law and the author of Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
Vestal McIntyre, author of You Are Not the One and the forthcoming Lake Overturn
Jarrett Lucas, codirector of the 2008 Soulface Q Equality Ride
Michael Lowenthal, author of Charity Girl and Avoidance
Suzanne Westenhoefer, comedian and star of the documentary A Bottom on Top
Jim Buzinski, CEO and cofounder of Outsports.com
Perez Hilton, blogger, radio host, and television personality
Carole Midgen, former California state senator
Pam Spaulding, Durham, N.C.-based blogger
Paris Barclay, Executive Producer/Director HBO’s In Treatment
Lorri L. Jean, CEO, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Jeffrey Prang, Mayor of West Hollywood
Jorge Valencia, Executive director and CEO of Point Foundation
Mark Leno, California assemblyman
The Reverend Doctor Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator emeritus, Metropolitan Community Churches\
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Donna Rose, transgender activist
Peter Tatchell, LGBT human rights campaigner and spokesman for OutRage!
Rachel B. Tiven, Executive Director, Immigration Equality
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