A national LGBT
group is showing concern over a move that would instate
former congressman Harold Ford Jr. as chairman of the
Democratic Leadership Council. The current chairman,
former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, announced he was
stepping down and would be replaced by Ford.
National
Stonewall Democrats executive director Joanne Wyrick said
Ford lacks leadership and judgment on issues needed to
push the DLC forward.
"His willingness
to lightly amend the U.S. Constitution and to exploit
gay families for political gain should alarm Democrats
across the country," she said in a press release. "The
Democratic Leadership Council is in need of leadership
that supports and affirms all American families."
According to the
NSD release, Ford has backed the proposed constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage, civil unions, and
domestic partnerships.
On Ford's 2006
campaign Web site, the Senate hopeful stated that he would
"continue to be pro-family, including supporting a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union
between a man and a woman, without taking away the
civil rights of gays and lesbians."
Writing for the
DLC's magazine, Blueprint, the former
congressman stated that the Democrats' win in Congress was
because the election was won on ideas and not
ideology. In the article, he calls same-sex marriage a
"traditional wedge" issue like abortion and gun
control that has "plagued our party in recent elections."
Ford was a
representative in Tennessee, where he was elected to four
consecutive terms. He sought Tennessee's U.S. Senate seat
but lost to Bob Corker in a close race. (The
Advocate)