Gay Presidential Debate Should be broad in scope

I was very excited to learn that there would be, for the first time, an entire presidential debate dedicated to GLBT issues. Kudos to HRC and LOGO for pulling this together.

The event will air live on the gay network LOGO on August 9th. Already Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich have confirmed their attendance.

There is already some controversy over this event regarding which candidates have been invited and whether or not Melissa Etheridge is the best person to be asking questions at the debate. Although that is interesting to me, I don't really care about that right now. I just want to pause and think about what an important event this will be.

GLBT people from all over the world may see this as a beacon of the kind of political power our community is beginning to harness. I hope one day, however, that the Republican candidates would be eager enough to embark on such an endeavor. But hey, one step at a time.

My hunch is that there will not be a significant difference between most of the viable Democratic candidates. Clearly some of them are willing to go further on the question of marriage equality, but their attitudes are mostly aligned. The real question is, who has integrity and who will fight for GLBT equality.

I think this debate will be about style, reputation and cultural competency. People will be able to read the body language of these candidates to tell who is most comfortable with this. I also think it would be smart for the candidates to tell personal stories and anecdotes about their record on this issue and loved ones that are GLBT.

Most of all I hope that people do not dwell on marriage for most of the debate. There are many more issues affecting our community including issues that don't appear GLBT on their face like the REAL ID Act and access to health care. These candidates should not expect to only be asked questions about GLBT issues. They should be asked to articulate the interconnectedness of other progressive positions with GLBT issues and give our community a vision we can fight for.

I will blog about the debate after it occurs to flesh out my thoughts. Our community should be galvanized behind someone sooner than later.