John Edwards talks with LGBT Granite Staters

John Edwards talks with LGBT Granite Staters

by Laura Kiritsy
associate editor
Thursday Nov 29, 2007
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards chatted up a small crowd of LGBT Granite Staters at the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition’s Concord headquarters on Nov. 25, an unusual move for a top-tier candidate with the state’s all-important primary just around the corner on Jan. 8. Taking a seat on a wooden chair before a group of about 25 people shortly after 5 p.m., Edwards skipped his stump speech and told the group, "I’m glad to talk about anything you want to talk about." After fielding several general questions about his universal healthcare plan, which he said would provide affordable healthcare for all individuals and families, prevent discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and create parity between medical and mental health coverage, among other things, Edwards was asked by a woman in the audience if his plan would enable transgender people to get coverage for hormone treatments. The woman explained that there is a bill currently pending in the New Hampshire legislature that would require health insurers to cover the cost of such treatments, since with few exceptions transgender patients are required to pay for them out of their own pockets."I’ve never been asked [about that], but I’m for it," said Edwards. He later added, "It’s equality."Immediately after that, the discussion turned to Edwards’ position on legal protections for same-sex couples when another woman asked the former North Carolina senator to "explain how it is that you don’t support gay marriage but you believe in parity for all the federal benefits that gays are not currently eligible for?""Yes. Can I explain? Not well," he acknowledged with a laugh, which in turn drew chuckles from the audience. As he has stated before, Edwards said he does not personally support gay marriage though it’s been a source of internal conflict for him. "Secondly, I do believe though that the substantive rights that are available to heterosexual couples should be available to all couples and that’s why I’m for civil unions, and I am for the federal government recognizing and making available every single right" under federal law to same-sex couples. "That’s why I think DOMA was wrong when it was enacted and I think it’s wrong today and I will do everything in my power to get the Defense of Marriage Act eliminated. It’s why I will end ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ on the first day I’m in office. Because I think those things are overtly discriminatory," said Edwards. When pressed by another audience member to explain what he sees as the distinction between marriage and civil unions, Edwards said again, "Not well," adding, "I’ve been asked this a thousand times. I think that from my perspective, first of all, I’m not opposed to any state recognizing the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. I’m not opposed to that at all. Second, I think that a lot of this is whether a particular faith decides to recognize gay and lesbian couples as being married in their church, in their faith, and I think that those are decisions that ought to be made by them, not by me." Edwards added that despite his personal view, "I don’t think it’s right for me to impose that view on the rest of America. I’ve said publicly many times, nobody made me God and I don’t think I am or claim to be. I don’t think I’ve been imbued with some great wisdom about this. I think this is an issue about which there’s a lot of disagreement but there’s also ... a great deal of consensus." His responsibility, said Edwards, "is to move America forward" on the issue as best he can.
When a man in the audience continued to press the issue, Edwards acknowledged that his position on legal protections for same-sex couples may seem inconsistent. "I’m being as honest as I can," he said of his continued opposition to marriage rights. "I don’t think you’re going to find any consistency, I might add, among the other Democratic presidential candidates ... I think they’re all in the same place."Asked how he planned to build consensus to repeal DOMA and "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," in light of the fact that passing pro-gay legislation through Congress has proven all but impossible, Edwards told Bay Windows, "I think the way to build consensus is to speak to America about this. America’s not for discrimination. America’s for equality and they’re for fairness. And I think if this is presented to Americans the right way they’ll respond in a positive way and I think that’s the way you build consensus."And how would a President Edwards make the case to America? The candidate predicts it won’t be too difficult. "I think that most people will say that gay and lesbian couples should be treated fairly and equally and they should not be discriminated against," said Edwards. "And I think most Americans would be for that and I think that these things we’re talking about accomplish that."As for repealing "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" on his first day in office, Edwards noted that as Commander in Chief, the president can make such decisions. "’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ was put in by a president," he observed, "and the president of the United States can stop it and that’s exactly what I’ll do." Acknowledging that repealing the military’s gay ban may be harder than it sounds, Edwards added with a grin, "Realistically can I do it on the first day? I don’t know. But I’ll do it early."Edwards was the third candidate to visit the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry office. Democratic contender Dennis Kucinich spoke to the group on Nov. 20; Bill Richardson dropped in earlier this year. Mary Hillier of Georges Falls, who has yet to settle on a candidate, said she found Edwards "very personable; obviously, very charismatic." Asked if she was impressed with Edwards’s positions on LGBT issues, she replied, "He seems pretty standard fare for everybody in the Democratic Party."But Freedom to Marry Executive Director Mo Baxley, who has stayed neutral in the race as she has sought to corral all of the candidates to visit her group’s office, said that with little differences between the Democratic candidates on issues like ENDA, hate crimes and civil unions, candidates can distinguish themselves by making the time to speak to New Hampshire’s LGBT community. "I think how you run a campaign is reflective of what your administration will look like," observes Baxley, who is also a New Hampshire state representative. "So it’s kind of reading between the lines - it’s like, are gays and lesbians a priority in New Hampshire that you’re going to find time in your schedule to come and speak to them?" "I think it says something about their campaigns and who really wants to speak to real New Hampshire voters who are New Hampshire citizens, who are leaders in New Hampshire’s gay and lesbian community and who wants to make a slick mailing," said Baxley.