We stand with Hillary

Dallas Voice issues first political endorsement in 32-year history, backing Clinton for president

Tammye Nash  |  Managing Editor
For the first time in our more than 32 years in business, Dallas Voice this week issued an endorsement in a political race when Publisher Leo Cusimano announced that the media company is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.
“Dallas Voice offers a direct and fervent endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton,” Cusimano said. “Politics is never easy, but the decision to endorse in this pivotal time is essential.”
He noted that Dallas Voice is making the endorsement in conjunction with other LGBT news media outlets in the National Gay Media Association. He also said that he, personally, is endorsing Clinton, as well.
“As publisher of Dallas Voice, I am endorsing Hillary Clinton because she is the most qualified candidate and a leader that understands our issues,” Cusimano said.
He continued, “The stakes have never been so high for our community. Our families and marriages are at risk.
We need to work together to elect the only candidate that is willing to defend our community and promote our fight for equality.
“We still have battles to fight in the name of equality, from employment nondiscrimination to transgender rights,” Cusimano said. “Hillary was a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and she celebrates diversity.
“We stand with Hillary.”
In her campaign, Clinton has pledged to “fight for full federal equality for LGBT Americans,” according to her official campaign website. She has promised to push for passage of the Equality Act, continue President Obama’s executive actions supporting equality, and support “efforts underway in the courts” to end discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation “in every aspect of public life.”
The Democratic nominee has said she will “end so-called conversion therapy” for minors, support funding for “safe and welcoming shelters” for homeless LGBT youth and “take on bullying and harassment in schools.”
She also said she would “end discriminatory treatment of LGBT families in adoptions, and protect LGBT elders against discrimination.”
Clinton has also promised to continue support open military service by LGBT people and to, as commander-in-chief, “upgrade service records of LGBT veterans dismissed due to their sexual orientation.” She said she will “fight for an AIDS-free generation,” protect transgender rights and make it easier for transgender people to change gender markers on ID documents, while also investing in more training for law enforcement, focusing on “fair and impartial policing, including in interactions with LGBT people.”
Clinton has said she will take the fight for LGBT equality to other nations, promoting LGBT human rights and making sure that America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people, including increasing the country’s investment in the Global Equality Fund to advance human rights.
As a U.S. senator representing the state of New York, Clinton supporting federal hate crimes legislation and federal employment nondiscrimination legislation, and advocated for “an end to restrictions that blocked LGBT Americans from adopting children.”
In her first campaign for the Senate, Clinton said she supported the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriage, but that “same-sex unions should be recognized and that same-sex unions should be entitled to all the rights and privileges that every other American gets,” according to Politifact.com.
In 2000, Clinton spoke in support of civil unions for same-sex couples, and in 2004, she spoke on the Senate floor against a federal constitutional amendment banning legal recognition of same-sex marriages, while at the same time defending “the sanctity of marriage” as the union of one man and one woman.
Over the years, as public opinion shifted, so did Clinton’s stance on same-sex marriage. After leaving her position as secretary of state in 2013, she publicly announced her support for same-sex marriage. And on the day the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling on marriage equality, Clinton changed her campaign logo to rainbow colors and tweeted: “Every loving couple & family deserves to be recognized & treated equally under the law across our nation. #LoveMustWin #LoveCantWait.”
As secretary of state, Clinton enforced stronger anti-discrimination regulations within the State Department, declaring on the global stage that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” She led the effort to pass the first-ever U.N. Resolution on LGBT Human Rights, launched the Global Equality Fund, ended State Department regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families equal rights, helped implement LGBT-friendly workplace policies, and updated the State Department’s policy so that transgender individuals’ passports reflect their true gender.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 16, 2016.