The Best Parts of Cheney's, Clinton's and Obama's Statements on LGBT Rights

by Michael Jones · 2009-06-01 20:50:00 UTC
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Today being the first day of Pride Month, lots of people were talking about LGBT rights.  First up was former Vice President (and waterboarding enthusiast) Dick Cheney, who spoke today at the National Press Club and used the occasion to signal his support (albeit kind of tepid support) for marriage equality.

Then came Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who issued a statement just minutes before the POTUS's press office issued a statement themselves, with President Obama signing a proclamation marking June 2009 officially LGBT pride month.

Below we pick out the best parts of each of their statements.  If you click on the link in their names, you can read (or in the case of Cheney, watch) their entire statements.  Enjoy.  First day of Pride Month, and already, the nation's political leaders are talking about LGBT rights.

Dick Cheney: "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."

Hillary Clinton: "Gays and lesbians in many parts of the world live under constant threat of arrest, violence, even torture. The persecution of gays and lesbians is a violation of human rights and an affront to human decency, and it must end. As Secretary of State, I will advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity."

Barack Obama: "The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect....NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists."

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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