Chart Showing How Candidates Would Vote on LGBTQ Issues

This chart indicates how the current candidates would vote on different LGBT issues (go to this site frequently as candidates' votes change in different areas and are updated on the chart.)

Methodology  •  Starting in August 2011, a survey was delivered to the office of each active, formally announced candidate via e-mail, web mail, and/or facsimile, and also via certified U.S. mail for which a campaign employee signed a receipt confirming the delivery.  Each candidate’s survey showed his or her latest stand on each LGBT issue, based on speeches made, documents signed, and interviews given.  All candidates were invited to notify MEUSA of updates to their positions as they occur, up through election day on 6 November 2012. 

Send questions and comments to:  NFlaherty@MarriageEquality.org.

New York Town Clerks Quit - Facing Lawsuits for Refusing to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

In the wake of the recent legislation allowing same-sex marriage in New York, three New York town clerks, Ruth Sheldon, Laura Fotusky and Rose Marie Belforti  have refused to perform their town clerk duties by signing marriage applications for same-sex marriages. Today two of them, Ruth Sheldon and Laura Fotusky quit their jobs to prevent further lawsuits against their respective towns. Rose Marie Belforti is presently trying to find out a way around the law so she will not be forced to sign the applications. NOM has, as usual, twisted the story around and made this statement:

"These three public servants love their communities and the people in them, and they also happen to be women of faith," said Maggie Gallagher, board member of the National Organization for Marriage, the parent group of MADA. "It would be easy to accommodate these clerks--by letting another employee sign same-sex marriage licenses--instead gay marriage advocates are applauding the idea they should be forced to choose between their faith and their jobs. What good purpose is served by needlessly forcing Ruth, Laura and Rose Marie out of a job they love after serving their community well for years?"

The problem may be that only the officially elected or appointed town clerk can sign the certificates, not an office assistant. At least one of these will be going to court in the near future for a decision. We'll see what the outcome of that is, but int he meantime, two former town clerks are looking for new jobs. There certainly can be a case made for allowing personal convictions to come between a job description and actual performance, but this may be one of those "on the fence" decisions that's hard to make.

Gay Politics | AMERICAblog Gay: NOM mocks birth of Rep. Jared Polis’ child

In a previous blog we congratulated Rep. Jared Polis and his partner on the birth of their son, Caspian Julius, who was born on September 30th of this year. Apparently NOM (National Organization for Marriage) has nothing else to do with their gay/hate agenda than make judgements and assumptions about babies now. Their comment about the new baby should be posted in every newspaper in the country to show people what NOM is really about. This wouldn't even be news if his parents were not both gay.

According to NOM, " We have no clue whether it was a planned motherless family or whether he and his partner stepped in to give a motherless child a family--since he will not say. But he and his partner are proud to announce they were both "very excited to become new parents."

And their Twitter post:

 “Openly gay #CO Rep. @JaredPolis announces with pride that his child has no mother.”

Where they get this information we'll never know because they don't use facts, just assumptions.

Signorile Demolishes Sponsor of NC SuperDOMA Amendment :: EDGE Dallas

James Forrrester (R) NC

Popular radio host Michelangelo Signorile’s of Sirius XM radio recently hosted North Carolina's (R) Senator James Forrester, sponsor of the recent ballot initiative to legislate away any equality for gay rights, including civil partnerships and same-sex marriage. In the interview Senator Forrester repeatedly attempted to back up his baseless reasons for the bill. Primarily, that gay people die 20 years younger than heterosexual people. Unfortunately for him, Michelangelo knew more about the facts than Forrester did and clearly debunked every single argument that Forrester based his bill upon, including the fact that there was a higher incidence of AIDS among heterosexuals than homosexuals worldwide.


Faced with the "real" facts, Forrester attempted to pull the usual GOP avoidance of answering questions and repeatedly cited baseless studies supposedly backed by scientific fact. Once again the radio host, armed with the actual facts and statistics, quickly threw out Forrester's false claims and replaced them with real data gleaned from the NIH and other national, factual based organizations.

"He eventually credited a Christian activist named Frank Turek (who is associated with Maggie Gallagher and the National Organization for Marriage) as his source of this bogus public health information," Signorile wrote.

When it was all said and done the radio host had clearly thrown out every single argument Forrester based his legislation on with real information, and thoroughly discredited Forrester and his position on gay rights. Forrester was left with no response (except to not answer the question) when Signorile noted that America is in the grip of an obesity epidemic that threatens life spans of heterosexual Americans. "Should laws be put up against [obese people] because they are dying earlier?" Signorile asked.

"They are certainly dying at earlier ages because they eat too much." Forrester then changed his tack, telling Signorile that he had not sponsored the bill due to mortality rates associated with AIDS, but rather, "to preserve marriage between a man and a woman."

Signorile wondered why, in that case, Forrester’s argument in the town hall address made a point to mention diseases and life spans of gays. Signorile then played an audio clip in which Forrester accused gays of "practic[ing] an unhealthy lifestyle."

Forrester then told Signorile that he was "too biased" in his viewpoint (the approved Republican response to questions that make them squirm.)

Apparently the GOP (a.k.a. Koch-backed) machine of dis-information continues to roll down the halls of America spewing its endless amount of wrong, mis-leading information. However, it has become more clear that their facts are baseless and easily debunked by real studies and statistics, hopefully making people more aware of the real agenda of the GOP. equality for heterosexual, rich Americans. To hell with everyone else!

NOM: Marriage Equality Could Lead to Acceptance of Pedophilia

Full story: EDGE

The National Organization for Marriage has smeared gay and lesbian families once more with a blog post written by the homophobic group's president, Brian Brown, who suggested that one consequence of allowing committed same-sex life partners to formalize their relationship with civil marriage might be the court-sanctioned approval of pedophilia.

So another spiteful, hate-filled person has to spread mis-information and lies trying to defend the indefensible. The are no studies, no quoted instances, nothing to support this hateful bigotry, yet people listen-WHY?