Human Rights Committee

Dear Friends,

As further proof that the Democratic Establishment is circling the wagons to protect Hillary Clinton, the Human Rights Committee yesterday endorsed Hillary Clinton.  The actual endorsement is very long but focuses on all that is at stake and says that Hillary Clinton will fight for LGBT rights.  The following is the widely reported quote from the President of the HRC.

“All the progress we have made as a nation on LGBT equality — and all the progress we have yet to make — is at stake in November," HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “While they fight to take us backwards, Hillary Clinton is fighting to advance LGBT equality across our nation and throughout the world."
"We are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for president, and believe that she is the champion we can count on in November — and every day she occupies the Oval Office," he added.

The HRC is using the same scare tactics that Hillary Clinton is now using to attempt to stop the growing support for Bernie Sanders.  The clear message is that if you vote for Bernie Sanders, the Republicans will win and all will be lost.

There is no way based on the positions that the two candidates have held over the last 40 years that HRC should have chosen Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.  Bernie Sanders voted against both Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act both championed and signed into law by Bill Clinton and supported by Hillary Clinton. She continued to support DOMA through her 2000 Senate campaign and refused to support its entire repeal in her 2008 Presidential campaign.  As Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders signed a Gay Pride Day declaration in 1983 and marched in the first gay pride parade.  Bernie Sanders fought for the first civil unions in 2000 in his home state of Vermont and has opposed restriction on gay marriage and in 2009 came out in full support of marriage equality.

Hillary Clinton is widely quoted as saying that marriage is between a man and a woman at various times as late as the early 2000s.  She was opposed to gay marriage during her entire run for President in 2008.  It was not until 2013 that she finally changed her position to support marriage equality.  Bernie Sanders may not have a perfect record for marriage equality going back decades, but he has been supporting GLBT positions for decades.  Hillary Clinton only changed her position on marriage equality when it became clear that she could not get elected as a Democrat if she did not do so.

I think that it is also very relevant that Hillary Clinton takes lots of money from foreign governments whose records on human rights including gay rights are abysmal.  I am reprinting a quote from The New York Times from my earlier post about Planned Parenthood Action (here).

Here is just one paragraph from The New York Times (here).
But the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation has accepted tens of millions of dollars in donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Algeria and Brunei — all of which the State Department has faulted over their records on sex discrimination and other human-rights issues.

As with Planned Parenthood Action, I have been a long time supporter of HRC.  Their endorsement of Hillary Clinton has put me in a difficult position.  I do not see how I can continue to support an organization that puts allegiance to the Establishment ahead of its mission.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal