Back in August, I wrote about the differing positions of Barack Obama and John McCain with regard to LGBT families. McCain had just said that he didn’t believe in gay adoption. Obama had written a lengthy, and very supportive letter in response to questions from the Family Equality Council (FEC). (Yes, he’s not quite there on the whole marriage thing, but he’s pretty good on the rest.) The McCain campaign did not respond to FEC’s letter.
Now, FEC reports that McCain has responded—with a form letter. Yes, that’s right. A form letter. It begins, “Dear Friend, Thank you for writing to me with your thoughts,” and ends, “Please visit www.johnmccain.com for the latest news and updates about the campaign. In addition, you will find detailed answers to your questions under the Issues section. Thank you again for your correspondence and guidance. Sincerely, John McCain.” There are some conservative platitudes in the middle.
For the record, the “Issue” under which anything related to LGBT rights appears on McCain’s site is titled “Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life,” in which we learn that only marriage “sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children.”
In the Issues section of Obama’s site, at first glance, there’s not much on LGBT families either, although there is a mention under Civil Rights of supporting the Matthew Shepard Act to expand hate crimes protection. (McCain doesn’t even put “civil rights” under “Issues.”) Looking under “People,” on Obama’s site, however, reveals an entire LGBT section, including lots of material about Obama’s stance towards LGBT rights and his full reply to FEC. On McCain’s site, under “Coalitions” (equivalent to Obama’s “People”) there is unsurprisingly no section for LGBT folks, although there is one aimed at “Racing Fans for McCain,” and one at “Bikers for McCain.” Somehow, though, I think most lesbian bikers are voting otherwise.