The red states and the blue states are both made up of people waving rainbow flags in conjunction with the flag of our forefathers.
The Lesbian, Gay, and Transgender community watched Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama debate the issues the United States is facing, yet neither candidate seemed to answer their questions.
As the debates raged on, senior psychology major Samantha De Lillo watched as neither candidate addressed the LGBT community. Still, De Lillo was quick to point out that there is more to a presidency than just addressing the issues of one group.
“I think it’s a tricky situation,” De Lillo said. “The issue of marriage has been progressing state by state; it is hard for the President to take a stand on this specific issue because of everything else he has to address.”
However, when it did come down to the selection of a candidate, the vice president of GSA at Pace University backed Obama.
“I think towards the end of his term, he began to realize that he needs to be focused on what the people feel is right,” De Lillo said.
Still, both men have changed their stance on marriage depending on the political climate. According to thepoliticalguide.com, in 1996, when President Obama was a senator, he filled out a questionnaire saying he would back a state resolution in support of gay marriage; however, Obama stated in a 2004 campaign debate that marriage is between one man and one woman. Obama maintained that stance until he publicly supported gay marriage in 2012 during an interview with Robin Roberts of ABC.
Perhaps the most significant action the incumbent President made in the LGBT’s battle was a rule he took away, rather than one he wrote. According to an article written by the New York Times, Obama repealed the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy in the United States Military that banned openly gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals from serving their country on June 22.
As for Romney, thepoliticalguide.com stated that he was a proponent of gay marriage in 1994. The governor wrote a letter to a gay rights group known as the Log Cabin Club stating that he “supported full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens.”
However, that stance changed in the beginning of 2005. Governor Romney went on several news organizations and declared that marriage was between one man and one woman. In 2007, Romney stated he always thought marriage to be between one man and one woman, and he maintained that stance through 2012.
In the debate, neither candidate addressed the issue of gay marriage because the question was not raised by the moderator.
Regardless of the man who gets sworn into office in January, De Lillo believes that progress for the LGBT community, as a whole, will be defined by more than just adding a new amendment to the Constitution.
“When it comes to gay people in general we want to be seen as equal,” De Lillo said. “Something simple like going to a court house and signing a piece of paper, a great milestone would be getting respect, and that can start by legalizing gay marriage.”
Whether that respect will come tomorrow or four years from now is hard to tell, but the first step towards progress may prove to be the toughest to take.