Key 2008 States Lead Gay-Rights Cheers

At the recent Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer started off a question about rights for gay couples by noting that the state's governor had just a few days earlier signed civil unions into law.

At the mention of the new milestone, the New Hampshire audience clapped wildly, so much so that clock-minder Blitzer felt compelled to shush them by saying, "Let's try to keep the applause down."

Trying to keep the applause down for support for gay rights may prove to be a bit of a challenge, given the much-changed calendar for the 2008 presidential primary-caucus season.

While many dates are still in flux, it's clear that New Hampshire and Iowa will be joined at the front end of the contest by several other gay-friendly states. Presidential wannabes who back gay rights are finding they're in sync with the very states they are stumping in.

That's new, and it hints at the welcome changes ahead in the presidential-picking season for those of us who're gay and for our friends. After all, at this time four years ago, when Democrats were jockeying for the chance to take on President Bush, Massachusetts' top court had yet to even issue its groundbreaking ruling saying gay couples must be allowed to marry, and only tiny Vermont had civil unions.

Let's take a quick peek at some key 2008 states: Starting with Iowa, still expected to kick off the candidate-culling on Jan. 14, Gov. Chet Culver signed a bill on May 25 to prohibit job and other discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Twenty states now ban anti-gay job bias, including primary-caucus heavy hitters like California, Nevada, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Even on gay parenting, America is growing up.

Want proof? The White House's Website features a photo of the vice president and his wife proudly showing off their new grandbaby, Samuel, above a wonderfully accurate caption: "His parents are the Cheneys' daughter Mary and her partner, Heather Poe." (To see this historic photo, Google "Cheney" plus "grandchild photo.")

But the White House family is hardly unique in including gay parents. And candidates vying for the front-door keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. will need to do well in states that have given gay couples marriage-like rights, such as New Hampshire, California and New Jersey. In New York, popular Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer is pushing for full marriage rights.

Presidential candidates — whether Democrats or Republicans — can expect questions from gay parents like Cynthia Fish of New Hampshire. According to The Associated Press, Fish said Republican Mitt Romney's opposition to gay marriage "invalidates my family. ... If we are sending our troops over to fight for liberty and justice for all ... why not for my family?"

And the candidates will be greeted by imaginative gay-rights efforts. On June 12, the Human Rights Campaign kicks off its "A Legacy of Service" tour in Iowa with gay vets calling for ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And last month in Iowa, former Methodist minister Jimmy Creech started his Faith in America's "Call to Courage" national campaign to "try to take religion away as a weapon used against gay men and lesbians."

Presidential candidates would be wise to listen to the enthusiastic applause in unexpected places for gay-rights progress. That's the sound of America's future.

Deb Price of The Detroit News writes the first nationally syndicated column on gay issues. To find out more about Deb Price and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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