Comments on: Clinton wins praise from State Dept. gays

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:08:53 +0000

The Clintons take a lot of sh*t from the gays over DOMA. Did anyone posting here live in the 90’s? THAT was a hostile environment! The current protests would not have been possible then without lighting some cities on fire. The lynch mobs were out in force, and we had the bull’s eye on us.
Go read the ‘yea’ votes on DOMA and check out all the D’s beside the names. Dodd, Breaux, Daschle, BIDEN…something had to give, and it beat the heck out of amending the US Constitution at the time.
We now find ourselves on the upswing of things. Public perceptions are changing, the old views are dying away as the owners of those views age and die. We don’t know yet what exactly Obama is going to do for us. So far all we have are promises, but I have the highest hopes for us all with people like Barack and Hillary on our sides.

By: kaiserdc

kaiserdc — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:24:27 +0000

Thank you 365 for giving some coverage to GLIFAA! As a long time member, I am glad to see that members of our community will be aware of the challenges that gay diplomats face beyond those of our heterosexual colleagues. No matter whether someone supported Clinton or Obama, with them together, I am sure that gay civil and foreign service officers will receive much better treatment than under any previous president.

By: everett

everett — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:47:03 +0000

I don’t know about you all, but I actually watched Clinton’s confirmation hearing live on C-Span and found myself slightly disappointed in how she answered the question about gay members (and their partners) working in the Foreign Service and getting equal treatment (incidentally, Sen. Feingold posed the question to her). All Clinton said was that she was made aware of this issue while being briefed during the transition (meaning she didn’t know of the issue prior to being offered the sec. of state post, I suppose) and that she had asked for more information on the matter and would take a look at the current policy. She did not actually say that it SHOULD be changed, just that it ought to be looked into further….

By: Censoredagain

Censoredagain — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:03:19 +0000

I don’t think Hillary can even be Secretary of State. Article 1 Section 6 plainly states that any senator or representative that is in office when an increase in salary is made for a post that they (they members of congress) are ineligible to hold said post. The constitution makes no allowance for the salary to be raised then lowed. So if our government is to be a legitimate government is has to follow the constitution.

We complained when Bush tossed the Constitution so should we complain when anyone else in government disregards the Constitution.

Article 1 Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:05:52 +0000

Do people realize that her husband is the one that signed the Federal DOMA that is the excuse for the State Dept for not providing benefits to same-sex partners? And, if you read her words, she doesn’t say she will change anything. Considering DOMA, I never understood the almost fanatical support of the gay community for the Clintons. I’m not sure that this leopard has changed her spots when it comes time to actually do anything risky for the community.

By: Trace

Trace — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:58:56 +0000

Though I believe Hillary would have made a far superior President than Saint Obama, she really did say nothing.

She’s going to review the policies!

And the check is in the mail? I’ll respect you in the morning? etc…

By: TANK

TANK — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:57:59 +0000

Why did she win praise? She didn’t say a damn thing. Not a damn thing worth listening to except the same old clinton dodge.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:46:41 +0000

Just when I was starting to not totally-dislike PEBO – *sigh* – Mrs. Clinton should have won.

-btw, I think PEBO would’ve made one helluva great Sec. State;

1/ There are still States in this world that do not treat woman as equal to men … *sigh again*
and;
2/ There are also many, many countries where white folk aren’t in charge of everthing. White people are not necessarily liked by citizens in developing countries, let alone the more relevant (economically speaking) “emergent nations” [e.g. India].

By: Morgan

Morgan — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:17:24 +0000

What nonsense is JayC talking? Does he really believe that a US President supposed to represent everyone in his/her country should be able to get into office using gays as fodder for campaign rhetoric to boost his image amongst only the far radical right fringe? What a JayC really want, a leader of a first-class 21st century Western democracy or does he want some theocrat who goes not by the country’s laws but by the judgements and statutes of the Bible? I am a gay Christian, but I absolutely believe in separation of church and state for the good of this country and see faith, etc as a strictly private and personal matter.
So what does JayC want a leader of most all of the people or a leader of just far right religious fanatics?

By: Daniel S

Daniel S — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:47:42 +0000

Hillary has a lot of latitude here, since this is not an elected post she doesn’t have to play games of public opinion. Things would be very different if she were president.

She’s taking this opportunity to address a very blatant piece of discrimination against gay SD employees in a matter we’ve always known she supports us on. Condi Rice could have easily resolved this issue, but chose not to, probably because Bush didn’t want it fixed. Obama is clear about supporting civil partnerships (if not same-sex marriage) and so it’s almost a no-brainer that he would see these benefits as a basic part of supporting loyal federal employees doing often dangerous work for our country.