Hillary's Serious Gay Problem (Updated)

It seems more and more people and blogs are waking up to the fact that Hillary Clinton - despite all her self-serving claims to the contrary and occasional appearance at a pride event - is no true friend of the LGBT community. Except when she wants money, of course. Hence why the LGBT community is invisible on her campaign web site and why she struggles to even say the word "gay" even when doing a pre-arranged interview with a gay media outlet. Now Daily Kos has piled on further with an updated look at Hillary's "gay problem" - and it is rather scathing. It is nice to see others coming to the hold the view of Hillary that I have long held. She is a cynical opportunist who cares nothing for the LGBT community when push comes to shove. Here are some Daily Kos highlights:

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In Hillary Clinton's disturbing attempt to rebrand herself as a Bible-totin', gun-slinging Annie Oakley, complete with right-wing talking points, I guess it's not surprising that gays would end up with the short end of the stick in Camp Clinton these days. Hillary has given lip service to supporting GLBT rights, but her actions over the past few months - not to mention the past few decades - have shown that Hillary is not only trying to distance herself from the gay community and GLBT issues but has done her best to use anti-gay sentiment to her advantage. There's a disturbing pattern at work here, folks, that should outrage any true Democrat who cares about equality.

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As a gay man who has fought hard for GLBT rights my entire life, I am frankly a bit mystified by the conventional wisdom I have heard over that past few months that the GLBT community is more strongly behind Hillary than Obama. I have not seen any hard numbers to back up that claim, and I certainly have not seen that play out in my own life. Most of the gay folks I know can't stand Hillary.) And Hillary's conduct in this campaign certainly give me cause for concern.

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Setting aside the fact that Bill Clinton's presidency brought us two of the worst pieces of anti-gay federal legislation this country has ever seen: Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act - with nary a peep of protest from Hillary - Hillary's own actions during this campaign should give pause to anyone who cares about GLBT rights.

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Even in front of a gay-friendly audience, Hillary seems afraid to use the word "gay" (and you can forget about using the word "lesbian.") Exactly why is Hillary afraid of any video footage floating around that shows her uttering the word "gay"??? Inquiring minds want to know. Out-and-proud Pam Spauding over at Pam's House Blend . . . noted that Hillary is clearly trying to use anti-gay tactics to win over the Bubba vote: "Take the homo money and run, as it were."