Senator Chris Dodd: I now support marriage equality

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 11:44:56 AM EDT

Sen. Dodd and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA, who voted for DOMA) have moved in the direction of equality. Why can't our "fierce advocate"?

Rights, Responsibilities and Love

June 21, 2009

Public officials aren't supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it's important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community from across the state, I had the opportunity to tell them what I've learned about marriage, and about equality.

While I've long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status ("civil unions") and full marriage rights.

The reason was simple: I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And as many other Americans have realized as they've struggled to reconcile the principle of fairness with the lessons they learned early in life, that's not an easy thing to overcome.

But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn't a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore.

The Connecticut Supreme Court, of course, has ruled that such a distinction holds no merit under the law. And the Court is right.

I believe that effective leaders must be able and willing to grow and change over their service. I certainly have during mine - and so has the world. Thirty-five years ago, who could have imagined that we'd have an African-American President of the United States?

My young daughters are growing up in a different reality than I did. Our family knows many same-sex couples - our neighbors in Connecticut, members of my staff, parents of their schoolmates. Some are now married because the Connecticut Supreme Court and our state legislature have made same-sex marriage legal in our state.

But to my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together. That's what we've taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the commitments that bind those couples together.

And, really, that's what marriage should be. It's about rights and responsibilities and, most of all, love.

I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same-sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter-racial marriage.

And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history.

I have always been proud of my long record fighting for the civil rights of the LGBT community. I've co-sponsored legislation to strengthen hate crime laws and end discrimination in the workplace. I've spoken out against "don't ask, don't tell" and always supported equal rights for domestic partnerships.

But I am also proud to now count myself among the many elected officials, advocates, and ordinary citizens who support full marriage equality for same-sex couples.

I understand that even those who oppose discrimination might continue to find it hard to re-think the definition of marriage they grew up with. I know it was for me.

But many of the things we must do to make our union more perfect - whether it's fighting for decades to reform our health care system or struggling with a difficult moral question - are hard. They take time. And they require that, when you come to realize that something is right, you be unafraid to stand up and say it.

That's the only way our history will progress along that long arc towards justice.

Senator Dodd also let us know that he was committed to ensuring that federal rights were portable, so that a same-sex couple married in Connecticut would receive the federal benefits of marriage even if they relocated to a state without marriage equality.  He also said that he was committed to finding a vehicle in the Senate to advance hate crimes legislation and hoped that the bill would be passed soon.  Finally, he agreed to look into adding sexual orientation and gender identity to a bill called the Affordable Health Choices Act, a move that would provide for research regarding the health concerns of the LGBT community.

Dodd answers questions from HRC/LOGO forum

by: Pam Spaulding

Tue Aug 14, 2007 at 19:30:00 PM EDT

Dodd drops out of HRC/LOGO debate

by: Pam Spaulding

Sat Aug 04, 2007 at 00:00:00 AM EDT

Dodd informed LOGO television which will broadcast Thursday's debate, and the Human Rights Campaign which helped arrange it, that "scheduling conflicts" made it impossible for him to attend.

Dodd and Joe Biden will be the only Democratic candidates not to participate in the groundbreaking debate.

...Asking questions of the candidates will be a panel comprised of journalists Jonathan Capehart and Margaret Carlson, musician/activist Melissa Etheridge and HRC president Joe Solomonese.

The panelists in a statement said they plan to cover a range of issues including relationship recognition, marriage equality, workplace fairness, the military, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other important issues.

Chris Dodd torches O'Reilly over insane attacks on YK

by: Pam Spaulding

Fri Aug 03, 2007 at 07:00:00 AM EDT

Dodd called out O'Reilly for one of the outrageous statement bleated on Billo's radio show. O'Reilly then tries to lie his way out it by parsing that he didn't say it on "this program" (meaning the TV show). Too bad for him that Media Matters keeps track of the crap that comes out of O'Reilly's piehole.

"[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco."

Chris Dodd: 'What would you do if your child were gay?'

by: Pam Spaulding

Fri Apr 06, 2007 at 11:30:00 AM EDT

Dodd said anyone who would deny a gay child the right to be happy isn't being honest.

"We ought to be able to have these loving relationships," the Connecticut senator said.

Dodd, the father of a 2- and a 5-year-old, said his daughters could grow up to be lesbians and he hopes they would have the opportunity to enjoy marriage-like rights.

"They may grow up as a different sexual orientation than their parents," Dodd said. "How would I want my child to be treated if they were of a different sexual orientation?"

Dodd, who opposed a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to man-woman unions, said he supports civil unions, but not gay marriage. Asked afterward what he sees as the difference, he said: "I don't think probably much in people's minds. If you're allowing that, all the protections you have there, you've covered it."

"I think it ought to happen. To me the country is way ahead of us on these issues. I think the American people are there."

Where are the rest of the candidates on DOMA? MIA. See my last update on that.

H/t, Herb.