Hillary Clinton has not yet announced if she intends to run for President in 2016, but that hasn’t stopped many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community from coming out to show their support. In fact, hundreds of people showed up for an LGBT ‘Out and Ready for Hillary’ fundraiser last January, and community members are not waiting for an announcement to start organizing.
A few friends and I have already joined in the planning. You can find us on facebook at fb.com/outforhillary or on twitter at twitter.com/outforhillary. You can also check out our website at www.outforhillary.com.
Of course, the LGBT community is very diverse so there will likely be LGBT folks involved in a number of different campaigns. There will also be people working hard to make hold Hillary (and her supporters) accountable every step of the way.
When Bill Clinton spoke at the Human Rights Campaign back in October, Get Equal took the opportunity to encourage the Hillary Clinton to be a strong advocate for many of the broader social justice issues important to our community.
“Today’s action was a chance for the LGBTQ community to make sure that Hillary Clinton hears loud and clear that, as she readies a presidential bid, we need her to stand up for progressive values as a champion and leader, not simply as a middle-of-the-road political candidate,” said Heather Cronk, GetEQUAL co-director. “I hope Secretary Clinton hears that the LGBTQ community cares deeply not only about passing a full LGBTQ equality bill, but also about reforming our broken immigration system, ensuring full reproductive health access, ending widespread and system police brutality, and winning economic justice measures that allow us to provide for and support our families. Our community won’t be swayed simply by high-profile speeches — we need to see serious action.”