Posted on 06/12/2006 8:52:11 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Blagojevich, Topinka Are Both Moderates On LGBT Issues
(AP) CHICAGO -- While some Washington politicians want to use gay marriage to divide the electorate in November, Illinois voters are choosing between two candidates for governor who are regular crowd favorites at this city's gay pride parade.
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his GOP challenger, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, are nearly identical in their support for gay rights.
Both say a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is unnecessary, and Topinka supports the state law signed by Blagojevich protecting gay people from discrimination.
"As gay voters we have good choices," said Rick Garcia, political director for the gay rights group Equality Illinois.
Conservative Republicans are not so giddy.
"We got nobody," said Peter LaBarbera, executive director of a conservative group pushing to get a measure on Illinois ballots this fall that would ask voters whether the state constitution should be amended to ban gay marriage.
In Washington, the Senate on Wednesday soundly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Some Republicans hope the issue will rally GOP voters for the November elections.
Topinka opposes gay marriage but says there's no need to rewrite the state constitution because Illinois law already prohibits same-sex marriage. Blagojevich, too, opposes a constitutional amendment and has said he considers marriage to be between a man and a woman. Both politicians support civil unions.
When it comes to gay rights, where Blagojevich and Topinka diverge is in offering health benefits to partners of the nonunion gay employees under their control. Thousands of unionized state employees already were entitled to them.
Blagojevich issued an administrative order in May extending the benefits as of July 1 to the employees he oversees and encouraged the state's other constitutional officers to do the same. They all have except for Topinka, said Department of Central Management Services spokesman Justin DeJong.
Topinka said the state can't afford the benefits or "anything else right now." The Blagojevich campaign hopes that shows how the two are different.
It does, says Kara Borden, a gay 29-year-old graduate student from Chicago.
"That's actually something, an action that has been taken," said Borden, who doesn't identify with either party and votes solely based on a candidate's platform.
Gay voters -- who Garcia says could number at least 1 million in Illinois -- are a voting bloc the Blagojevich campaign actively courts.
Leading up to the November election, the campaign plans to advertise in gay newspapers, talk to the gay media and target gay voters with mailings. Later this month the governor plans to march in Chicago's Gay Pride Parade, an annual event that draws hundreds of thousands of people and the state's most prominent politicians, Blagojevich campaign spokeswoman Sheila Nix said.
Blagojevich also has a personal connection to the gay community. His sister-in-law Deborah Mell, the daughter of Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, is gay and has his ear.
"I can chat with him about stuff anytime," said Deborah Mell, 38, who works for a Chicago landscaping company.
Topinka said she, too, likely will march in the June 25 parade, which snakes through a North Side Chicago neighborhood.
"I'm not going to miss a parade that gets 500,000 people," she said, adding that it's one of the 70 or so parades she marches in each year.
A conservative Web site, www.stoptopinka.com, lambastes Topinka for her past participation in the parade and warns voters that Topinka "holds extremely liberal values that are contrary to those embraced by the vast majority of Illinois Republicans."
LaBarbera has said the Web site is his personal undertaking and not affiliated with his job as executive director of the Illinois Family Institute.
Despite the criticism from conservatives, Topinka said she won't distance herself from gay voters.
"I am not a hater," she said. "I am not going to demonize any group."
She said her campaign will reach out to gay voters, just like it does other groups.
"I'm going to try to get everybody's votes, conservatives as well," she said.
Those might be harder to come by, LaBarbera said.
He said that while there's dissatisfaction with Topinka among conservatives, they will turn out to the polls if the question about amending the constitution to ban gay marriage makes it onto the ballot.
Gay marriage opponents need 283,111 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot, and they submitted more than 345,000 signatures. Opponents of the measure are checking the petitions in an effort to keep it off.
Borden, the graduate student, and Matt Kuzma are part of the volunteer Fair Illinois Committee checking the petitions in hope of finding enough errors to make the measure ineligible for the ballot.
Kuzma, who is married, said he had to get involved even though he isn't gay.
"There shouldn't be discrimination written into the constitution," the Democrat said.
Kuzma said because both Topinka and Blagojevich favor gay rights and think a constitutional amendment is unnecessary, the issue doesn't have to be his sole focus when he decides who should get his vote.
"That makes it so I can look at other issues," he said.
What a choice.
Under statement.
D'ja hear about the two gay rights supporters who vied each other?
Nope. But I heard about two queer judges.
Yeah?
They tried each other.
"We got nobody,"
Bingo.
What a maroon. The population of Illinois is 12,419,293. How many of them are voters? 4 mill? Is he saying that a quarter of them are queer?
Must be counting the population of Chicago and Cook county cemeteries too.
At least they get their bias right out in the open right away.
Sheesh!
Next house I buy will be five more miles to the east-----In Indiana.
A race like that is one in which it might actually be better for us to let the Dem win. Perfect opportunity to show the GOP that conservatives do have their limits with RINO crap.
"I'm going to try to get everybody's votes, conservatives as well," she said.
Translation: Conservatives, you can get in line behind all the liberal special interest groups. Maybe I'll throw you a crumb or two.
Two Gay Rights Supporters Are Vying For Governor
The Mcgreevey factor? I guess one is left with choosing the lesser of two absurdities...
How on Earth did this tool win the GOP primary for governor? Are you guys TRYING to be New Jersey, or what?
Democrats crossing over in an open primary, that's how.
Any reason not to vote for Stufflebeam? Frankly, I'd like JBT to come in third (not that such a thing's actually going to happen, but it's nice to dream...)
Could a third party independent come up the middle and win?
1 million gays in Illinois??? Total garbage!!! There are about that many (or less) in the ENTIRE US...
IOW a rino and a homo.
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