Editor's note: Stuart Milk has written the following piece in his capacity as an Obama for America campaign surrogate, not in his capacity as co-founder and Board President of the Harvey Milk Foundation. The views expressed are his own and do not represent the views of the Harvey Milk Foundation.
My uncle, Harvey Milk, came into this world with all the potential that any
proud Jewish family could have hoped for, but he also came into a
world that would be rocked by World War II. The great evil that the world
saw with the horrific persecution and mass murder of minorities -- from
Jews and Roma to many members of the LGBT community -- led Harvey to
adopt the Jewish community's post-war message, "never forget," as his
compass for human rights.
He saw that our community, the Jewish community, took the ideal of
b'tzelem elohim, that all are created in the image of the divine, to
heart, through standing arm-in-arm with those fighting for the civil
rights movement and helping lead the women's right movement.
And my uncle knew that he could count on his Jewish brothers and sisters in
the fight for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) community, a movement that was advanced with the tragedy of
his assassination in 1978. Jewish support for the LGBT community was
visible even in 1965, when the National Federation of Temple
Sisterhoods (now Women of Reform Judaism) passed a resolution
condemning the criminalization of homosexuality when no one else
would.
My uncle was quite prophetic in his belief that fellow Jews would be
among the first to fight for marriage equality in numerous states, and they have: Jewish organizations ranging from the Religious Action Center to the
Anti-Defamation League and local communities around the country have
championed LGBT equality efforts for decades. But the fight is not
over, and this is why the LGBT community needs you to carefully weigh
your vote in this year's presidential election -- an election that is
likely to have an impact on LGBT individuals for years to come.
I ask you to look at our two options for our next president. We'll start with President Barack Obama.
The president's record advancing pro-LGBT legislation is too extensive
to list, but highlights include repealing the discriminatory "don't
ask, don't tell" policy, signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and issuing a mandate that requires hospitals to
provide LGBT families the same visitation policies given to everyone
else. The president has issued unprecedented instruction to all
foreign U.S. offices encouraging collaboration with at-risk minority
communities, including LGBT people.
Through my work at the Harvey Milk Foundation, I have seen firsthand the
growing tide of hate currently proliferating throughout the world toward Jewish, LGBT and Roma communities. This alarming growth of hatred has, at its core, the
false premise that minorities should not be included in hard times.
The Obama administration is one of the few voices on the world stage
working not only to counter these false messages but to bring
together diverse communities.
President Obama also became the first sitting U.S. president ever to
declare support for same-sex marriage, joining 81 percent of American Jews
who, according to recent polling by the Public Religion Research
Institute, share his desire that same-sex couples be able to
celebrate their love -- under a chuppah, at a church, or in the town
hall -- the same as different-sex couples. This statement of support,
as small as it may have seemed, sent waves of hope and acceptance
through the LGBT community, making us believe that there might finally
be a true advocate in office for our cause.
Now I ask you look to at Gov. Romney's record.
From the beginning of his governorship, Romney carved out an extremist anti-LGBT position to appeal to social conservatives. Gov. Romney
voiced his opposition not just to same-sex marriage but even to civil
unions, putting him at odds with the views of President George W. Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney. What's more, Mitt Romney openly
declared that he would not support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
(ENDA), a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity. This position puts him out
of touch with 73 percent of all voters -- even 66 percent of Republicans -- who
support protecting LGBT individuals from workplace discrimination.
Beyond his disconcerting policy stances, Mitt Romney's personal
interactions with the LGBT community are disturbing at best.
In a newly surfaced video of the then-governor of Massachusetts talking
about same-sex marriage and LGBT couples having children, Romney tells
a crowd, "Today, same-sex couples are marrying under the law in Massachusetts. Some are actually having children born to them. ... It's not right on paper. It's not right in fact."
His statements are nothing short of speech meant to spur hate and
diminishment.
The Jewish community has been involved in every major civil rights
fight in American history. We know, thanks to our all-too-painful memory of
the ancestors we lost due to intolerance and hate mongering, that those
who marginalize and diminish any minority group should put us all on
alert.
The struggle for LGBT equality is no different. I am an American who
is proudly Jewish and proudly gay. The LGBT community needs support,
and the Jewish community needs to be at the forefront, not just
because of b'tzelem elohim but because it is the right thing to do.
There is only one choice for both the LGBT community and the Jewish
community, and that choice is President Barack Obama.