Candace Gingrich, youth outreach manager for the Human Rights Campaign and sister of former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, spoke Tuesday at Memorial Union in a non-partisan effort to \just get out the vote.""
Gingrich ""hopes] that college-aged folks, who tend to be more progressive-minded anyhow, vote for fair-minded candidates"" who support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.
Gingrich ""came out"" in 1995 and did not hesitate to acknowledge that her brother's political success ""gave [her the] opportunity to talk about issues that weren't really being talked about,"" specifically LGBT issues like the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
""It's very easy to get people excited about [the amendment],"" said Samir Luther, an assistant for Action Wisconsin, a Wisconsin organization that advocates ""advancing and protecting the rights of our state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and their families,"" according to its Web site.
Gingrich noted college students today know more openly homosexual people than in past years.
""If you know somebody who's gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, it changes you,"" Gingrich said.
Gingrich stressed using peer pressure, guilt and the prospect of raising hell for our country to encourage 18- to 24-year-olds to vote.