U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the first openly gay non-incumbent ever elected to Congress, seemed almost overwhelmed as she stepped up to the podium to address an overflowing room of more than 250 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender caucus at the Democratic National Convention, a group that once was at the very outskirts of the party.
“I remember earlier days of this caucus and we wouldn’t have needed a room nearly this size and we probably would have all known each other by a first-name basis by the end of the convention week,” Baldwin, a longtime rock star among the LGBT community, said.
Now, more than a decade later, the Democrats became the first major American political party to include support for gay marriage in its official platform, which passed without dissent last week at the DNC.
“It’s what we stand for; inclusivity and respecting diversity,” Eau Claire delegate Judith Willink said in an interview with The Daily Cardinal at the DNC.
The Democrats’ endorsement of gay marriage represented a culmination of a relatively quick turnaround for the party on the issue, initiated by its leader, President Barack Obama. Most notably, he repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy that banned openly gay and lesbian soldiers from serving in the military, in late 2010.
Several months later, the Obama administration stopped defending in court a federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
Then over the summer, Obama’s “evolution” on the issue completed when he endorsed gay marriage, a reversal of his stance just four short years ago during the 2008 campaign.
Baldwin told the LGBT caucus-goers that these policy changes have helped give the community a greater voice within the party, which could lead to even further progress.
“If you’re outside the room, they’re talking about you,” Baldwin said. “If you’re in the room they’re talking with you and that changes everything.”
But as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pointed out, many of the Democrats’ gay-friendly policies are administrative rules and did not actually have to pass through Congress. She said this means Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, who have voiced their opposition to gay marriage, could relatively easily reverse these policies if elected.
“So there is nothing more important about the freedom and prosperity and future of all Americans than to make sure Barack Obama continues as President of the United States,” Sebelius said to the LGBT caucus.
Though Baldwin is leaving the Second Congressional District seat she has held since 1999, Madison will likely remain at the center of the LGBT debate. Her good friend, state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who is also openly gay, is the favorite to take her spot in the House.
“Wisconsin is a very special place, despite a few hiccups,” Pocan said. “We are a state that embraces acceptance and diversity.”
Baldwin said if she was voted into the Senate this November and Obama was re-elected, she would actively push him to go beyond his first term accomplishments to continue using his executive power, rather than go through what will likely be a divided Congress, to ensure equality for and prevent discrimination against the LGBT community.
“We live in a fairer America, but we’re not there yet,” Baldwin, who would become the first openly gay U.S. senator if she defeats former Gov. Tommy Thompson this November, told reporters at the convention. “True equal opportunity is not yet recognized throughout this country, so we have a lot of work to do.”
