Seeking a ‘Fierce Advocate’ in Ohio

The phrase that has caused President Obama the most trouble from the LGBT community, I think, is the one of his own doing.  When Obama told us he would be our “fierce advocate,” that means something.  Affirming that gave us pretty wide latitude to expect action from him.  And it led to the inaction that followed causing even greater disappointment than it might have otherwise.

As I’ve written many times, I do think that the Obama Administration is making strides and is honestly dedicated to real action.  And symbols like today’s posthumous awarding of Harvey Milk with the presidential Medal of Freedom is well-deserved spot for Milk — and the out and proud LGBT community he embodied.  And maybe being a “fierce advocate” is different for the president than it is for an activist or even a member of Congress.  There are real differences between each of those groups in terms of how they can best move the ball.

When it comes to a lawmaker, though, it’s a little more common and necessary to be outspoken because you’re one of many and your words, by nature or stature, must stand out to be noticed.  For an activist, it’s even more difficult to be noticed by stature alone, so the nature of comments must in some way be even more compelling.  (In fact, some of the online debate this spring and summer has been over the best method of providing that compelling voice.)

Pivot to the coming Ohio primary for the U.S. Senate.

I think we’ve reached a point in this country, and maybe it’s a point that we weren’t at even in 2008 but will be at for 2010, where part of measuring the LGBT-friendliness of a candidate is not just, “Will she or he vote our way?”  We’ve seen, time and time again this year, that what is needed is active, aggressive leadership.  In addition to the votes, we need voices and we need leadership.

Brunner campaign at this year's Dayton Pride.

It’s for this reason that I am glad to see Jennifer Brunner’s Web site.  It is, though, also for this reason that my concerns about the capacity or lack thereof for leadership in Lee Fisher have been reinforced.

On Brunner’s site, the “Issues” page includes this, upfront and with no ambiguity:

Civil Rights – I support Marriage Equality as a matter of civil rights. Civil rights, including marriage, for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals are human rights. LGBT people must be ensured their basic equal rights, so that they can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.

On Fisher’s site, well, there’s nothing.

This follows up on the earlier LGBT flare-up, in which Brunner actively supported marriage equality when asked and Fisher suggested that he was “not closing the door” on the idea but needed to have further discussions.  He later came out with a vague statement that his people claim equated to marriage equality.

Regardless of what his people may say on- or off-the-record, the bottom line is that Lee Fisher, thus far, has refused to allow himself to be directly quoted as supporting marriage equality.  And now, he says nothing about LGBT equality on his “state-of-the-art” Web site.

Jennifer Brunner has been a longstanding and outspoken proponent of marriage equality.  Her Web site unequivocally states that position — and support for all LGBT equality measures — for all to see.

If you had to pick today, who do you think is likely not just to vote the right way but to lead efforts on equality issues and to be outspoken in support of those issues?

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