Bill Clinton urges US LGBT activists to continue equality push

[webfact]

Bill Clinton urges US LGBT activists to continue equality push

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton encouraged gay rights activists to continue their push to bring down barriers Saturday, following recent court victories for gay marriage advocates in the United States.

"I’ve never seen a civil rights movement, at least in our country, move as far and as fast as your movement, ever" Clinton said in Washington at the annual gala for LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Same-sex couples can now marry in 32 of the 50 US states, as well as the District of Colombia, following a raft of recent court decisions.

At the beginning of October gay marriage was allowed in only 19 states plus Washington.

"But don’t kid yourself... there are still barriers that need to be brought down," Clinton said.

"All over the world there are young people who still have to cower in fear of their governments, their leaders and sometimes their families," Clinton said.

HRC, which advocates on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, is also active abroad, especially in Africa.

"We will prevail in a dangerous world if we have the best model of freedom and justice, equality and opportunity, the kind of things people want to be a part of, where everybody can be who they are," Clinton said.

Clinton, a former governor of Arkansas, also applauded an HRC awareness campaign in three southern Conservative states -- Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

The former Democratic president has publicly expressed regret that he signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law while he was president in 1996, denying federal benefits to married gay and lesbian couples by strictly defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The US Supreme Court struck down the law in 2013.

Clinton, who was given an ovation by the crowd of more than 3,000, also stressed the commitment of his wife, Hillary Clinton -- a possible candidate for the 2016 presidential election -- to gay rights.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-10-27

[kamahele]

Yeah, thanks Bill. We helped get you elected and then you basically instituted the draconian "don't ask don't tell" policy in the military. I'll stick to listening to Obama on this one.

[Ulysses G.]

I'll stick to listening to Obama on this one.

Obama has flipped back and forth numerous times on the gay marriage issue. Neither one of them has been honest about their real position.

[Yann55]

Long way to go Bill....

Especially in that huge part of the US which some people call 'Jesusland'...

Laramie, Wyoming, 12 October 1998 ... in a gay bar a young and promising boy called Matthew Shepard is tricked by two guys around his age (early 20s) into following them... He ends up robbed, beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die there.

The two murderers are easily captured by the police and during their trial, every day, groups of hysterical bigots stand outside of the court with signs supporting them on the grounds that they rid society of an evil man and screaming endlessly 'God Hates Fags'.

How do they know who God loves and hates ? How do they know that God can actually hate anyone or anything ? Well, obviously God lives in Wyoming and they have brunch with him every Sunday morning, that's how.

Every time I hear people ranting against fundamentalist Muslims and equating Islam with terrorism and intolerance, I think about Laramie, Wyoming...

Recently a group of people started trying to prove that this murder was not a homophobic hate-crime, but something about money and drugs... Guess who's funding their 'research' ?

Matthew Shepard, RIP Jesusland, where God lives Jesuslanders who hate Muslims

(mostly for being violent and intolerant)

Edited October 27, 2014 by Yann55

[Jingthing]

I agree Clinton was crap on this issue when he was president. Nobody could have predicted the speed of national public opinion change on this issue -- even the great Bill one. But GLBT Americans really had no choice but to stick with the democratic party as the other party has been SO MUCH WORSE. That loyalty eventually paid off with Obama who "evolved" into the president who has done more for American (and global) GLBT civil rights than any other U.S. president combined. And his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been wonderful on these issues as well.

[Jonmarleesco]

'"I’ve never seen a civil rights movement, at least in our country, move as far and as fast as your movement, ever ..."' No question about that, and in many countries besides the USA.

Impressive how the rights of a group in pursuit of something so irrelevant to most people's idea of political priorities have been pushed to the forefront of so many governments' must-do lists; in the process, seeing many more important issues steamrollered.

Of course, Hillary's presidential ambitions figure somewhere in Bill's gay rights equation, but given the LGBT's evident influence, it might behove them to look to addressing more disparate issues of equality, in particular, that of wealth..

[Jingthing]

How mean spirited.

It is not so irrelevant. As so many GLBT Americans have come out of the closet in recent decades, and that has been the key (thank you Harvey Milk), it turns out probably a majority of Americans have friends, family members (even spouses), coworkers etc. that they like, love, and respect as worthy of equal civil rights as any other citizen.

[chuckd]

Long way to go Bill....

Especially in that huge part of the US which some people call 'Jesusland'...

Laramie, Wyoming, 12 October 1998 ... in a gay bar a young and promising boy called Matthew Shepard is tricked by two guys around his age (early 20s) into following them... He ends up robbed, beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die there.

The two murderers are easily captured by the police and during their trial, every day, groups of hysterical bigots stand outside of the court with signs supporting them on the grounds that they rid society of an evil man and screaming endlessly 'God Hates Fags'.

How do they know who God loves and hates ? How do they know that God can actually hate anyone or anything ? Well, obviously God lives in Wyoming and they have brunch with him every Sunday morning, that's how.

Every time I hear people ranting against fundamentalist Muslims and equating Islam with terrorism and intolerance, I think about Laramie, Wyoming...

Recently a group of people started trying to prove that this murder was not a homophobic hate-crime, but something about money and drugs... Guess who's funding their 'research' ?

matthewshepard.jpg jesusland2.jpg God hates fags.jpg

Matthew Shepard, RIP Jesusland, where God lives Jesuslanders who hate Muslims

(mostly for being violent and intolerant)

ABC disagrees with your assessment concerning the homophobic aspect. Read all six pages of the interview with both killers, now serving life sentences.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

Nov. 26, 2004

Six years ago, on a cold October night on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo., 21-year-old gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead. He was found 18 hours later and rushed to the hospital, where he lingered on the edge of death for nearly five days before succumbing to his injuries.

The story garnered national attention when the attack was characterized as a hate crime. But Shepard's killers, in their first interview since their convictions, tell "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas that money and drugs motivated their actions that night, not hatred of gays.

Entire article here: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1

[ggt]

When I was a teen...I heard other teens talk about going down to the public park at night to "roll queers"...this consisted of luring them into public restrooms...beating and robbing them...

It appears that things have not changed that much over the last 50 years...

[Jingthing]

Come on, folks!

There is dedicated current thread SPECIFICALLY about the history of the Matthew Shepard case.

Discussion about that narrow subject belongs there:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/771616-the-truth-about-matthew-shepard/

Not here.

[csabo]

Yeah, thanks Bill. We helped get you elected and then you basically instituted the draconian "don't ask don't tell" policy in the military. I'll stick to listening to Obama on this one.

Huh?? A sucker born every four years I guess. Keep doing what your masters tell you too regardless of how many times they change their minds.

[Jingthing]

The NEXT President Clinton will be much better than Bill was, don't you worry!

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[chuckd]

The NEXT President Clinton will be much better than Bill was, don't you worry!

Chelsea?

[Caitrin]

I'd like to remind people that Hillary, under Obama, made pro-transgender changes at the State department. Most notably, making it pretty darn easy for trans people to change gender markers on passports. This is HUGE for transgender expats, as it means they can often get their countries of residence to recognise them as their actual gender, because the passport is used as the gender of record.

The states can go screw themselves (Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, I'm looking at you, among others).

[tw25rw]

Yeah, thanks Bill. We helped get you elected and then you basically instituted the draconian "don't ask don't tell" policy in the military. I'll stick to listening to Obama on this one.

How was that draconian? It was a compromise which was the best available at the time. It meant people could mind their own business in an environment that could be hostile.

[Jingthing]

Yeah, thanks Bill. We helped get you elected and then you basically instituted the draconian "don't ask don't tell" policy in the military. I'll stick to listening to Obama on this one.

How was that draconian? It was a compromise which was the best available at the time. It meant people could mind their own business in an environment that could be hostile.

In real life practice, it was actually pretty awful. But that's history now. No point in dwelling on it. He's not running again. But his WIFE is ...

[Publicus]

Long way to go Bill....

Especially in that huge part of the US which some people call 'Jesusland'...

Laramie, Wyoming, 12 October 1998 ... in a gay bar a young and promising boy called Matthew Shepard is tricked by two guys around his age (early 20s) into following them... He ends up robbed, beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die there.

The two murderers are easily captured by the police and during their trial, every day, groups of hysterical bigots stand outside of the court with signs supporting them on the grounds that they rid society of an evil man and screaming endlessly 'God Hates Fags'.

How do they know who God loves and hates ? How do they know that God can actually hate anyone or anything ? Well, obviously God lives in Wyoming and they have brunch with him every Sunday morning, that's how.

Every time I hear people ranting against fundamentalist Muslims and equating Islam with terrorism and intolerance, I think about Laramie, Wyoming...

Recently a group of people started trying to prove that this murder was not a homophobic hate-crime, but something about money and drugs... Guess who's funding their 'research' ?

matthewshepard.jpg jesusland2.jpg God hates fags.jpg

Matthew Shepard, RIP Jesusland, where God lives Jesuslanders who hate Muslims

(mostly for being violent and intolerant)

ABC disagrees with your assessment concerning the homophobic aspect. Read all six pages of the interview with both killers, now serving life sentences.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

Nov. 26, 2004

Six years ago, on a cold October night on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo., 21-year-old gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead. He was found 18 hours later and rushed to the hospital, where he lingered on the edge of death for nearly five days before succumbing to his injuries.

The story garnered national attention when the attack was characterized as a hate crime. But Shepard's killers, in their first interview since their convictions, tell "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas that money and drugs motivated their actions that night, not hatred of gays.

Entire article here: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1

The documentary you cite by the American Broadcasting Company concludes with the following.....

Matthew Shepard's Death Led to Enormous Changes

Shepard's story has been told in documentaries, television movies, and a play called "The Laramie Project." The drama is often used in schools, as a lesson in the insidious workings of hate and prejudice, and has become one of the most produced theater pieces in America. There was also a small screen version of the drama on HBO.

Shepard's mother has created The Matthew Shepard Foundation, dedicated to promoting tolerance and diversity, lobbying for hate-crime legislation, and assuring Matthew's legacy will be a positive one.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1&singlePage=true

The ABC piece points out one of Sheppard's murderers, the guy named McKinney was very likely a bisexual who had been seen several times around Sheppard, yet as his gf pointed out went to great lengths to disguise his sexuality by acting and being homophobic. It was when the three were in the truck cab that the intoxicated Sheppard placed his hand on his pal McKenney's leg that McKenney on drugs pulled out his gun and cracked Sheppard up side the head.

No one has hinted, suggested, said, much less ever tried to prove Matthew Sheppard was in any way involved in drugs or carried more than modest sums of money on his person -- Sheppard in fact had $30 and no drugs on him the night he was abducted, beaten, tortured and left to die.

Your effort fails.

[chuckd]

How do you know what my "effort" was? I personally made no editorial comment other than this:

"ABC disagrees with your assessment concerning the homophobic aspect. Read all six pages of the interview with both killers, now serving life sentences."

I posted the article for others to make up their own minds.

In that endeavor, my "effort" succeeded.

At least one person (you) read the link.

[stoli]

The NEXT President Clinton will be much better than Bill was, don't you worry!

Chelsea?

Did you see that Chelsea just gave birth to a daughter? I think she named her Monica.

[Jingthing]

The NEXT President Clinton will be much better than Bill was, don't you worry!

Chelsea?

Did you see that Chelsea just gave birth to a daughter? I think she named her Monica.

No you don't

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Publicus]

How do you know what my "effort" was? I personally made no editorial comment other than this:

"ABC disagrees with your assessment concerning the homophobic aspect. Read all six pages of the interview with both killers, now serving life sentences."

I posted the article for others to make up their own minds.

In that endeavor, my "effort" succeeded.

At least one person (you) read the link.

The post quoted from the following ABC News promo of the story in which ABC vacuously claims new facts have emerged.....

The story garnered national attention when the attack was characterized as a hate crime. But Shepard's killers, in their first interview since their convictions, tell "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas that money and drugs motivated their actions that night, not hatred of gays.

The only new development is that ABC cooked up another ratings-getter story of the well known and much publicized torture murder that rightfully has been all over the MSM from news to films to dramatic theatre depictions and which is used in classrooms throughout the United States.

So thx for bringing it to the attention of TVF posters in this additional way because anyone here can see the ABC story for the exploitation exercise that it was....well, almost everyone could see it.

To directly and forthrightly answer your question to me, I know your effort and I know that it failed because you are a far out hard core right winger and because McKinney is a redneck.

I'm anyway looking forward to your balancing the context of the 20/20 broadcast with a contrasting piece that says it was not money and drugs that motivated the torture murderers of Matthew Sheppard that night but, rather, that it was McKinney's self-hating homophobia combined with the fact Matthew Sheppard had become openly gay in Laramie, Wyoming.

[chuckd]

I admit I was wrong.

You didn't read the article after all.

[Publicus]

I admit I was wrong.

You didn't read the article after all.

I quoted the article which is more than you did as you stuck to presenting the network's bogus promo about the bogus motive of money and drugs.

I see the thread and topic are facetious to you as I'd guess the ABC story probably is too......

.....That you came to the thread to play around with Matthew Sheppard's life and death and with everyone you thought might be here to post or to read.

I'm still waiting for the article that discusses the opposite thinking to the one you posted and which I'd not be surprised to hear you've had at the ready all along......

You know, in the interests of balance and all of that.

Or do other matters take priority here.....

Edited October 29, 2014 by Publicus

[chuckd]

I admit I was wrong.

You didn't read the article after all.

I quoted the article which is more than you did as you stuck to presenting the network's bogus promo about the bogus motive of money and drugs.

<snip>

I followed forum rules.

For your information, the appropriate rule is provided below.

"14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

Again I say...Ciao

[Publicus]

I admit I was wrong.

You didn't read the article after all.

I quoted the article which is more than you did as you stuck to presenting the network's bogus promo about the bogus motive of money and drugs.

<snip>

I followed forum rules.

For your information, the appropriate rule is provided below.

"14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

Again I say...Ciao

Hey, whatever the rules of the market will bear....

Zàijiàn....