Hillary Clinton announces national LGBT steering committee

Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced today the formation of “LGBT Americans for Hillary” — a national steering committee made up of more than 65 leaders in the LGBT community (full list included below) all of whom have personally endorsed Clinton for President.

This committee will work with the campaign on several areas including political outreach, communications, policy advice and counsel, and fundraising. The press release noted that the move came on the eve of the 38th anniversary of Stonewall, June 28, 1969—you have to hand it to Clinton and her advisors on this one.

Among others, every major openly gay elected official from New York State is on the list—including all four openly gay members of the state legislature and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

LGBT Americans For Hillary Steering Committee Members:

· Eldie Acheson, former U.S. Assistant Attorney General; founding director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

· Roberta Achtenberg, former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development

· Toni Atkins, San Diego, CA, City Councilmember

· Dr. Christopher Barley, activist, philanthropist

· Greg Berlanti, creator/producer, TV series, “Brothers and Sisters”

· Elizabeth Birch, former Executive Director, Human Rights Campaign

· Mary Breslauer, former co-chair, Kerry-Edwards 2004 LGBT Steering Committee; communications consultant

· Tonio Burgos, member, Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus

· Ilene Chaiken, creator/producer, Showtime series, “The L Word”

· Rocco Claps, former LGBT Outreach Director, Democratic National Committee; Illinois LGBT activist

· Bruce Cohen, Oscar-winning film producer

· Roberta Conroy, member, National Leadership Council, Lambda Legal

· Joan Darrah, retired U.S. Navy Captain

· Q. Todd Dickinson, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual

Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

· Thomas Duane, New York State Senator

· Ingrid Duran, board member, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

· Steve Elmendorf, Deputy Campaign Manager, Kerry-Edwards 2004

· Shelley Freeman, business leader, Los Angeles Police Commissioner

· Ethan Geto, long-time gay rights advocate

· John Gile, Executive Director, Project Angel Food

· Emily Giske, member, Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus

· Deborah Glick, New York Assemblymember

· Steven Goldstein, Chair, Garden State Equality

· Chad Griffin, CEO, Chad Griffin Consulting, Inc.

· Rebecca Haag, Executive Director, AIDS Action Council; Executive Director, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts

· Yashar Hedayat, businessman

· Lisa Henderson, General Manager, Olivia Cruises

· Stephen Herbits, businessman

· Fred Hochberg, former Deputy then Acting Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration; Dean of the Milano School for Management and Urban Policy, The New School

· John Isa, board of directors and Business Council member, Human Rights Campaign

· Gloria Johnson, board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Christine Kehoe, California State Senator

· Keith Kerr, retired Colonel., U.S. Army; retired Brigadier General, California National Reserve

· Kasey Kincaid, attorney, Iowa grassroots activist

· Billie Jean King, sports legend and social pioneer

· Sheila James Kuehl, California State Senator

· Mark Kvare, board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Neel Lattimore, Special Advisor for Strategic Communications, Children’s Defense Fund; former press secretary for the First Lady

· Bruce Lehman, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks

· Sue Lovell, Houston, TX, City Councilmember

· Claire Lucas, chair, Democratic National Committee LGBT Leadership Council; board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Linda Gray Murphy, board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Daniel O'Donnell, New York Assemblymember

· Dixon Osburn, LGBT activist on "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy

· Annise Parker, Houston, TX, City Controller

· Catherine Pino, board member, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

· Julian Potter, former Special Assistant to President as Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian Community

· Christine Quinn, Speaker, New York City Council

· Hilary Rosen, President, OurChart.com; media industry consultant

· Peter Rosenstein, DC-based LGBT community activist

· Mirian Saez, member, Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus

· Greg Sargent, attorney, New Hampshire LGBT activist

· Jayne Baron Sherman, co-chair, In the Life Media; former board chair, Lambda Legal

· Melissa Sklarz, Director, New York Trans Rights Organization; vice chair, National Stonewall Democrats

· Paul M. Smith, board member, Lambda Legal; Attorney who successfully argued the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas, establishing the right to privacy for gay Americans

· Jeff Soref, former chair of the Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus; former co-chair, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

· Laura Spanjian, board member, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; board member, Equality California

· Campbell Spencer, former National LGBT Outreach Director for the Democratic National Committee and Gore-Lieberman 2000

· Rick Stafford, chair, Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus; co-chair, National Stonewall Democrats

· Jill Stauffer, board of directors, Human Rights Campaign

· Sally Susman, business leader

· Rev. Deborah Tammearu, Episcopal Priest, Diocese of New York

· Matthew Titone, New York State Assemblymember

· Jeffrey Tooke, board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Olive F. Watson, activist and philanthropist

· Paula Redd Zeman, vice chair, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; vice chair, Black Democrats of Westchester

· Bob Zuckerman, board member, National Stonewall Democrats

· Jose Zuniga, retired U.S. Army Sergeant and former Soldier of the Year; Executive Director, International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46886.asp

I could swear that he was at the Pentagon when Rumsfeld was Defense Secretary.

Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

Otherwise: a pretty impressive roster there. You can't go wrong with someone like Sheila James Kuehl supporting you.

:eyes:

I give him an E for effort.

The arrogance is breath taking ... all those lauded people will certainly have egg on their face when HRC fails to become President. ;)

until someone is actually elected?

:rofl:

Make no mistake: At present, I am by no means a Hillary supporter. Nor am I a member of the GLBT community. Nonetheless, the genie is now out of the bottle. I think this steering committee helps to legitimize a very important civil rights issue. And if Clinton's rivals assemble their own GLBT steering committees? So much the better. I honestly didn't expect Clinton to be the one to pull the Democratic Party in a progressive direction, but she has in this instance, and I applaud her for it. This is precisely the benefit of primary season, folks. It helps to shape the direction of the party. That's why we should continue to criticize and cajole candidates for positions we oppose and praise them for positions we support. The candidate who emerges from the primaries may be quite different from the one who first entered them.

And that, my friends, is what democracy looks like.

:thumbsup:

I have my concerns about her, but if she's going to be the nominee, this helps make me feel better about her.